To this day, the Maine Coon cat is considered the only long-haired cat native to the United States and the oldest cat breed native to the United States. Physically, they are easily recognizable by their large, muscular bodies, square muzzles, and beautiful bobcat-like ears. In addition, our cats are well known for having exceptionally long tails, even for the breed.

1. Hi, I’m Dr. Karen Becker, and today we’re discussing my favorite topic: raw food
diets for pets. We’re going to discuss some of the myths and truths surrounding
raw food diets. But before we get into the good stuff, it’s important to have a
foundation of understanding about basic nutrition. One point that no one is
going to argue about is that for optimal health to occur, animals must consume
the foods that they were designed to eat. I call this a species‐appropriate diet. So,
vegetarian animals must eat vegetation for optimal health. And carnivorous
animals must eat fresh whole prey for optimal health. A good place to start with
our carnivorous pets is to go back to a dog and cat’s roots prior to the
domestication. The domestic dog whose taxonomic name is Canis lupus familiaris
is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, which is a member of the Canidae family
of the order Carnivora. Most scientists believe that dogs were domesticated
from gray wolves about 15,000 years ago. But DNA analysis published in 1997
suggests that the transformation from wolves to domestic dogs occurred more
like 130,000 years ago. Data suggests dogs first diverged from wolves in East Asia.
And then these domesticated dogs quickly migrated throughout the world. Of
course, humans began selectively breeding dogs to create animals that suited
their needs and their likes. The earliest evidence of cat domestication is a kitten
that was found buried alongside a human approximately 9,500 years ago in
Cyprus. Researchers have gained a major insight through DNA testing into the
evolution of cats by showing how they migrated to new continents and developed
new species as the sea levels rose and fell. A 2008‐study revealed that lines of
descent for all house cats, which are Felis catus, probably came from self‐
domesticating African wild cats up to 10,000 years ago. And like the domesticated
dog, humans began breeding cats to suit their fancy, recognizing over 80 breeds
of cats that have been created today by one registry or another. So, there are a
lot of different kitty species now that humans have created.