How do you mentally stimulate a Maine Coon cat?

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Play is the main (excuse the pun) answer and plenty of it (plus a catio at least) but another is to steel yourself and train your Maine Coon to take a walk with you on a lead. I know that you have to live in the right sort of place where there is some space and little traffic and other distractions. 

I don't think taking your Maine Coon for a walk suits everyone but if you are on the edge of countryside, or in relatively quiet suburbia, I can't see a problem.

Here is the video of Felix, a silvery-gray tabby looking majestic on his lead in suburbia. It looks like a very suitable location.


Training and willingness

The only problem is a willingness on behalf of the cat owner to make the effort. I can understand the barriers. It takes time as you see in a video of another cat - not a Maine Coon - who was timid but who became more confident with plenty of confidence building.

There is a video of a sweet longhaired moggie that looks a bit like a Maine Coon who has been handled brilliantly I would say because she has the confidence and know-how to be taken on treks. There are probably so difficulties from time to time but it looks great to me.

Trekking provides a huge amount of mental stimulation in a safe way. A cat owner can't do more in discharging their duties.

Here is a video on training a cat to enjoy hikes:

Maine Coons trekking

There are numerous videos of Maine Coons trekking. America is made for it. Wide open spaces. Americans can forget how lucky they are to have such glorious parks made for safe trekking.

I think the Maine Coon is very suited to trekking. They seem to have a pretty placid temperament. And their ancestors were barn cats - outdoor cats - which indicates that they have a character suited to the outdoor life.

It is a little bit of shame to keep them indoors all the time without the trekking or walks on a lead.

Training is logical!

The words of this subheading are from Dr. Bruce Fogle in his book Complete Cat Care. When you first read the words, they can be a bit surprising. We don't normally think of training cats or we don't want to do it. We can't really be bothered because it is too fiddling. I completely get that.

Cat ‘training is logical’ – informal and formal training.

But ironically when you analyse your relationship with your cat companion you realise that both of you have been trained by the other informally. It happens all the time.

If you are going to adopt a kitten, you have a great opportunity to train him or her. Kittens are more pliable and more open to being trained. It can enhance their lives. With the world becoming more dangerous outside the home, if you could spend a bit of time training your kitten to accept a harness and lead and take them outside on it for walks, when they are adults, it will transform their lives. And it should improve your life as well.

I was stupid enough not to train my cat to do that although I did spend quite a bit of time training him when he was a sub adult to walk on a lead.

Infographic on cat punishment versus divine intervention.

Of course, training a cat is not just about walking on a lead successfully, there are many other situations which can be improved with training. What about calling your cat inside at your command if they are allowed outside unsupervised?

Perhaps the biggest burden or barrier to training a cat is that it takes patience. And therefore, it takes a lot of time. Most people don't have time or they feel that they haven't got it.

I think if you live in America not far from one of those majestic parks, it would be a great shame not to train your cat to walk on a lead with you while enjoying that wonderful ambience, in contact with nature which is both good cat and human.

Personal

I am wrestling, myself, with the idea of taking my cat (not a Maine Coon) outside on a lead to the local park which is a beautiful place. I think it would be great to do this for him. But it's going to need some effort from me. And I'm not sure that I have it in me to make that effort. And I think this is the root cause as to why cat owners don't leash train their cats. It requires patience as mentioned and effort. That's a barrier

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