Maine Coon Cat is Seriously Huge And That's Why He's Becoming The Latest Internet Sensation We're Obsessed With
Animals go viral on the Internet every day. We are constantly eager and excited to share paws-itive and uplifting stories about cats! It makes the days brighter, really. However, some stories are about unique and beautiful pets rising to their own fame and we're just tagging along for the joyful ride, happy to share their success and celebrate the diversity today's pets have to offer us.
From cats like Elli, who had a rare condition called vitiligo, to today's purr-fectly fascinating story of a particularly enormous maine coon... we are all about special kitties! Trust me, Lotus is a special cat, as sweet as he is majestic!
There's no denying Lotus's enormity. According to the bio on his website, he is 3-years old and weighs 22 pounds!
Maine Coon cats are known for their rather large size, but Lotus is still bigger than most.
On average, Maine Coon cats weigh 9-16 pounds (female) and 13-18 pounds (male,) so Lotus is bigger than average. Of course, that doesn't mean he is overweight, because he's not. He's just large and in charge!
Maine Coons are large cats, but they're not known for being aggressive. In fact, their reputation is for being "gentle giants." The typical personality description for a Maine Coon often includes comparing them to dogs. Some might even say they're the dogs of the cat-world!
On his website, Lotus is described as such:
I have a light small voice and I`m gentle in my way. Calm and kind, love my family.
Lotus lives with two other cats, who are also Maine Coons! His older Maine Coon siblings are named Chivas and Lady Marion. Lotus was originally from Sweden, but today all 3 cats live with their humans in Sweden.
Like many Maine Coons before him, Lotus is an indoor cat, but also like the typical Maine Coon: he loves his outdoor time! Maine Coons like Lotus are not afraid of the cold, either. In fact, they're basically built for the cold: "Their beautiful bushy tails are meant to wrap around their bodies to keep them warm when it gets too cold." Their fur is also dense and bushy, purr-fect for keeping them warm.
Lotus and his siblings love the outdoors though and often follow their family on nature-bound outings. They don't go outside alone, though. They're always accompanied and safe!
Most Maine Coon cats evolved to have six toes! Well, not all of them, but it is very common in this breed. According to Mental Floss:
Early in the breed’s development, Maine Coons were often polydactyls, meaning they were born with extra appendages on their paws. Some experts estimate that as many as 40 percent of early Maine Coons had this characteristic. It stemmed from a genetic mutation, which some people say helped the cats use their paws as “natural snowshoes” during snowy Maine winters.
Not all cats like water, in fact it's a lot more common for cats to despise water than enjoy it. But there is another area Maine Coon kitties break the mold. They're notorious for loving water.
Maine Coons are famous for a lot of other reasons, too. For example, the world's oldest cat is a Maine Coon named Corduroy. He is 26-years old and on record with Guiness as "the oldest domesticated cat in the world today."
Other famous Maine Coons include Stewie, at 8-years old he is on record with Guinness as "the longest domestic cat in the world."
And that's not all. The world's first commercially cloned animal was a cat...a MAINECOON! According to Honest To Paws:
A Maine coon cat named Little Nicky was the first cat to be cloned commercially in 2004 when his owner paid $50,000 to a now-defunct company for the service. California-based Genetic Savings & Clone, Inc. transplanted Little Nicky’s DNA into an egg cell, and a surrogate mama cat gave birth to a kitten with looks and a temperament much like Little Nicky’s.
Lotus is as beautiful as Maine Coons come, so it's not surprising that with how utterly fasincating the breed is and how stunning he is that he has become so popular on the Internet. His Instagram following is over 260,000 today! That's a whole lot of fans for one big cat!
Lotus surely has a big future in store for him, and watching his adventures on Instagram is truly a delight.
