Why are Maine Coon cats so friendly?

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A person on social media asked: "Why are Maine Coon cats so friendly?" They asked that question with confidence. I can think of a few topics to discuss in response to the question.

Socialisation

Maine Coon cats are purebred cats. Purebred cats are bred by cat breeders. Cat breeders know that they have an obligation to make sure that their kittens for sale are fully socialised to humans. This means that they will be friendly towards humans from the get go.

The breeder achieves this by making sure that the kittens that she has created in her breeding programme are underfoot in her home, meeting members of her family and even strangers. In this way the kittens become acclimatised to being around people. This means that when they meet their new owner, they get along with them and are not frightened of them.

That's why Maine Coon cats are so friendly. It is down to the efforts of the cat breeder and socialisation.

Unfriendly Maine Coon?

Sometimes a Maine Coon cat might not be friendly. There will be particular circumstances why this might have occurred. They would have been socialised as mentioned above but perhaps in the home where they lived as an adult Maine Coon, there owner abused them. Or neglected them and they became traumatised by the experience.

They learned to become fearful of people. That would be an example where a Maine Coon cat would be unfriendly at least until they learned to trust people again through good caregiving in a new home.

Other purebred cats

The question in the title gives the impression that Maine Coon cats are especially friendly, more so than other purebred cats. This is not the case. All breeders of purebred cats are obliged to ensure that their kittens are fully socialised before sale. It is a major part of their duties. So, Maine Coon cats are not special in terms of being friendly.

Other non-purebred cats

Non-purebred cats can be less likely to be fully socialised to people as kittens. Their origins are varied. They might have been a feral cat raised by their feral mother and then adopted and socialised later in life. They will be friendly after being socialised but they may harbour one or two feral cat traits for the rest of their lives. This may interfere with their relationship with their human caregiver. But they will still be great cats.

Or a stray cat might have been traumatised through their experiences. They will learn to trust again but they might not be immediately friendly.

Rescue cats are also sometimes likely to have been in a less-than-optimal environment, which has left them not quite as friendly as they might be. Once again, in a good home, they will flower and become great pets again.

The point here is that moggies do not have that predictable background sometimes that Maine Coon kittens should have for the reasons described above.

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