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Maine Coon first hisses and gradually forms a very close relationship with a new kitten

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Ginger tabby Maine Coon overcomes his resistance and becomes a very close friend to an incoming kitten. Screenshot. This is a nice example, I feel, of a Maine Coon who was described as 'depressed' gradually forming a very close, I'd say loving, relationship with a new kitten. When first introduced to the new kitten the Maine Coon hisses. A natural reaction although it was a bit half-hearted. You can see it if you watch carefully. It is not an aggressive hiss as I've said. But what I like about the video is that it shows how a resident cat can warm to an incoming cat over time and ultimately form a very close relationship which greatly improves his life. This worked out really well for the caregiver. Bringing in a new cat to be friends with a resident cat is a bit risky. You hope there is chemistry after the initial resistance by the resident cat as happened here. It is an optimistic video I'd say as it shows that it can work really well. The close friendship between...
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Majestic Maine Coon meets the cutest Persian kitten

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This is one of those ah... moments. The cutest Persian kitten gingerly sneaks up to a 19-pound, majestic snow-white Maine Coon who looks on with calm disdain. It is a very cute video. And nice to see these two very different cat breeds together in the same video.  The cutest Persian kitten gingerly sneaks up to a majestic snow-white Maine Coon who looks on with calm disdain. Screenshot. This is the first time these two have met. It looks like the Persian kitten is new to the home and the resident cat is the white Maine Coon which is why he is not really very welcoming towards the Persian. It'll take a little while for the resident Maine Coon to accept the little incomer. But for first contact is a success, I'd say. Kitten reaches out to make friends and is rebutted! Screenshot. The kitten really wants to make friends and reaches out to touch the Maine Coon who responds negatively. I have good feeling that things will change and that the Maine Coon will warm to the newcomer and ...
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Some thoughts on adopting another Maine Coon as a companion to the resident Maine Coon

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I've seen homes where there is more than one Maine Coon. Greedy I'd say! Just joking but there are some good argument for having two cats rather than one provided the budget can stretch to two.  But as you probably know resident cats often don't really like new cats coming to live in THEIR place, their home range. After all, although domestic cats are pretty sociable after 10,000 years of domestication the wildcat character within dictates and that character is inherently solitary. Although there are occasions when cats that were strangers become best buddies. That's what you want. But even with the best pick from a cat breeder for the newcomer and even with good luck I wouldn't expect anything more, initially, than the resident cat to tolerate the newcomer. Then they might gradually warm to each other and become friendly. Two better than one Ideally, all other things being equal, two cats are better than one as if they get along, they can entertain themselves. This...
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Two gentle Maine Coons accept puppy into their home day one

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This is a warming video. A family have a couple of gorgeous Maine Coons and they decided to adopt a fluffy puppy (8 weeks old Maltipoo puppy, Leyla). The take pretty bold but sensible steps to introduce the puppy to the resident Maine Coons. Within a day there is acceptance and no hissing or objections it seems from the Maine Coons. A great result in football parlance. RELATED :  Tip on introducing a new cat to a resident cat . I like the way they used a large indoor cage for the puppy to allow the cats to get used to the smells and presence of their new canine friend. I don't think you can ever be sure how resident cats will get along with a newcomer, cat or dog, until it happens. The outcome must be dependent of two possibilities (1) the cats are already socialised to dogs, so probably no problem or (2) the character of the cats is great for accepting a new dog. They have placid personalities which seems to the case in this instance. Mutual play is a great way to socialise a newc...
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Maine Coon Kitties

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Ruth lives with by Dan Hershman who took the photo People search on the internet for "Maine Coon Kitties" The word, "kitties" is used by Americans so I know that it is Americans who are searching. Hi...you might be one of these people. If you are, you are wise! The Maine Coon is the post popular purebred cat in the world, I believe. The video heading this website explains why I think this is. This page also discusses the reasons behind the Maine Coon's popularity . Before adopting (buying or rescuing) a Maine Coon it is probably sensible to think about the cost of maintaining a purebred cat and to learn about the Maine Coon. The Maine Coon does have potential health issues , lets remember. I don't want to run down the Maine Coon. Not at all. This is a very special breed of cat and I love this breed. But people who wish to keep a Maine Coon should be aware of health issues as they translate into cost issues! Going to the vet is expensive. Pet insura...
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The extreme Maine Coon face

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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 b...
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Maine Coon Size - this is a huge one!

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  Enormous Maine Coon with a head bigger than the person holding him. Pic: in public domain. Maine Coon size is very important to both breeders of this cat and the public. I sometimes think that the public is more obsessed with Maine Coon size than the breeders are. The bigger the Maine Coon the better. There is a fascination about it and I confess that there is nothing much more impressive than a huge Maine Coon. They've been bred like this through selective breeding but please remember that they weren't always like this. The original Maine Coons were regular farm cats in the state of Maine in 19th-century and before. They were robust, rugged, medium-longhaired moggy cats but impressive nonetheless. Their impressiveness led to breeders deciding to breed them which in turn led to the breed being accepted by the cat associations and then to win cat shows and become perhaps one of the most famous breeds in the world. The breed standard for the Maine Coon as provided by e.g. Cat F...
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Average lifespan of Maine Coon cat

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How long do Maine Coon cats live for? What's the average lifespan? Do they live shorter lives than the average random-bred family cat? These are difficult questions to answer accurately. In fact, I don't think we can answer them accurately because nobody has been counting. Nobody has a database or carried out a full-blown survey and therefore you will read anecdotal evidence i.e. statements by breeders or people who think they know the answer and these answers get repeated on the Internet. I am not sure that they are accurate. Picture of a Maine Coon who looks like a middle-aged man. Photo: Pinterest. My research indicates that people believe that Maine Coon cats live between about 10 and 15 years old. Some may live longer than that and some may live shorter lives. One well-known Maine Coon, Rubble, lived for 31 years and was at one time the oldest domestic cat in the world. But there will always be exceptions and this article is about the mean or the average although these ...
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Comparison of a black smoke Maine Coon at 6 weeks and 6-years-of-age

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This is a cross-post as the image is so damned good. It is amazing because the cat is amazing. To put the same cat at different stages of their life in the same photograph is a nice idea especially with this Maine Coon (MC) who has an amazingly heavy face. It is so mightily masculine to be almost unbelievable. He has a priceless expression on his face too. Very serious compared to the innocence of his face when he was 6 weeks old. He looks a bit coy when 6 weeks old and a slightly grumpy middle-aged man when 6 years old. Comparison of a black smoke Maine Coon at 6-weeks and 6-years-of-age. Image in pubic domain. No doubt he is huge too. You get a clear sense of that in the image. There is a serious and less impressive side to this image. It's the backstory that people don't really want to read about and discuss or in fact do anything about: heart ( HCM ) and joint disease. The bigger and heavier the MCs are the more predisposed to heart disease they are. Here is the posts on...
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Are Maine Coons illegal in some countries, states or territories?

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One Maine Coon website asks if Maine Coons are legal? My initial response was that it is a bizarre question (second thoughts below), but I'll answer it in my way. I say that it is a bizarre question because the Maine Coon is an entirely domestic cat by which I mean NOT a wild cat hybrid and therefore there is no reason whatsoever to declare it illegal in any jurisdiction unless that there is some other fanciful reason to ban the cat (there might be - see below). Are Maine Coons illegal in some countries, states or territories? No, to the best of my knowledge. Image: MikeB I know of no jurisdiction anywhere in the world that bans Maine Coons which makes sense. Conversely a similar sized domestic cat, the F1-F2 Savannah, is illegal in many jurisdictions (states, territories and countries) because it is a wildcat hybrid. The cat has some wild cat DNA which some legislatures consider to be detrimental to human health and welfare and to the conservation of wildlife (if the cat escapes t...
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5 Maine Coon transformations from kitten to adult (video)

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Maine Coon kitten and his adult self. Photo: Robert Silka. This is a series of photographs by the very famous Maine Coon photographer: robert_sijka. I think he presents his photographs too dark as there is not enough information in the photographs for my liking but he takes great photographs of great Maine Coon cats. In this series he photographs a kitten and their adult version. Each individual cat is a wonderful example of the Maine Coon breed. I can count five examples. In my experience, these Google Blogger videos only work if you click the centre play button and then, immediately afterwards, the play button bottom-left! It sounds bad but the short video is worth watching.
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Tortoiseshell Maine Coon with split-face

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Maine Coon with "split face". Photo: Screenshot. This is a very impressive Maine Coon. As you can see she is a tortoiseshell and as you probably know almost all tortoiseshell and calico cats are female. There are a few male tortoiseshell cats (and this might be one of them). Their sex is caused by a genetic aberration because the genetics of tortoiseshell cats dictates that they are almost always female. About one in 3000 are male as I recall. Also, it is not that unusual to see this extreme pattern on the face which creates the appearance of a "split-face". This is not what is called a "chimera" but a normal variation of the tortoiseshell pattern. Sometimes you do see what some people call "two-faced" cats with this sort of face due to a sharply defined pattern down the middle of the face. But the genetics behind that is different to this normal tortoiseshell variation. This is a particularly extraordinary looking Maine Coon cat. Not all Maine C...
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Eerie picture of a Maine Coon sitting like a human on a chest of drawers

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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...
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A mightily beautiful orange Maine Coon

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Orange cats seem to feature in films more than other types of domestic cat . Is it because they have good, balanced characters? I am discussing the possibility of a link between coat type and color and character. A big call. A longshot. But possible. I discussed it in another post - click here if it interests you .  So, we love orange cats. They are undoubtedly one of the more popular cat coat types. And that is one reason why this Maine Coon is so damned attractive. What a combination: the size and presence of the Maine Coon, the world's largest domestic cat breed , and the orange tabby coat ( the friendliest cats? ) A mightily beautiful orange Maine Coon. Photo: Pinterest. I think this sort of domestic cat is the most desirable. You would be hard pressed to adopt a better cat but the best ones to adopt are the unadoptable, elderly, black rescue cats languishing in a shelter somewhere . A bit about the orange cat Cat breeders tend to refer to orange as red. The general public r...
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Today's Maine Coons are much larger and longer than the original

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There was a time, during the early years when the Maine Coon's popularity was in decline that the cat fanciers struggled with writing what they believed to be the correct breed standard. There was competition between what Richard H Gebhardt describes as a "progressive standard" or one which was designed to "describe and preserve an existing cat" i.e. fix the appearance. At this time this cat breed was much more a standard looking cat which is probably why it failed to catch the imagination of the cat loving public of America. Maine Coon. Photo in public domain. A progressive standard is one which allows breeders to constantly "refine" the appearance as they might describe it. But this can lead to extreme breeding and extreme appearances such as is evident in the Persian and Siamese. There was a time, then, went Richard H Gebhardt says that cat fanciers asked, "is the Maine Coon cat simply the long-haired variety of the domestic, or American, sh...
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