Do Maine Coons need a companion?

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Buster and Luna
Buster and Luna; sibling Maine Coons who get along great. When it happens it is perfect. They have each other to entertain themselves when their caregiver is out, provided they're not out for too long! Image is a screenshot from the video below.

This strange question in the title is asked on the Maine Coon Central website. I'll tell you why I think it is strange. It is because all Maine Coon cats have a companion in their human caregiver! They automatically have a companion and domestic cats regard their human caregivers as felines or surrogate mothers. 

Of course, Maine Coon cats need a companion because they need a caregiver as they are domestic cats. The question is superfluous. It is irrelevant UNLESS it is meant to be asking if a Maine Coon cat needs another Maine Coon cat or another domestic cat of any breed or non-purebred as a companion. That's a whole different kettle of fish which introduces some quite complicated problems.


When Maine Coon siblings get along as seen in the video it is perfect. It is a great solution to ensuring that your Maine Coon has company when you are out. But how do you get to this ideal? There is no guarantee that siblings will get along.

The answer to that more refined question is YES, PROVIDED the companion is a good match for the resident Maine Coon cat. And by a "good match" I mean that the resident Maine Coon must be able to get along really well with their new companion. This is about chemistry. There's not simple formula or method for guaranteeing a good outcome.

This is an enormously problematic area of cat caregiving because how are you going to know whether they will get along until after you've introduced the cat to the resident cat? It'll be a case of "suck and see" but if it goes wrong what do you do next?

The general rule - subject to getting over the hurdles of compatibility between two domestic cats - is that two cats are better than one if the owner can't be around a lot. 

But, then again, it is not acceptable to leave a domestic cat - including the Maine Coon of course - alone all day while the owner is out at work. 

If the owner is out all day and they adopt a second cat to keep the first company, I don't see that as a solution as all you have at the end of the day is a couple of cats suffering from separation anxiety rather than one as both need their caregiving owner.

Two cats is better than one in terms of entertaining themselves but there is no substitute for the cat's owner being around a decent amount of time with their Maine Coon cat. 

RELATED: Maximum amount of time a dog should be left alone is four hours.

They say that dogs should not be left alone for longer than 4 hours (click the link above for more on this). Why are cats any different? Because they are 'solitary and independent'? Most cats are adapted to family living.

I think you can leave them alone for half a day or more but for a long, whole day and to do that regularly? No. It is not going to work and adopting another cat as a Maine Coon feline companion is not the solution as far as I am concerned.

The best scenario?

Perhaps the best scenario if a person wants to adopt a Maine Coon but knows that they cannot be around as much as they'd like is to buy two Maine Coons who are known to get along well. The selling breeder might be able to guarantee this but they might not!

Kittens get along all the time but when they grow up, they develop their adult, independent, mentality and innately seek their home range. At this time even their siblings can be invading cats. There may be friction.

But if adult siblings get along that's fine. It is better than that: it's great! See the video above. Or any two cats. Or even a dog. There are many videos of a cat and dog being very friendly with each other, supporting each other.

Two cats who get along is great but if you research cat stress and anxiety you'll find that it is more likely to occur in home where there's more than one cat. Multi-cat homes can be stressful places for the felines, more so if they are never allowed out.

RELATED: Are domestic cats in multi-cat households more stressed? Not always as they use various techniques to keep the peace!

Stresses of home ranges - the space they call their own - are very common. It can undermine all the benefits of owning two cats to keep each company.

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