Do Maine Coons need a companion?

-
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.

Comments

Post a Comment

Please share your Maine Coon experiences.

Popular posts from this blog

The extreme Maine Coon face

-
Image
This is an example of extreme breeding. This is a Maine Coon but this cat is an extreme and rare example of this breed. This is not the way they look normally. This face is almost like an aggressive robot with the piercing eyes and the huge muzzle.  Or like a lion's head. The head looks enormous and very heavy. It looks unreal. But it also looks very impressive.  And purchasers like impressive-looking domestic cats. But this not the face of a Maine Coon that wins cat show competitions as it does not fit the breed standard as accurately as the more moderate winners (see below).  In fact, the CFA standard is clear in that the cat should have a balanced appearance although this cat was not bred under the CFA breed standard as I understand it (see below).  Click here for more on the kind of MC which wins at shows . Maine Coon selectively breed to have an extreme face. Image in the public domain. And the Maine Coon is meant to be a large cat, the largest domestic cat breed and there
Read more

Eerie picture of a Maine Coon sitting like a human on a chest of drawers

-
Image
This is a slightly scary picture according to those who've seen it. One social media user said it was the devil and "If I walked into a room and saw that, I would assume some shit is about to go down". There is a ghostly stillness and sinister feeling about the image. 'Eerie' is a better description. This attractive cat appears to be completely at ease and comfortable sitting on top of a chest of bedroom drawers. The lighting from below (deliberate?) enhances the eerie effect. It seems possible that this is a photo-edited image but if so, it has been done with great skill. However, I don't think this is Photoshopped. Rethink: to be honest, the more I look at the picture, the more I feel that this is a photo-edited image. It is just too unnatural to be real. Although some domestic cats get themselves into some very strange positions. Maine Coon calmly sitting just like a human on a chest of drawers. Picture source unclear. Image deemed to be in the public d
Read more

Black smoke Maine Coon Richie with a black face and diamond eyes

-
Image
Black smoke Maine Coon Richie with a black face and diamond eyes. Photo: Instagram. OMG, this is a Maine Coon with an amazing face. His full name is "Richie du Mont d’Even". I think he has a black smoke coat which has created this black face with the assistance of other genes (polygenetic influence?) and ears with piercing, diamond eyes. This is a very special cat. Richie looked very interesting but relatively plain as a kitten. Image: Instagram. His paws are balls of fluff. He has a mane that goes over his head like a halo. He's angelic and other-worldly. The lynx tips on the end of his ears are smoky grey which makes them stand out. They are a bit like the opposite to the black lynx tips of the wild caracal.  He lives in France with his human: Adriana Piraino. He was born on 7th November 2020. He is still very young. They say Maine Coons reach adulthood at around the age of 4. He is going to be enormous as well. Richie with Adriana. Photo: Instagram Richie was bred b
Read more