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Showing posts with the label leash training

Are Maine Coons outdoor cats?

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Maine Coon cats can be outdoor cats provided that they are on a leash attached to a good harness for security. Rarely, a Maine Coon cat might be an indoor/outdoor cat with permission to roam freely around their home at their will, unsupervised, but if that situation occurs it will be exceptional and only after their owner has decided that it is safe to do so. Taking your Maine Coon outdoors on a leash is the best way for them to enjoy the outdoors. There are very few circumstances under which a Maine Coon cat should be allowed to roam freely outside without supervision. That's my personal opinion because this cat is just too glamorous but it does depend upon the owner. To some owners, perhaps, the Maine Coon cat isn't that glamorous. They might not be fearful that their cat might be stolen. There may be no roads and therefore very little chance of a road traffic accident. The owner can't see a problem. There may be no predators of cats where she lives. And also, some owners...
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Rusty black Maine Coon enjoys a leashed walk and is mistaken for a dog

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One of the online mantras is that the Maine Coon is so big (sometimes) that they can look like a dog at a distance. I can't really believe that but I get the point about size and put a Maine Coon on a leash and the resemblance to a dog becomes more acute. The important point here is that nearly all Maine Coons are full-time indoor cats and therefore it is almost obligatory to train your Maine Coon to walk on a lead to enable them to enjoy some outdoor life safely. They'll need this mental stimulation. You could argue that all Maine Coon owners must go through a leash training course before adoption or what about this: the breeder and supplier of Maine Coon kittens leash trains their kittens for sale so that they are 'leash ready' when sold to their new adopter. Cool? This black cat has some 'rust'. The black coat is occasionally rusty. This is a well-known phenomenon due to a tyrosine deficient diet. Several websites say that " Tyrosine deficiency is caused...
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Anchors away! Watch as two Maine Coon cats set sail

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I love the feeling and mood of this video. The cool rippling water. The Maine Coons are enjoying the experience too. They've clearly done this before. And I love to see domestic cats habituated to being outside on a lead doing all kinds of things like dogs.  It is a wonderful way for a cat to make the most of their lives. All that mental stimulation can only be really good for them. It just takes a lot of patience normally to arrive at the point where the cat takes it all in their stride. 2 Maine Coons go sailing and it looks nice. Screenshot. I like their harnesses too. They don't have side panels. I think this may avoid the falling over syndrome that we see sometimes when domestic cats are put in a harness for the first time. They go silly and flop down and become entirely inactive as if zapped. As if the on-switch has been turned off. They (the experts) say that Maine Coons like water. I am not so sure that they like water any more than any other typical domestic cat but if ...
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Don't take your Maine Coon cat for a walk like this!

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Maine Coon Lotus - one of the internet's outstanding Maine Coons - outside on a proper leash. Image: Instagram. I am one of those people who think that Maine Coon cats should be leash trained as a default aspect of cat caregiving. It should be started when they are kittens after adoption. It is a bit tough to say that because leash training isn't easy but Maine Coons are indoor cats. Going for a short walk with a Maine Coon is great for them. It is a gift that their caregiver can give to them.  The person in the video below - it seems that she is an Asian woman - has a good heart because she wants to get her cat outside under supervision. That's nice. But the MO is not good. Visit Ben the Vet's TikTok page . This method is not recommended for Maine Coon owners. It is not only uncomfortable and unnatural, if a cat panicked when in this sort of harness, she'd probably be able to escape which would be a nightmare for the owner and a genuine potential health problem for...
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An ideal home lifestyle for the Maine Coon cat

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I thought I'd try and configure the ideal home-based lifestyle for the Maine Coon cat. I think pretty well everyone would agree that this has to be a lifestyle that is built around the home because the Maine Coon should be captive in their home but that does not mean that their lives have to be sterile and lack stimulation and fun. I'd consider these lifestyle factors to make an ideal home environment. All this will be pricey but ideals always are. Input from others is always most welcome. These thoughts are mine alone. Enclosed backyard/garden A backyard (garden) which is comprehensively fenced using customized fencing guaranteed to keep a cat in the garden is a vital aspect of an ideal home lifestyle. This is the point though: it is an ideal and ideals are expensive.  Maine Coon in a garden enclosed by a cat-proof fence. Image: MikeB To fence a half-acre garden or perhaps an acre garden is going to cost about $10,000 at a rough guess and the equivalent in pounds sterling an...
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Do Maine Coons enjoy cold weather?

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In a peculiar way the question in the title is not bad because it begs further questions. I can think of a couple: As Maine Coons are full-time indoor cats it is fair to ask if their thick, shaggy, double coat is unsuited to their indoor lifestyle which must be the way in order to protect them. And, is it okay to give a Maine Coon a lion cut to allow them some relief from the muggy indoors if that is what it is like? Are lion cuts safe and reasonable to give to domestic cats? But first things first, the question in the title needs to be answered. The famous Richie must feel the heat in warm weather. Maine Coon are built for colder climates. Thank God for air-conditioning! Image: Instagram. Do Maine Coons enjoy cold weather? If a Maine Coon feels a little overheated inside the home because the central heating has been turned up, yes, he or she may enjoy sitting in the catio which has one side open to the elements with only a screen to protect her from the icy wind in winter. By the way,...
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Top 5 escape-proof Maine Coon harnesses

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A couple of points initially come to mind in writing this article. Cat harnesses have improved dramatically over the last 10 years. The harnesses featured on this page are much bulkier, wider and more secure than the ones that were available 10 years ago. Of course, they are also more expensive. These are not cheap harnesses. For example, the first one featured cost £45.01 p in the UK. Amazon The links to these harnesses go to Amazon.co.uk. I've checked on Amazon.com and noticed that these exact harnesses are available or the alternatives are very similar. Truly 'escape-proof' is a necessity The most important point about a harness is that it really must be escape proof. It depends upon the cat whether they want to escape which depends upon how athletic and active they are or whether they are placid and affable. I say that Maine Coon cats tend to be placid which is good news for harness training . In my personal experience, and my cat is very athletic, when cats become anxi...
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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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