Your Maine Coon Guide

Theoretically, the answer to the question is yes but please read on and contribute if you'd like to. This is a general discussion because the question demands it. People are asking the question in the title online so I'd better answer it even though to be brutally frank it is a poor question. The first point to make is that the question is based on the premise that all Maine Coons are the same size as the huge individuals we see on the internet and they are not. Image: MikeB The classic Maine Coon as per the breed standard are bigger than the average domestic cat and the biggest domestic cat breed but they are not *that* big. The Maine Coon show cats might disappoint the people who've see the social media monster Maine Coons. Imagination So, you should not visualize Maine Coons the size of a bobcat attacking and devouring a dog belonging to one of the toy dog breeds such as the Pug or Pomeranian! I don't think you were visualizing it actually 😉😎. The Maine Coon is big...

Polydactyl paw of a dog. Screenshot. One aspect of the Maine Coon that helps to make it a famous cat breed is that it is predisposed to polydactylism. This almost totally benign genetic mutation was more common in the past than it is today as the breeders (some or all?) have selectively bred it out of their breeding lines as it disqualifies cats in CFA cat shows but not TICA cat shows where they have a special polydactyly Maine Coon (MC) category.  Back in the day when the MC was a barn cat say in the early-mid 1800s I bet there were a lot more polydactyl MCs. I questioned whether certain dog breeds experienced the same genetic mutation and Ben the Vet on TikTok tells me that there are. He does not specify dog breeds but a quick internet search found the following breeds predisposed to the genetic mutation: Norwegian Lundehund The Great Pyrenees The Beauceron Akita Anatolian Shepherd Rottweiler Jindo The Catalan Sheepdog Shiba Inu The Estrela Mountain dog Australian Shepherd Kor...

Please don't run off because this is about the boring law. It concerns cats and dogs and their theft which is of major importance to all cat and dog owners in the UK and elsewhere. Specifically, it is about a proposed law, the Kept Animals Bill, being debated in the UK Parliament.  It is at the report stage in the House of Commons and therefore it is progressing quite well. It was introduced by George Eustice of the Department of for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. This is "a Bill to make provision about the welfare of certain kept animals that are in, imported into, or exported from Great Britain. Maine Coon is unprotected by the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill in the UK! Image: MikeB Its intention is to improve welfare standards through a wide range of measures. Although the Bill introduces a raft of new laws regarding puppy smuggling, live exports, banning the keeping of primates as pets and livestock worrying together with an amendment to improve zoo regulations, o...

A lot of websites are answering the question as to whether Maine Coon cats are good with dogs, and it is a question which looks at half of the issues that need to be dealt with. There are two players, the cat and the dog. There's no point having a cat that gets on well with dogs if the dog they live with does not get on well with cats. 😎. That's the first point. And, further, whether a cat gets on well with dogs it is normally not breed specific. It is about individual cats. This is not something that you can guarantee that breeders breed into the kittens that they create. By this I mean it is not something that is always created through inheritance unless the breeder has selected a foundation breeding pair of Maine Coon cats both of whom are known to have characters predisposed to getting on with cats and a supressed prey drive to chase cats. That's the second point. Are Maine Coon cats good with dogs? It depends. Image: MikeB A dog friendly cat and vice versa is normall...

Here is a brilliant interspecies friendship. More than that, actually. Love actually. I might be anthropomorphising these love birds but I don't think so. The Maine Coon is Ernest and the Pitbull is Hemingway. Neat. The Maine Coon is polydactyl which may have inspired the names of these companion animals because 'Hemingway cats' are known to be polydactyl. In case you are unsure what that means, it means that he has more than the usual number of toes.  If you like interspecies relationships: try this one:  Alsatian and crow are best mates ! Maine Coon, Ernest, and Pitbull, Hemingway together. Screenshot. Maine Coons are famous for this condition but it was bred out of them by American breeders. It is a shame as polydactylism is part of the Maine Coon heritage. Nowadays a polydactyl Maine Coon would be disqualified in a CFA organised cat show competition . That's how far from the history of the breed the cat associations have come. They consider polydactylism a crude def...

Milo, a Maine Coon, and 2 Malamutes have adjusted in their own ways to a different way of life because a new baby has been introduced into their home and the family. The humans call the family their 'pack'. They are referring to a pack of dogs or wolves and I guess that when you introduce a baby into the home there is a potential to disturb the pack which is why the leaders (alpha dogs) i.e. the humans, are happy that it has worked out well. "Milo, the cat, he was petrified." Milo, the Maine Coon, was the last to get on board. He was initially fearful of the new baby whereas Nikko was very keen to get involved. He was inquisitive and keen to sniff and look at the new baby. The other Malamute (I've forgotten their name) was also pretty keen. Firstly, having read some horrendous stories of dogs attacking babies, I'm always a little bit edgy when I see large dogs around small babies but these parents are very organised and I am sure that they know what they ar...

Maine Coon versus Malamute (stressed husband). Screenshot. This is an interesting video made by the wife of the man we see in the footage. The husband looks stressed (chewing his nails) as the Malamute versus Maine Coon play-fight takes place around him as his wife intently does her best to get good video footage. I can sense his stress. I have a feeling that the marriage is not going well but that might be a very unkind observation. The video is titled Giant Cat Beats Up Dog!! (Maine Coon V Malamute) but it not exactly that as you can see. In fact, the dog intimidates the cat as she constantly hisses at the dog and runs into a hiding place to get away from his advances. The Malamute wants to play and instigates it while the Maine Coon is a reluctant participant. The Malamute is a large breed of dog bred for strength and endurance to pull a sled in Alaska. Here he is stuck in a compact home in the UK (looks like). The Maine Coon is the largest cat breed but looks small compared to t...

Maine Coons like dogs if they are socialised to dogs just like any other domestic cat. By "socialise" I mean that they have been raised with dogs during the first seven weeks of their life. That's the basic, standard method of ensuring that any domestic cat gets along with dogs throughout their adulthood. In fact, socialisation is at the root of all domestication. Without a newborn kitten being socialised to people and other pets they would end up being feral cats. Domestication has to be 'trained into them' through socialisation. Maine Coon is irritated by a snappy little pain in the bum terrier. Screenshot from video below. The video shows a Maine Coon who is socialised to dogs and a dog who is socialised to domestic cats in general: So, in this regard Maine Coons are no different from any other domestic cat either purebred, pedigree and random bred. When they're young they have to be familiar with dogs. They have to be around them, interacting with them, le...