Can you let Maine Coons outside?

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There is no absolute barrier to it but is it a good idea to let your Maine Coon go outside and wander around freely? No, it's not. I think it's too dangerous because they look so attractive and, depending upon where you live, there is a possibility that your cat would be stolen. Some thieves steal purebred cats to breed from them and make money by selling the kittens.

The Covid-19 pandemic has made things worse with a spate of thefts of dogs primarily but also including cats because companion animals have become more popular during these extended lockdowns leaving people with the time to spend with their companion animals and for single people to have some company.

Tabby Maine Coon in a garden
Image by barnabashohl from Pixabay

So, letting your Maine Coon go outside like a moggy may be too risky. Some people do it and you hear stories of them getting lost or being injured just like any other cat but I don't like to hear about it. Although, Maine Coons in an absolute sense have no more rights than a moggy and are no more important in terms of being a sentient creature than any other cat. The biggest danger is theft in my view, as mentioned.

But you can let your Maine Coon go outside into a nice enclosure attached to the home which is called a catio. Or it might be a full-blown enclosure around the backyard. You can buy special fencing for these sorts of arrangements but they are not 100% foolproof. I suspect, though, that the majority of Maine Coons in America are full-time indoor cats which puts an added responsibility on the cat guardian to substitute the outdoor stimulations that the cat would normally experience with artificially created ones inside the home.

An alternative is to take your Maine Coon outside on a lead or into the backyard (garden) supervised. These are all practical but there might be difficulties. It is tricky to leash train domestic cats and it is hard to comprehensively supervise a cat in a garden.

When you adopt a Maine Coon, I think you have to factor in the above discussion. Are you in a position to provide a good home for your Maine Coon when they live indoors full-time? Is your home big enough to give them some sense of freedom and is it 'catified' which is Jackson Galaxy's terminology to mean: is the environment enriched enough to allow your cat to be fully stimulated? You need a cat to be mentally stimulated to be content. Contentment for your cat is the objective of all good cat guardians.

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