Your Maine Coon Guide

There are two aspects in answering the question, aren't there? Of course, Maine Coon cats are cuddly felines because one wants to cuddle them. They are fluffy. They have shaggy fur. They look adorable. They make a sweet sound somewhat quiet compared to their size. They are friendly and adorable. You want to cuddle your Maine Coon cat. In that respect they are very cuddly. Young woman cuddles her beloved Maine Coon. This image is free to use under an unconditional Creative Commons license. Click on it to see it larger and to download it. The other aspect is whether your Maine Coon cat either wants to be cuddled or will accept being cuddled. And that depends on two factors. Firstly, there is the overarching personality characteristics of the Maine Coon cat.  This is a slightly difficult topic because it is somewhat unfair to brand all Maine Coon cats with exactly the same character. You can't really do it but there are some hints about their personality in a book by Gloria Stephe...

Nothing better than seeing a Maine Coon on a lead in a public place. Image: in the public domain as assessed. Please read the article careful to get the true meaning. Thanks. The headline to this article is based on a study I have used to prepare an article on cat breed personality ( click this to read that article ). It is a good study which also refers to previous studies. In it the scientists refer to the Maine Coon. I'll quote what they say about the Maine Coon: "In previous studies, Maine Coon [11,19,47] and Burmese [19] have been ranked among the breeds showing the most touch sensitivity/owner-directed aggression, and they also scored high in our study." The numbers are references to earlier studies. Ignore those. But what they say is interesting and I have not seen this kind of language before in describing the character of the Maine Coon. Before I discuss it I should say that anyone reading a scientific study should exercise a bit of caution because not all of wha...

We know that the Maine Coons has hairy feet. They have tufts of hair sticking out between the toes. It varies between the cats but you will see some extraordinary photographs of very long hair tufts poking out through the paw pads going downwards. This means that the fur is between the floor and the paw pads when they walk. The Maine Coon cat must have hairy feet as per the cat breed standard of all the cat associations. RELATED:  Maine Coon has the most amazing 'tufted paws' that you'll ever see . The Maine Coon cat's hairy feet are wonderful. Image: Mon Balon. This is a neat topic for discussion. Do you trim them? If a Maine Coon owner has a hard floor which are quite common these days and if that floor is shiny because it is well polished, there may be a slight risk of a Maine Coon cats slipping and sliding on it because their hair tufts are in between their paw pads and the floor. More hairy feet! Image: Facebook. I think that's a fair assessment.  It is based u...

I could ask whether Maine Coon cats drink a lot of water with their paws because I've seen this a lot especially with Maine Coon cats. And it seems for some reason that Maine Coons are fascinated with water. The experts say that they love to keep hydrated! Do Maine Coon cats have a particular awareness about their hydration? And they prefer to drink running or moving water rather than water in a bowl. Is it fair to say that Maine Coon cats are obsessed with water? If this breed is more interested in water than the average cat it begs the question as to why? And why do they use their paws more than is normal? Well, some of this reputation is an exaggeration which has been pushed around the internet by websites. Do Maine Coon cats drink a lot of water? I am not sure. It is said they do but I think this is an exaggerated reputation? However if the love of water is a personality trait of this cat breed, it must be because of hundred years of selective breeding. Normally cat breeders se...

Bloody wonderful 😂. Somebody asked this on the Quora.com website. I think that it is a good question because it invites people to answer it. Therefore, I want people to write a comment, please. I'm desperate for comments.  I have lived with a couple of Maine Coons for two weeks. I felt treasured and privileged. Sometimes I am very tempted to adopt a Maine Coon cat. All my life I have adopted rescue cats, unwanted cats and had wonderfully loving relationships with them. But on other occasions my mind wanders to the possibility of living with a beautifully, glamorous, large Maine Coon and taking them for a walk on a leash to impress the neighbours. 'Zak' a Maine Coon I loved. Photo: MikeB My experience of living with these two Maine Coons was obviously good. One of them, Zak, really liked me and we got on so well. He was very lovable and loving. I felt the warmth from him emotionally. I miss him. He's probably passed by now and gone over the rainbow bridge because this w...

In the title, I have asked the question that Google suggests that I ask and I've answered it as well. I will try and add some detail. Yes, Google suggests to me that people search for an answer as to why all Maine Coons are vocal, meaning that they are very talkative. This simply is not the case on my research and based upon my personal experience. Dilute tortie cat photographed by Robert Sijka. And certainly, Gloria Stephens in her book Legacy of the Cat , supports me. She should know. She became a specialty judge for the American Cat Fanciers' Association in 1971. At the time of publication of her book,  first published in the US in 2001, she was an all-breed judge for the American Cat Association. She may well have retired but her experience is undeniable. She is also considered to be an acknowledged expert in cat genetics. She has worked as an instructor training judges and has conducted cat breeding seminars. And finally, she is or was a devoted and professional breeder...

They (the experts) say that the Maine Coon is a big cat with a tiny voice. They're the biggest domestic cat . So is it true that they have tiny voices? 'Sean Coonery' has a pretty standard voice but if anything quieter and less demanding than normal. He is undemonstrative in character and voice. Screenshot. I visited YouTube and viewed as many Maine Coon talking videos that I could find. I have 2 observations about the Maine Coon (MC) voice. Firstly, they are not hugely talkative. No more so than any other domestic cat and perhaps quieter than normal; Secondly, and importantly, their voice is low key and sweet. It is not loud and demanding like the sounds made by the Siamese. It is a shy voice. I would not call it a tiny voice but a sweet, respectful and undemanding voice. A very pleasant sound. I agree that there is this slightly strange juxtaposition of the smallish voice coming from a huge domestic cat.  Note : This is a video from another website. Sometimes they are ...

Is this a Maine Coon? Probably! Is this chunky-looking, dog-like, all-white cat with odd-eyes a Maine Coon? I don't know for sure because no information is provided with this picture. However, I am pretty confident that this is a young Maine Coon cat.  The assessment is based upon two main elements of the cat's appearance: the large triangular ears which in this case are particularly large even for a Maine Coon cat, and the strong, square muzzle which is very typical of this highly popular cat breed. I've just noticed, by the way, that it appears that the cat's whiskers have been trimmed. I could be wrong but they look unusually short. Cat owners should never trim their cat's whiskers. Perhaps that is obvious to everybody but apparently it is not. Whiskers have a mass of nerves at their base to allow cats to detect minute changes even in the air current around them. They are a very useful part of their anatomy and they should not be modified in any way shape or f...

You can answer the question from two standpoints (1) the statements of Maine Coon cat owners of which you can find many on the Internet and (2) the statement of a well-known cat show judge, Gloria Stephens. Huge ginger tabby Maine Coon being cuddled and enjoying it. Picture in the public domain (believed to be a screenshot from a video). Those that live with and love Maine Coons Anecdotally, and their evidence is completely believable, Maine Coons like to cuddle. They are like any other domestic cat in terms of their personalities and characters. They live in the human world and provided their human companion and caretaker does a good job, even an excellent job, the Maine Coons in their charge will want to cuddle up and be close to their human.  Of course, it depends upon how well socialised the cat is but all Maine Coons should be well socialised because it is part of the work of a good cat breeder. All Maine Coon cats have been created by a cat breeder. I am referring to pureb...

This is not about individual cats of the Maine Coon breed being scared of everything. Maine Coon cats are just like any other domestic cat. They are not scared of everything. If they are properly raised underfoot and socialised then, just like any other properly raised domestic cat, they are not scared of everything. That said, domestic cats in general can be a little bit anxious about many things because they are, after all, living in a human world. We should not forget that. My Maine Coon is scared of everything? Image: MikeB based on images from Pixabay and a Instagram. The Maine Coon in the background is not 'scared of everything'! So, if a person visits the Internet looking for advice because their Maine Coon cat is 'scared of everything', they need to look at three things (1) how their cat was socialised by the breeder from whom they purchased the cat or (2) if they adopted the cat from another person whether that person mistreated their cat or allowed their ca...

It is unfair to generalise about all the cats of one cat breed because within that group of cats there are individuals who are different from the rest. Although perhaps through selective breeding there's probably a tendency for individual cats of this cat breed to "not constantly demand attention, preferring to hang out with their owners. They do not necessarily want to be held...". Zak. Photo by me. A super charming and sweat cat. The quote comes from Gloria Stephens in her book Legacy of the Cat . She knows the cat breeds extremely well and was a specialty judge for the American Cat Fanciers' Association in 1971 and has been an all-breed judge for the American Cat Association. Personally, I have never lived with a Maine Coon for a long period of time. However, I have lived with a charming Maine Coon cat, Zak (see above), for 14 days in Dallas and I would confirm that although he was a beguiling and lovely cat I never saw him on a lap although he came on...

There is an anecdotal connection between Maine Coon cats and water. They are said to like water and to paw at water bowls etc. None of the respected and well known books that I have on cat breeds and/or the Maine Coon refer to this likeness for water or playing with water. The CFA website, the Cat Channel says they are fascinated by water, however. There are no creative commons images that I can find of Maine Coons playing with water. This supports the view that Maine Coons are not necessarily crazy about water. I have discussed this aspect of Maine Coon cat behavior before. On this page I set out my theory as to why this breed likes water (if it really does). The page included a testament by Helmi Flick , celebrated American cat photographer who lives with two Maine Coons and two Brit SHs . A colleague of mine VG has a page on her website about how Maine Coons love water and a video. You'll have to make your own mind up about it. It is possible that Maine Coons like wa...

Maine Coon ear tufts - classic tabby and white appearance - Photo by foxypar4 (Flickr) One of the defining characteristics of the Maine Coon's appearance is the ear tufts, the hair that grows from the tips of the ear flaps (the outer ear). They are called "lynx tips". They are reminiscent of the caracal, a wild cat . The caracal has the best ear tufts of all cats, wild or domestic. They are used to communicate . The lynx also has lynx tips, of course! But of all the domestic cats, the Maine Coon has the most prominent ear tufts. They are enshrined in the breed standard: "EARS: Shape: large, well-tufted ". Maine Coons also have long ear hair inside the ear that flops out as the picture above shows. The ear tufts fall into the category of "ear furnishings". This is cat fancy language. In humans, ear hair is undesirable - quite the opposite in the cat fancy. Most moggies, random bred cats, have hair inside the ear but it is less extravagan...

Cookiecat Pussycat , a photo by ~Sage~ on Flickr. Yes, the Maine Coon has uneven length long hair. The long hair extends to the hair between the toes of the paws. The paws of this well known Flickr Maine Coon are outstandingly furry! The fur sticks out at all angles. Her name is "Cookiecat". She is a calico Maine Coon cat and she is very pretty indeed.

by Tetsumo The Maine Coon has average intelligence. However, this is a tricky question. In an intelligence test of the cat breeds the Maine Coon did not come out on top. The Sphynx cat did . The skinny cats such as the modern Siamese and Oriental Shorthair came out well. As a breed the Maine Coon is probably mid-table in terms of intelligence. However, we should really be asking, "Is my Maine Coon smart?" It is really more about individual cats. Some are smarter than others. Some Maine Coons are very smart. We don't ask, "Are Americans smart?" or "Are French people smart?" We ask if an individual person is smart. The same applies to cats. I suppose that is common sense.

Maine Coons are big because breeders have selectively bred from large cats for many years. That means selecting large cats and mating them over and over again. The original cats were large too. These cats were probably long haired cats from England that came over with the settlers in the 1600s. The answer as to why Maine Coons are so big, the biggest domestic cat registered by the Cat Fanciers' Association, is because the starting cats were large and through careful cat breeding they have been made larger. Large cats have a greater likelihood of suffering from cat health issues such as hip dysplasia . Miniature cats are bred small in the same way but by selecting small cats.

It seems that in general Maine Coons are not lapcats. I'll quote some excellent sources and be guided by my own experiences. Maine Coons are people orientated but not "overdependent" (Gloria Stephens of Legacy of the Cat ). Dr. Fogle in The Encyclopedia of the Cat endorses this view. They don't particularly like being held. This indicates that they are not overly fond of going on a person's lap. But cats vary from individual to individual so generalizations can be risky. My own experiences with Zak and Quinn two fine Maine Coons living with Flicks in Dallas, USA also tends to support this. Zak liked to play and be around me but kept his distance a bit and did his own thing. I like that quality. Whether a cat is a lapcat will usually depend on the individual cat and his or her temperament and early socialization.

This Maine Coon kitten (going on being a cat) has some noticeable Maine Coon characteristics. Why say that? Because there are a good number of so-called Maine Coon cats on the internet and in this case Flickr that don't have Maine Coon characteristics and you wonder if they are actually Maine Coons. People do tend to call their long haired and large domestic cat a Maine Coon even if she or he has no pedigree and is not registered with a cat association, which makes then domestic long hair cats - random bred cats, which are as good and Maine Coons but they are not purebred cats. Here are two characteristics that give a clue as to the genuineness of the description, "Maine Coon". The tabby and white coat is not exclusive to the Maine Coon but is often associated with this cat breed: Maine Coon Kitten with a nice square muzzle and lynx tipped ears Photo  by  foxypar4

This is an American cat. The breed almost certainly has origins in semi-long haired ships cats that immigrated with the pilgrims in the early 1600s. They landed at Maine, hence the name of this cat. The cats would have been moggies as there were no cat breeds at that time. The Maine Coon is with the American Shorthair one of the first breeds to be developed in the USA. There is no connection between the Maine Coon and the raccoon! See history of the Maine Coon . The Maine Coon is the world's most popular purebred cat on my reckoning. The Maine Coon is the largest of the cat breeds excluding the F1 wildcat hybrids. The Maine Coon is allowed by the cat associations to have a wide range of the usual coat colors and patterns. The tabby colors are probably the most popular. This is a cat known for its chirrup and trills, a version of the meow, I suspect that is probably a verbal expression of excitement. The Maine Coon coat is shaggy and less full than the British Longhai...