Be aware of those possible Maine Coon blues after the pandemic
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| Mango happier with Hera after becoming depressed due to isolation post-pandemic. Screenshot from video below. |
There is a story online today (Newsweek) about a ginger tabby Maine Coon cat called Mango, living in Romania, who became depressed after the pandemic. The signs of depression were pretty obvious. He became immobile essentially. He lost interest in his favourite treats which she normally adored. He didn't even like being petted according to his caregiver, Mady Mondan, a 34-year-old therapist.
She took him to the vet who said that he was healthy. Yes, he was physically healthy but it wasn't possible to say same thing about his mental state. He had become depressed. Some people don't think that cats can become depressed. I take that from the comments under the video of Mango on TikTok.
Without being critical in any way, there is a lack of awareness sometimes about the range of emotions that domestic cats can experience. They can certainly experience the basic emotions of happiness, sadness, and loneliness that I would argue they can feel due to isolation. Sometimes people have misconceptions about the independence of cats. They are not independent. They are actually highly dependent! On us.
And depression through isolation is the emotion that Mango felt when he was suddenly stuck at home as Maine Coon cats normally are because they are too valuable to be allowed outside, after the pandemic, during which there were extensive lockdown periods; a time during which the owner was there for them all the time.
It's been discussed before but I think we need a reminder that domestic cats in general are sociable creatures. And that sociability also requires, I believe, contact with their human caregiver. It is not quite enough to adopt a second cat and think that you have 'cured' the problem. It goes further than that. 10,000 years of domestication has led us to the situation where domestic cats need to be with their human caregiver.
And in this sense, the Maine Coon cat is particularly vulnerable because most owners of this majestic breed keep their cats at home full-time. They don't allow them access to the outside unsupervised. That's all well and good and the right thing to do but it needs to be counterbalanced by other efforts namely enriching the environment in which they live and, as highlighted in the case in question, adopting a second cat if possible. This can be problematic because we know that resident cats don't always get along with a new incoming cat. There is no automatic quick fix here. A slow introduction is the tried and tested MO.
And there's no real substitute for human companionship. Of course, employers want their workers back in the office because they are more productive when they can work in direct contact with their colleagues. Hybrid working is far more popular today than it was before the pandemic. This means people working from home and at the office for half the week approximately. This is a nice compromise for the full-time indoor cat such as Mango.
I would hope that Mango's owners can find a way to work in this hybrid fashion in the interest of his's mental health. And I would hope too that they can enrich their home environment a little more from their cats' perspective.
It is difficult to enrich the environment and make it more suitable for a cat particularly when the owner lives in a flat. But efforts need to be made. This means creating vertical spaces and focusing on windows. The window to the outside world is 'cat television'. It is entertainment. They will crave that because there is little or nothing inside. Build a platform next to a window to allow them to look outside for long periods.
RELATED: Cat Television – a good example.
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