Your Maine Coon Guide

This is as near as you will get to a conversation with a Maine Coon cat. Screenshot. This beautiful tabby Maine Coon likes to converse with his female owner. Either they are conversing or they are arguing but I sense, and I think that anybody else would sense, that they are politely conversing. The difficult bit is deciding what he is saying. He's been asked to get down and he doesn't and therefore he's probably saying: "No, I won't get down". And therefore, this might be a gentle, polite argument. They say that Maine Coons are quite quiet but this guy really isn't. As I have always said, it is down to the individual cat as to whether they are quiet or not. The relationship between this cat and his caregiver is very close. They have a great bond and understanding. He is a TikTok celebrity: Chakacoon. The way to play this video below is to click on the centre play button and then afterwards click on the play button bottom-left. That sounds ridiculous but th...

This is a nice video of a good-looking Maine Coon enjoying the cream on top of a cappuccino coffee at a Starbucks' drive-through. Maximus is the name of the Maine Coon and he had a thoroughly enjoyable visit. As you can see in the video, he asked for more and he got it no doubt.  Maine Coon enjoys a cup of Starbucks' cappuccino cream. At the end there was cream all over his chin, evidence of what he had been up to. I would doubt whether many Starbucks' employees had seen a Maine Coon sitting in the front seat of a car in the drive-through before. Dogs, yes! But I doubt whether they had seen a cat and certainly not such a beautiful cat as Maximus. The way to play a Google Blogger video is to click the play button in the middle of the video and then the button that is bottom-left! It sounds complicated but it works for me. You might find it works for you by simply clicking the button in the middle! As you might expect, it was all about the cream on top of the cappuccino which...

This is a cross post. This Maine Coon is demonstrating feline observational learning. The female owner asks her Maine Coon how he/she is and he responds with the quite distinct and noticeable question: "How are you?". He has copied the words of his owner and I take this to be, as mentioned, a specific case of observational learning or you might argue that it is mimicry.  Maine Coon asks: "How are you?" Screenshot. However, I don't think that it is pure mimicry as it has a purpose and when there is long-term interaction between human and cat, as in this example, there will be an understanding between the two and sometimes a copying of each other's language. Many cat owners use cat sounds when communicating with their cat. This video is an example of reciprocation. Yes, humans will also make feline sounds while, very rarely, their cat tries to make human sounds. It's a mutual understanding and an example perhaps of commensalism which I've just written ...

NEWS AND COMMENT-UKRAINE: I am afraid that the reporting of this story is sadly disjointed and unclear. I really can't make sense of it except for parts of it. I will do my best to retell it.  Max, a Maine Coon, was stolen by the Russians when they departed Bucha, Ukraine. Photo: Twitter. Max is an eight-year-old ginger tabby Maine Coon. He was living in Bucha with his owners: Olena, her husband and their 18-month-old son. They lived about 3 km from Hostomel Airport. You may remember that the Russians tried to capture the airport at the end of February. There was bombing and it affected Olena and her husband. Це кіт Макс із Бучі. Клята русня вкрала його, але загубила, коли тікала, десь під Гомелем. Через місяць власниці, яка вже на той час перебувала із дитиною в Чехії, зателефонували з Білорусі, бо в кота у кулончику містилася вся інформація. Завдяки небайдужості кіт вже із власницею pic.twitter.com/1wczEJdvqq — Яблунька (@Yablonyka) May 15, 2022 Note : This is an embedded tweet....

I have stated in the title that Maine Coons can understand their name and the names of four other cats if they live in a group, for example, in a multi-cat home. But I've been a bit cheeky because the statement that I have made applies to any domestic cat. I just wanted to write an article about Maine Coons and this study which has been reported on the Internet recently presented itself to me at an opportune moment. 😎 I stated in the title "when spoken by humans". That might look a bit odd but it is just possible that cats refer to each other by name! No one's discussed that. However, the point that I would like to make early on in this article is that I knew about this well before the Japanese scientists confirmed it in their study. And I'm not boasting because any decent cat caregiver understands that their cat responds to their name. If they live in a multi-cat home then they will also understand that each of those cats can understand their name. I'm not s...

Maine Coon slips into the water for a bit of fun. Screenshot. The video on this page supports the words of the title. But is it true that all Maine Coons do not fear water? I almost feel like leaving that decision to you. There is no science on this and all you will find on the Internet is anecdotal stories about Maine Coons not being frightened or objecting to being submerged in water.  Perhaps there is a tendency for Maine Coons to be less resistant to being submerged in water but I don't think you can say that all the cats of the Maine Coon breed have the same attitude towards water. We don't know anything about the cats in the video. Or at least I don't. Perhaps they are a bunch of Maine Coons who have made it clear that they like messing around in water and the video maker decided to video it. This video has done very well on TikTok. For all Maine Coon cats to like messing around and being submerged in water the cat associations would have to insist that, through selec...

NEWS AND COMMENT- SKIRZA, FRESWICK, SCOTLAND: Janet Aykroyd and a husband Tim are cat people. They live with seven cats near an exceptionally quiet rural road according to Janet in the far north of Scotland near John O'Groats. They have a Maine Coon male cat called Baxter. On April 19, 2022 their one-year-old Maine Coon was knocked off his feet by a car on that quiet road. He was lucky to survive Janet feels although he suffered a broken femur (hind leg). Baxter. Photos by Janet and Jim. It is a bad break. It was broken in three places with shards of bone displaced. They took Baxter in a six-hour journey to Fife where the veterinarians at Neuk Vets carried out orthopaedic surgery to save his leg. Janet tells us that he has a stainless-steel rod, plate and screws in his leg. The cost of the surgery is projected to be around £4,000. I decided that because they have a Go Fund Me fundraising page with a target of £3,500. The cost so far for the metal rod and steel plate et cetera is...

A lot of people know that the Maine Coon cat is prone to getting hip dysplasia (HD). HD is, regrettably, associated with this popular cat breed. HD can affect any cat both purebred, pedigree and random bred cats. It affects dogs more than cats. It is an inherited disorder. It is a genetic disease. It is not a single gene which causes the disease but many (it is polygenetic). It appears that even today the experts don't know the full genetic story behind HD. It is therefore a complex disease. It is not congenital meaning that the cat is not born with it but the disease develops over a period of time. My thanks to Vet Network for the image. This cat breed is particularly prone to the condition because of its size. Apparently around one quarter of all MCs have HD based on X-rays submitted to the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA). The Maine Coon is the biggest domestic cat other than a first filial wild cat hybrid. Size puts extra weight on the ball and socket joint of t...

It is quite nice to see what scientists think about the character of the Maine Coon especially in comparison to other breeds. We normally read about breed personality (which is a dubious concept) from the Internet where people simply regurgitate what others have said. Sometimes we hear from cat breeders who know a bit more about cat breed personality. To be honest, it is better to talk about individual cat personality. MAINE COON. Image in public domain In any case, this study took place in 2009 and it's called Behavioural Profiles of Feline Breeds in Japan . They looked at the following breeds: Abyssinian, Russian Blue, Somali, Siamese, "Chinchilla breeds", American Shorthair, Japanese domestic cats (I presume these were non-purebred), Maine Coon, Himalayan (pointed Persian), Persian, Ragdoll and Scottish Fold. They found differences in behaviour according to their gender, with aggression towards cats, general activity, novelty seeking and excitability being more common ...

The Maine Coon, it is said, has a personality that is particularly dependent on the sex of the individual cat. It appears that the females are "matriarchs-in-the-making".  A matriarch I reminded myself is a "woman who is the head of a family or tribe".  Although they are charming and affectionate, they like to get their own way. And they get it with a quiet determination. The females are excellent hunters. In contrast, the males are more like boys! They are rather innocent and boyish in their behavior. This comes from breeders and Maine Coon caretakers and guardians. So, you gotta believe it! Although it is a generalisation. Cats have individual characters so there will be a wide range of personalities. I guess that is obvious. Female brown tabby Maine Coon bred in Russia. Photo in public domain [Source: The Yankee Cat by Marilis Hornidge ISBN 0-88448-243-X] Another person very familiar with the personality of the Maine Coon, Gloria Stephens, who is the autho...

Iris and Thula sleep together. Photo: ITV. For me, and for many others, there is nothing more delightful than a therapy cat working their magic with an autistic child. And the magic they weave allows autistic children to bloom and enter into day-to-day life. It is a kind of magic as they tease out from the autistic child the ability to express themselves and enjoy life more fully. In this instance the therapy cat happens to be a Maine Coon.  Iris and Thula in the bath. Photo: ITV. Interestingly, the child's mother believes that Maine Coons like water. I do not think that that is true if I'm being honest. Some domestic cats accept and some even like water but Maine Coons are not known to like water. As it happens (fortunately) Thula does like water and you see them having a bath together. And you also see them in the swimming pool together. That's wonderful. And they do everything together. Note: Gloria Stephens (Legacy of the Cat) a past cat show judge and breeder state...