Your Maine Coon Guide

If you know Maine Coon cats you know that they are chilled out in front of the camera. You don't have to look far on the Internet to see videos of enormous Maine Coon cats looking super-chilled when being handled by their owner to show off the massive anatomy of these beautiful domestic cats.  It seems to be part of their character. It may be in part a result of the fact that these are purebred Maine Coon cats which have been created and raised by breeders who have a duty to ensure that their kittens are fully socialised to humans. These breeders appear to be doing a very good job to socialise their kittens. RELATED: Maine Coon cats have placid characters. Discuss . The cat in the video is two years old which is young but you can see he is enormous and I believe still growing!  You can see a tiny bit of "rust" (redness) in the coat which is not untypical of black cats. You can read about that condition on a page I wrote some time ago now [ link to article ].  When it is b...

There are two potentially big mistakes that a person who wants to purchase a Maine Coon might make and about which they should have some knowledge. They both concern the health of this cat. The problem with the popular Maine Coon cat breed is that the cats can inherit serious health conditions and a purchaser needs to know whether there have been DNA and other tests carried out to identify whether the Maine Coon cat in question carries the genetic mutation which gives the cat the disease. Three major inherited diseases So, for example, the Maine Coon cat is predisposed to inheriting the genetic disease known as Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). It's a condition which can affect Maine Coon cats but there is a test available which can isolate this mutation. For example, Langford Vets advertise on the Internet their Molecular Diagnostic Unit, where a PCR-based assay can be carried out to quickly and accurately identify the SMA mutation in Maine Coon cats. Read about SMA in Maine Coons by...

Young Maine Coon kitten. Image assessed as being in the public domain. A Maine Coon breeder based in Yorkshire, UK makes some remarks about Maine Coon kitten development which may interest people. This breeder has a connection to Russian, Ukrainian and Latvian Maine Coon breeders. The cattery's name is KleooKet. They say that Maine Coon kitten development will be influenced by the following: Their gender. This is well known. Males grow to be 2-3 kilograms larger than females. If the parents are large their offspring are likely to be large. KleooKet only mention the mother's weight and size influencing the weight and size of the kittens but it has to both parents. Kitten development will lag behind the normal if their nutrition is substandard. A kitten needs to eat whenever hungry. Excellent n utrition is vital for kitten growth . Comment : kittens need a growth formula food because a 'regular cat' (non-Maine Coon) of 9 months of age is basically full-grown and sexually...

MC, Foxie, steps out into the garden for the first time. Screenshot. This is an interesting little video for me. It shows the initial caution when the Maine Coon (MC) - Foxie - is allowed into the garden followed by intense curiosity. The caution comes from what I'd describe as 'feline agoraphobia' when they are kept indoors all their lives.  They are used to the security that the home provides. The area beyond the walls is alien territory; both interesting but potentially dangerous. It is a mix of emotions: excitement and slight anxiety. @maxiecoon 🪴Plants vs Foxie 😸 Let’s garden adventures begin!🐾 🧡Foxie enjoys being in a garden 😸 We are not sure what plants we have there, so we’ll just wait and see what will grow 👀 (if Foxie doesn’t destroy them 🤦🏻‍♀️, he tries to sit in a planter when he has a chance 😸🪴). As previous owners of this house also have cats, these plants should be safe ✨ Anyways, Foxie is more interested in insects and bugs living there 👅 No u...

In general terms Maine Coon cats are probably better than your average domestic cat when it comes to their reaction to a new baby in the home and interactions thereafter. This is because when you buy a Maine Coon you normally know what you are getting in terms of personality whereas with say a rescue random bred cat there is less predictability in respect of character.  Image: MikeB And Maine Coons are considered to have calm and fairly phlegmatic characters. There are many videos of owners showing off their super-large Maine Coon cat to the video camera and the cats take it all in their stride with no wriggling or expression of agitation. By-and-large this is a calm breed of cat which makes them very suited to being good with babies. The reason for this is that Maine Coons are bred through artificial selection. The word 'selection' is the operative one. It means that breeders select foundation cats who have the correct appearance for a Maine Coon as per the breed standard AND ...

I am discussing the cost of Maine Coon caregiving not their purchase price (approx. $1500 for a good example in the United States). It is an important topic for a person who is thinking about buying a Maine Coon especially if it is their first domestic cat companion. In fact, it is probably the most important topic. Budgeting before buying is wise.  RELATED: Why are Maine Coons so expensive? Are they ? Budget for your Maine Coon caregiving. Image: MikeB When you live with cats for a long time you realise that it is not cheap to look after a cat to a good standard. It is a significant item of expenditure which needs to be thought through. You've really got to be in a decent financial position as you don't want a lack of funds to undermine caregiving quality. RELATED: How much will it cost to feed my Maine Coon for ONE YEAR ? You won't find financial spreadsheets on Maine Coon caregiving on the internet. I think we have to apply some common sense. And there is a degree of fle...

Maine Coon and owner. She did not ask the question! They are here to illustrate the page. Image: Pinterest. This is a question on the Quora.com website. It's an interesting question but I personally believe that it is a misplaced question. I'll explain why. I have skimmed some of the answers to the question by contributors on the Quora.com website. Individual cats The answers tell me that the cat's caregiver is describing the character of the specific cat with whom they live. They happen to be Maine Coon cats but each individual has a different experience. Despite what you read on the internet; the descriptions of their Maine Coon cats do not follow a clear pattern. And that's why the question is misdirected. It implies that all Maine Coon cats have a certain, clear personality and are either easy or difficult to live with because of it. You'll find that many website owners simply regurgitate the same conventional stuff. And the cat fancy like to differentiate each...

Should Maine Coon cats wear collars? It's a question posed by the owner of the website Maine Coon Central and I think the question is not a great one to be perfectly frank but it does just about need to be addressed which is why I am writing this article. Maine Coon cat wearing a collar. Photo by Warren Photographic (modified by MikeB) and used with his express permission. You could ask the same question about any domestic cat that goes outside. Cat collars normally contain an identification tag. Cats that go outside might get lost. The ID tag can help them be reunited with their owner without recourse to having to scan for a microchip. The thing is though that it is probably exceptional for a Maine Coon cat to be allowed to go outside unsupervised. Quite rarely people take them outside on a harness and lead to allow them to explore the outside and be mentally stimulated. However, under these circumstances you don't need a collar with an ID tag for obvious reasons (unless they ...

This is about people and cats living in modern homes . I'm going to refer to an article in The Times newspaper today which is about the UK, but it refers to all modern homes. And the reason why modern homes are relevant to this discussion is because there is less ventilation in them. There are less gaps and holes around windows and in other parts of the home which provide natural ventilation.  Maine Coon lounges on a sofa. Are they safe from pollutants? Image believed to be in the public domain. The modern home is sealed up with double glazing for, ironically, environmental reasons. The idea is to keep the heat in to minimise the use of energy which at the moment often comes from gas, oil and coal, dug up from the ground and producing carbon dioxide when burnt which warms up the planet. It's ironic, too, that the urban environment is becoming slightly healthier because of electric vehicles (EVs) but relatively speaking inside the home is becoming more polluted. Tackling indoo...

The pet health insurance market is complicated. It's hard to know what to choose. Having thought about it, the starting point must be the inherited diseases of this popular cat breed which include spinal muscular atrophy, hip dysplasia, patellar luxation and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. And these diseases can start quite young. And they can be debilitating. Maine Coon pet health insurance discussed. Image: MikeB based in images in the public domain (believed). I wouldn't expect a Maine Coon cat to be involved in many accidents because they will normally be full-time indoor cats and if and when they go outside it will be under supervision. So, the pet health insurance is mainly about managing these inherited health conditions. Some pros and cons of pet health insurance . Four types There are four types of cat health insurance namely accident only, time-limited, maximum benefit and lifetime. Accident I will rule out accident only for the reason stated above.  Time limited "T...

The benefits of owning a Maine Coon cat are well known, the most important being companionship followed by their beautiful appearance but there are some cons and here's a list: They are expensive and as they become more popular, they become more expensive 😎. Depending upon their quality they will cost between about US$500 and $2500 or more. Perhaps they average about $1000 or the equivalent in your currency although I would expect them to be more expensive in countries where they are harder to obtain. Downside of owning a Maine Coon cat? There are many but some of the reasons are minor and they are still worth it to many satisfied caregivers. Image: Pinterest (modified background). And if you think you can get a cheap Maine Coon you can't because you will probably be buying a Maine Coon mix. Health problems are a big negative. Like all purebred cats they inherit certain health conditions, the most outstanding of which are hip dysplasia, patella luxation and HCM (hypertrophic c...

Can Maine Coons be left alone? The answer depends on for how long! I guess that is obvious. Five minutes? Yes, 5 hours? Yes. A full day, just about but don't do it regularly. I don't think any domestic cat should be left alone every day such as when their owner goes to work and leaves their Maine Coon at home in an apartment for the entire time.  and even goes out in the evening; not good. That does not work for me, and neither will it work for the cat. Although they will have to tolerate it sometimes but perhaps at the expense of their health: separation anxiety causes stress and possible aliments such as idiopathic cystitis. Stressed Maine Coon. Image in public domain. The answer to the question in the title is No, because the question is by implication: 'Can Maine Coons be left alone all day every day?" And it does not matter if we are referring to domestic cats of any breed including non-purebred cats. They all have the same essential emotional requirements, which ...

I'm sorry but this is not about Maine Coon cats because I have temporarily run out of things to say about that beautiful cat breed 😎. This is about something which is very human and it is the failure to recognise your own cat. A woman in Canada thought that she had lost her cat, George, and believed that she had spotted him on the road as she drove up to her house.  She grabbed the cat and placed him inside her car. When she got home her cat was there and realised that she had "stolen" someone else's cat. People on TikTok told her to put him back where she had bound him. Which she obligingly did. Although both the cat that she 'stole' and her cat are tabby cats. She believes that the other cat is a community cat but judging by the appearance it looks as though he or she isn't and is someone's pet.  In typical TikTok fashion a lot of people liked the video but I don't think it is worth that much in terms of adulation. Perhaps it was the woman's...

Not really. Maine Coon cats like any other domestic cat would enjoy life more being outside because it's a more natural environment ( depending on how their indoor environment has been enriched ). Also, the history of the Maine Coon cat is very much one of being an outside cat. These were originally barn cats and therefore semi-domesticated. They are built physically to endure harsh conditions. This is noted in the breed standard. And therefore, anatomically speaking they are quite definitely indoor/outdoor cats. Maine Coon on a lead by Ruffians. But, and there is always a but, they are also very popular cats and they have a distinctive appearance. A lot of people recognise the Maine Coon cat. Therefore, you can't let them go outside unless they are supervised. And the only way to do that realistically is to leash train your Maine Coon.  Or you might have 5 acres of land at the back of your house and pots of money. You could then build a cat confinement fence around the entire ...

One Maine Coon owner said on TikTok that if you have a bigger cat, you have bigger problems. As the Maine Coon (MC) is the biggest domestic cat you will have more problems. Bullocks 😎. She has to be wrong. The MC is pretty well like any other domestic cat except for their size and distinctive appearance. I guess they eat more but that is not a great hardship. There is one truth to the statement.  Screenshot from video. The MC is prone to hip dysplasia as you probably know (and patellar luxation - a knee problem). This is a loose hip joint . The biggest MCs are more prone. So size is an issue here. MCs are almost famous for having hip dysplasia. Not a good reputation and size plays a role in this disease. But I believe that she is not referring to the disease. She almost blames MCs for destroying furniture but all domestic cats will scratch furniture if there isn't a really solid scratching post to deter them. Even then they still might do it as it is entirely natural and necessary...

Here are 10 ways to help make your full-time indoor Maine Coon cat happy. It's probably a foregone conclusion that you will keep your Maine Coon cat indoors full-time. This is the way it should be with such a beautiful purebred cat but you will need to do what you can to keep him or her content. Here's a list of ways to achieve it. Below the list is Jackson Galaxy's video on the topic. The list comes from his video as you might expect. I have added my thoughts.  Maine Coon and owner. Photo in public domain. Galaxy is a cat behaviourist who, in general, believes in full-time indoor cats provided you do all you can to make your cat happy. Keeping your cat indoors full-time keeps them safe; the first priority of a cat caregiver. The second is to make them happy, as happy as possible and there are greater challenges to achieve this when they are confined to the indoors. That's obvious and perhaps doesn't need to be stated but I think Galaxy strikes a very nice balanc...

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...

This, for me, is an interesting question. You can answer the question from a technical point of view or from a practical and realistic point of view. Technically, we are told by the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) that Maine Coons can live outside because the breed standard tells us that the Maine Coon is "solid, rugged, and can endure a harsh climate". That clearly states, by implication, that the Maine Coon could live outside if demanded. However, I don't think the breed standard intends to portray that possibility. Can Maine Coons live outside? Extract from the CFA Maine Coon breed standard. The statement comes from the origins of this breed. The introductory section of the breed standard under the heading "GENERAL" also states "originally a working cat". This is a reference to Maine Coons being barn cats back in the day. There are referring to the state's "Maine cats" as they were described before the cat fancy i.e. before the ...