Your Maine Coon Guide

This is a quick note on the topic of hairballs to which Maine Coon cats are arguably more predisposed to suffering from than shorthair cat breeds because the Maine Coon cat is a medium-longhaired cat with a shaggy coat. It is often said that the cat caregiver should assist their Maine Coon cat in grooming by brushing them regularly. Hairball. Image: in public domain with words added. On the basis that Maine Coon cats have more hairballs than your regular shorthair cat, a study came to the conclusion that increasing dietary fibre with the use of a psyllium husk supplement such that the total dietary fibre was at 11%-15% facilitates the faecal excretion of hair.  In other words, the dietary fibre supplement helps the passage of hair through the Maine Coon cat's digestive system to the exterior and I think that is quite a useful bit of information if an owner believes that their cat is suffering from more hairballs than normal. Interestingly they found that adding dietary fibre in the...

The question is actually asking if Maine Coons SHOULD be given a raw meat diet and the answer is NO. The video of me explains. Yes, I know I look old and ridiculous but I got tired of typing stuff. The point is that of course Maine Coons can eat raw meat. But eating meat alone is not enough as it will not be complete and balanced. You need to add supplements. You can buy them so you could buy some raw meat, mince it up and add the supplements to make it complete and balanced (see link below) but that's not enough either really if you ask veterinarians and 'experts'.  RELATED:  Good Cat Diet: Premix and Fresh Meat ? There is a chance that raw meat contains pathogens (nasty germs) which the Maine Coon will ingest and make them sick such as toxoplasmosis. And if you prepare it carelessly and store it incorrectly you may add some bacteria to the prepared product such as Salmonella . You might store it at a temperature that is too high. It may go off slightly and so on. READ A ...

Well, the question is a bit odd but it's being asked on the internet so I'll answer it. It applies of course to all domestic cats as Maine Coons are no different in matters of diet. The short answer is that if a Maine Coon is interested in eating a cooked chicken egg, scrambled or hard boiled (which is debatable but possible), the owner shouldn't stop them as it is okay in moderation. I would not think that a Maine Coon would eat more than a small portion which is all the more reason why it could be regarded as a little treat. Maine Coon eating boiled eggs. It is okay in moderation. Image: MikeB I mean eggs are good for humans and although there is a difference in the diets of humans and cats, they are not so different as to exclude eggs from a cat's diet in terms of a small treat. Fully cooked eggs would be a decent treat for a Maine Coon as they are full of nutrients such as amino acids, the building blocks of protein, and eggs are very digestible. Proper storage and...

When do I start feeding my Maine Coon cat adult cat food? Answer: when they become adults (!) which is latter than normal as they are the biggest domestic cat breed. Kitten foods Because kittens grow rapidly, the average kitten gains half an ounce (14 g) a day. Although this wouldn't apply to a typical Maine Coon cat because they are bigger than normal. They need a growth formula food.  The average domestic cat is basically full-grown and sexually mature at nine months of age but see below. It takes a human about 13 years to reach the same level of growth. The fast growth takes a lot of nutrition. Pic assessed as being in the public domain. 10-week-old kittens need about twice as much protein and 50% more calories per pound than adult cats. At 12 weeks of age a kitten's energy needs are three times that of an adult cat. Kitten food is also formulated with DHA (an omega-3 fatty acid) to help support brain and vision development and it has extra vitamins and minerals to support ...

I realise that this is a bit technical which can be boring but I think that it is important that people in the cat fancy which includes cat association administrators and cat breeders get a handle on inherited diseases in Maine Coon cats. Why are they accepted? They spoil an otherwise great cat breed. What about the cat? They are sometimes destined to die young of HCM. It's not nice of humans to bring into the world an animal for sale that will be breathless and dying well before their time. Beautiful young Maine Coon. Image in public domain. Below is a 'translation' from the very technical language of a Maine Coon study into the body size and metabolic differences in Maine Coon cats with and without HCM. It looks at things that it seems to me can be done by the breeder to help lengthen lifespans. HCM is caused by an inherited gene mutation but it can be exacerbated it seems by the factors mentioned. RELATED:  How do I check if my Maine Coon has HCM? Hypertrophic cardiomyo...

A Maine Coon (MC) owner on the mumsnet.com website says: "Cat food confusion! Maine Coon (year old)". She believes that her cat needs a MC diet, but in general they don't. Some individual MCs might need a special diet to meet their individual health needs but that applies to all domestic cats. Please read on. Update: Obese MCs are more prone to developing HCM and therefore a diet to control weight would be useful . She has a young Maine Coon (MC) who's bigger than the adult cat next door and wants advice on the mumsnet.com website about buying cat food for her MC. Her cat likes dry cat food as most domestic cats do because the manufacturers add tasty fats to it. It can become slightly addictive. But just because cats like it does not mean that it is good.  Do Maine Coons need a special diet? Image in the public domain. Like most cat owners who've studied cat food I believe that the less convenient high quality wet cat food should be the default food because it c...

This is a problem with a young Maine Coon cat in the UK who is described as being a fussy eater and the owner's veterinarian has put the problem down to an excess of bacteria in the cat's stomach. The vet prescribed a specialist dry food diet called Royal Canin Gastrointestinal . After a short time, the vet said they could go on to Royal Canin Digestive . But if the condition flared up again, they should revert back to the previous diet. The cat has gone off the earlier diet and now is only eating the second diet. RELATED:  Treating Feline Inflammatory Bowel Disease with Fecal Microbiota Transplantation . Royal Canin Digestive a food for cats with sensitive stomachs? Sadly, he has a loose stool i.e. diarrhoea, which is ongoing.  The woman was asking for advice on the mumsnet.com website and I provided it. I am not a veterinarian. I can just provide my opinion and she can take it or leave it. My advice is below.   Do you have any thoughts which can be passed on to thi...

What do Maine Coons eat? And do they need a special diet? The answer is a simple one. It is one you would expect. In general terms Maine Coons are the same as any other domestic cat. In terms of their dietary requirements they are exactly the same as a humble moggy, or a stray cat, or feral cat. They all require the same diet. That diet should be as near as possible a replication of the mouse. A mouse is an ideal diet in terms of nutrients. I stress in terms of nutrients because mice can also transmit worms to cats . But in terms of balance in a diet what makes a mouse makes a good diet for a domestic cat. Caveat : There is one possible reason why an owner might consider a diet tailored to Maine Coons: their predisposition to heart disease and joint issues both of which are genetically inherited. Seek vet advice on that but Royal Canin do a special dry food high in fish oils and glucosamine and chondroitin sulphate for Maine Coons . Beautiful young Maine Coon to type. Pic in the publi...

The title says it. It comes from a tweet: He lives in Montreal and will only eat croissants made from imported French butter. Well, living in Montreal he has adopted a French person's taste. I guess his human caregiver eats imported French butter and he likes it! Butter contains fat and cats like fat. Simple. You can see the half-eaten croissant on the table behind him. The alternative story is that it is breakfast time and the croissant was eaten by a human and the same human photographed her cat and claimed he had eaten it as it makes a neat tweet :) . I'd go for that version although we all know that cats like butter and milk. The latter is not good for them as many domestic cats are lactose intolerant. They don't have the gut enzyme, lactase, to digest lactose. I have the same problem. In fact, I have stopped drinking all cow's milk even lactose-free milk. I use oak milk for cereal and even that causes bloat.

Maine Coon cats should eat the same food as any other domestic cat. It depends on your budget. But as you are living with a beautiful and probably quite expensive domestic cat you should feed your Maine Coon cat a very high quality diet. This means a high quality wet food diet with the occasional treat if you wish. Image by  Heinz Hummel  from  Pixabay   I have changed my mind somewhat about dry cat food. The best quality dry cat food, although unnatural, are not at all bad and are certainly acceptable for grazing from time to time. I feed my cat Hills Oral Care which I find to be a good food. His coat always feels very nice after he eats it. I think that that is a good sign. I am not sure about the efficacy of specialist oral care dry cat foods with respect to their ability to clean teeth. I don't really believe it but I'm not sure. The convenience of dry cat food makes it attractive and even the more expensive ones can work out more cheaply than wet cat food whi...

People are Googling "Maine Coon eating habits". If we are completely honest they don't have any that are any different to any other cat. It is said they like to play with the water in their water bowl. There might be some truth in this but a lot of cats, purebred or not, will also play with their water. It is normal domestic cat behavior, inherited from the wild cat ancestor, in my opinion. As to habits regarding eating solid food: none. Sure, individual cats will have their own foibles. This is normal because each cat, random bred or purebred, will have his own character. As to diet, the answer has to be the same. They don't have habits anymore than any other cat. Why should they? The Maine Coon is the same species of cat as all the other breeds and all the other random bred cats. That is the key. If they are the same species, on a scientific basis, they'll have the same behavioural characteristics as other domestic cats. Do you know of any Maine Coon ea...