Can Maine Coons be left alone?

No, Maine Coons do not like to be left alone just like any other domestic cat companion. There is no difference between the impressive Maine Coon cat and any other domestic cat including moggies. To stress: they are all the same in terms of their underlying character and character traits. This means that they are all essentially quite sociable nowadays. The concept that the cat is entirely independent and solitary is incorrect. Over 10,000 years of domestication they have learned to become sociable and they much prefer their human companion being around in the home. Obviously, the owner should be a decent person and sensitive to their cat's needs for cats to like them being around, but I hope that goes without saying.

Image by Anna Sulencka from Pixabay.

All Maine Coons are socialised to people because they have been selectively bred by cat breeders and part of their obligations and duties is to ensure that their cats fit nicely into their new homes. They can only do this by being socialised to humans and other pets. And in this socialisation process you obviously develop a sociable cat. They are used to being around people as they were raised under foot by the breeder. And therefore, they will be used to being around people when they are adopted and in their new homes. I have repeated myself.

Sometimes people have to leave their cats alone for quite long periods because they go to work. This is completely understandable but it is far from ideal. In fact, I would suggest that to leave a domestic cat of any kind including a Maine Coon alone all day from say 8 AM to 6 or 7 PM is not going to work from the cat's perspective. The cat will probably become stressed and the stress may become visible in terms of inappropriate elimination and even inappropriate pooping.

It is a tough call to make but if a person really wants to adopt a Maine Coon because they love them (and they are very lovable) they might not be suited and up to the task if their work is demanding and it takes them away from the home for long periods. The coronavirus pandemic has been wonderful in many ways for domestic cats because there has been a massive increase in homeworking but when these people go back to work at the office it's going to be a bit of a shock for their cats and dogs. There needs to be preparation for that.

I would hope that the ideal for a concerned cat owner is to make arrangements with their employer to partly work at home and partly work at the office. This might be a nice compromise and is probably far more possible now, post-Covid-19. Interestingly, I have just written about the Googleplex which is Google's head office in California where it is said that they allow employees to bring pets into the office. This normally applies to dogs for obvious reasons but I argue that it should apply almost equally to cats provided the arrangements can be made. 

I even suggested that the Googleplex should be divided up into cat and dog areas, which is outrageous but if it is hard to allow cats to come into the workplace perhaps, with the amount of money that Google has, they can do something about the construction of the building to accommodate those difficulties. Anything to improve the life of domestic cat, that's what I say!

Can you imagine how the ambience and the mood would be elevated by the presence of a wonderful, all-American, Maine Coon cat sauntering around the office entertaining those intelligent and youthful workers who earn $200,000 annually on average!

Caveat: Only confident cats can become office cats. Timid cats will hate it. Too many people and strange noises etc..