Your Maine Coon Guide

Something as innocuous as reading your newspaper while your Maine Coon (MC) is on your lap can upset him or her. That's if they want to snooze on your cosy, warm lap. It is said that MCs are not lap cats but that does not mean that all of them are the same. Some will enjoy it or they'll be by your side on the sofa as you read the paper in the morning after breakfast. Here is a picture of my non-MC being a little pissed off by the Sunday newspaper: Photo: MikeB. Rustling newspapers can put off cats. My experience tells me that MCs and other domestic cats may find the sound of rustling newspaper uncomfortable and jump off your lap. I am not saying it affects all cats but some and in varying amounts. The same might happen if you are eating potato chips (crisps in the UK) while watching television. Other sharp sounds made by, for example, kitchen foil, can cause a genuine reaction. Any sharp crinkling sounds can cause a rarish condition called feline audiogenic reflex seizures (FA...

The Maine Coon is often described as a 'gentle giant'. And sometimes you see the breed described as 'quiet'. For example, the Daily Paws website says that "These big cats are surprisingly quiet—they do love to communicate and vocalize to their humans, but their soft voice may take you by surprise." This Maine Coon illustrates the CFA page on the breed: He/she looks pretty normal, doesn't he? Not gigantic. No extreme muzzle or super-sized ears with massive lynx tips sprouting from them. This is the norm for Maine Coons. Quiet? But one Maine Coon owner on Twitter says that her cat is noisy. She says: As a Maine Coon owner I disagree with this post. I mostly put focus on the breed of my cat to warn others though. They are - noisy! And big and fluffy, which is how he survives my wrath, which I obtain by him being noisy! Who are we to believe? Neither provides us with the right or complete information as there will be variations between individual cats. They pr...

Well, this is very strange. Never heard a cat making a sound like this. Just after licking a small amount of a cat treat this Maine Coon makes a chomping sound. The video is courtesy Furry Fritz on TikTok. Maine Coon makes weird chomping sound after tasting a treat. Screenshot. It can only be because he/she continues to taste the treat. The mouth movements probably spreads the fragments of the tasty cat food paste or some other food, perhaps human food, around his mouth so he can continue to enjoy the taste. That's a reasonable theory.  I can't see anything wrong with it. I am sure there are no health connotations. It's just an idiosyncrasy of one Maine Coon cat. As we all know domestic cats have their own characters and foibles. This is an example. He probably makes the same chomping sound every time he tastes this particular treat. Here is an infographic touching on cat personality:

This video maker calls it a 'chirp' but this is incorrect as far as I am concerned. It is called 'chattering'. The chirp is akin to a trill which is a greeting sound. The chattering that we see in the video has nothing to do with greetings. It is to do with killing and death!! As Maine Coons are nearly always home cats - full-time indoor cats - cat television (window gazing) is very important to them as it entertains. It is mental stimulation. A vital part of their day. It is important that there is activity outside, particularly birds because they can imagine themselves catching and killing them.  It sounds brutal but cats are top predators after all and the birds are safe. The birds don't see the cats so there is no stress on the birds. But this Maine Coon is imagines herself chomping down on the nape of the bird's neck to kill it by severing the vertebrae. The cat does not just imagine it. She does the action in a vacuum - vacuum activity. It is as if she is ...

The Maine Coon trill is talked about a lot. People associate the breed with this particular feline sound. But the trill is certainly not unique to the Maine Coon. Perhaps they do it more than usual and it is done so cutely that people take notice.  Large cat small sound It is particularly endearing when produced by a Maine Coon as they are a large cat breed - the largest - and the sound is quiet (small). Overlapping sounds and variations The first difficulty with describing cat sounds is that they overlap and a described sound like the 'trill' is produced in different ways by different cats. It is often tricky to be precise. Trill to chirrup - onomatopoeic For example, the trill can be also be described as a chirrup. Both these words are onomatopoeic meaning that saying the word is a little like making the sound because the word's creation is closely based on the quality of the sound. So, the chirrup can slide into a trill when produced by a Maine Coon. What does it mean!??...

Maine Coon cats, like other domestic cats, lack the ability to roar due to differences in their larynx structure compared to big cats.  The larynx of domestic cats is not as specialized as that of big cats, and their vocal cords are shorter and less flexible. As a result, domestic cats are unable to produce the deep, low-frequency vibrations that create a roar. Maine Coon meowing loudly asking for food. Image: DALL-E. However, Maine Coon cats, like other domestic cats, are still capable of producing a variety of other vocalizations, such as meows, purrs, growls, and hisses, to communicate with their owners and other cats. These vocalizations are produced by other parts of the larynx and the mouth. The tiger roar is meant to be heard over 2-3 kilometers. It is a long-distance call . Domestic cats don't need to call that far and their anatomy is too small to produce a roar. A point worth mentioning is that a cat can either purr/meow or roar but they can't do both. The mountain li...

Screenshot from video below. This is a classic case of a domestic cat, in this instance a beautiful Maine Coon, copying the sounds of their human caregiver to their advantage. It seems that the cat is speaking English but for the cat it is simply mimicking the sound made by his owner but with a purpose. As people like to hear cats speaking English, the video has garnered a lot of viewings. All domestic cats are good at observing their owners and copying if it is beneficial to them. This normally means activities such as opening doors or making a sound that triggers the correct response from their owner.  The evolved meow/baby cry that some domestic cats have mastered is another good example. Some cats understand that when babies cry for their mother there is an instant response. Very effective, they think, why not use it to my advantage! They modified their meow to add a hint of baby cry. And the same is more or less happening here. The Maine Coon has learned that he/she is more li...

This is another cute video of a Maine Coon and one which once again touches on the tiny voice of the Maine Coon. They do have cute vocalisations. When you combine the cute sounds that they make with their impressive stature and size and their beautifully shaggy medium-longhaired coats you have this exotic combination which is so attractive to many people and which is why you see so many videos like the one on this page. The video comes from the TikTok page of  🌻Bri🌻 (@briandmilly) TikTok | Watch 🌻Bri🌻's Newest TikTok Videos . Enjoy and thanks for making the video. The quality could be a bit better 😎. Please note that TikTok allows their videos to be downloaded to your desktop and therefore they allow them to be uploaded to websites such as this one. I am doing nothing wrong. If I embed the video using TikTok code it is likely that in due course the video will disappear if and when the video on TikTok is removed or TikTok changes their policies and convert embedded videos on t...

Well, Maine Coon cats do actually meow but clearly some people think they don't otherwise they would not have asked the question. All domestic cats meow in their own way. Although some make a silent meow . Perhaps it is because the Maine Coon meow is a little bit special and sometimes doesn't sound like a conventional meow.  For instance, in the video the Maine Coon responds to their human talking to them by using a trill/meow sound. Or they have a yowl/meow or a squeaky meow. But they're all, often, forms of the well-known meow. But then again, the feline vocalisation which is called the "meow" is a very 'elastic' sound. Each individual cat has their own version of the meow. And this applies right across the board whether the cat is a Maine Coon or any other breed or any other random-bred cat.  "Their large size belies their tiny voice - for such big cats, they are fairly quiet". That's a quote from Gloria Stephens who lives with Maine Coon ...

This is as near as you will get to a conversation with a Maine Coon cat. Screenshot. This beautiful tabby Maine Coon likes to converse with his female owner. Either they are conversing or they are arguing but I sense, and I think that anybody else would sense, that they are politely conversing. The difficult bit is deciding what he is saying. He's been asked to get down and he doesn't and therefore he's probably saying: "No, I won't get down". And therefore, this might be a gentle, polite argument. They say that Maine Coons are quite quiet but this guy really isn't. As I have always said, it is down to the individual cat as to whether they are quiet or not. The relationship between this cat and his caregiver is very close. They have a great bond and understanding. He is a TikTok celebrity: Chakacoon. The way to play this video below is to click on the centre play button and then afterwards click on the play button bottom-left. That sounds ridiculous but th...

This is a cross post. This Maine Coon is demonstrating feline observational learning. The female owner asks her Maine Coon how he/she is and he responds with the quite distinct and noticeable question: "How are you?". He has copied the words of his owner and I take this to be, as mentioned, a specific case of observational learning or you might argue that it is mimicry.  Maine Coon asks: "How are you?" Screenshot. However, I don't think that it is pure mimicry as it has a purpose and when there is long-term interaction between human and cat, as in this example, there will be an understanding between the two and sometimes a copying of each other's language. Many cat owners use cat sounds when communicating with their cat. This video is an example of reciprocation. Yes, humans will also make feline sounds while, very rarely, their cat tries to make human sounds. It's a mutual understanding and an example perhaps of commensalism which I've just written ...

I have stated in the title that Maine Coons can understand their name and the names of four other cats if they live in a group, for example, in a multi-cat home. But I've been a bit cheeky because the statement that I have made applies to any domestic cat. I just wanted to write an article about Maine Coons and this study which has been reported on the Internet recently presented itself to me at an opportune moment. 😎 I stated in the title "when spoken by humans". That might look a bit odd but it is just possible that cats refer to each other by name! No one's discussed that. However, the point that I would like to make early on in this article is that I knew about this well before the Japanese scientists confirmed it in their study. And I'm not boasting because any decent cat caregiver understands that their cat responds to their name. If they live in a multi-cat home then they will also understand that each of those cats can understand their name. I'm not s...

Maine Coons have a reputation for chirping and trilling more than other cats. Don't believe that all Maine Coons sit around the living room chirping and trilling like birds. They don't. In fact, I am unconvinced that Maine Coons chirp and trill much more than any other domestic cat.  Some individuals might have a tendency to make a chirping-like sound from time to time. That is about as far as I am going to go in restating this anecdotal information. However, there is also a tendency for people who write about the Maine Coon to restate what has already been stated on another website and you just build up this fiction into fact. Harry a ginger Maine Coon who talks like other domestic cats. Screenshot. Gloria Stephens in her book Legacy of the Cat makes no mention of how Maine Coons sound or the kind of vocalisations that they make. If Maine Coons genuinely chirped and trilled and were truly noted for it, she would have mentioned it. Gloria Stephens is a former cat show judge an...

In the title, I have asked the question that Google suggests that I ask and I've answered it as well. I will try and add some detail. Yes, Google suggests to me that people search for an answer as to why all Maine Coons are vocal, meaning that they are very talkative. This simply is not the case on my research and based upon my personal experience. Dilute tortie cat photographed by Robert Sijka. And certainly, Gloria Stephens in her book Legacy of the Cat , supports me. She should know. She became a specialty judge for the American Cat Fanciers' Association in 1971. At the time of publication of her book,  first published in the US in 2001, she was an all-breed judge for the American Cat Association. She may well have retired but her experience is undeniable. She is also considered to be an acknowledged expert in cat genetics. She has worked as an instructor training judges and has conducted cat breeding seminars. And finally, she is or was a devoted and professional breeder...

They (the experts) say that the Maine Coon is a big cat with a tiny voice. They're the biggest domestic cat . So is it true that they have tiny voices? 'Sean Coonery' has a pretty standard voice but if anything quieter and less demanding than normal. He is undemonstrative in character and voice. Screenshot. I visited YouTube and viewed as many Maine Coon talking videos that I could find. I have 2 observations about the Maine Coon (MC) voice. Firstly, they are not hugely talkative. No more so than any other domestic cat and perhaps quieter than normal; Secondly, and importantly, their voice is low key and sweet. It is not loud and demanding like the sounds made by the Siamese. It is a shy voice. I would not call it a tiny voice but a sweet, respectful and undemanding voice. A very pleasant sound. I agree that there is this slightly strange juxtaposition of the smallish voice coming from a huge domestic cat.  Note : This is a video from another website. Sometimes they are ...

It is incorrect to suggest that all Maine Coons chirp! The question implies that all Maine Coons chirp when it simply isn't true. Some might make slightly strange sounds which you could describe as a chirp-type sound but many other Maine Coons don't. It's basically a myth that has been bandied around the Internet and has almost become fact.  Beautiful Zak. A darling Main Coon cat who did not chirp! :) Photo: MikeB All individual cats have their own voices. Some cat breeds do make certain vocalisations more often than others such as the Siamese cat has quite a raucous meow sound and the British shorthair sometimes has a silent meow. So, there are some trends in terms of vocalisations that certain breeds follow but by and large all domestic cats make the same sort of sounds with variations between individuals, which is all perfectly normal. We shouldn't try and label Maine Coons with a certain sound. It is said by Gloria Stephens, who wrote the book Legacy of the Cat ,...

Maine Coons don't make weird noises in all honesty. They may chirp or trill more than the average domestic cat but even that is an individual cat characteristic - random bred cats trill and chirp too. Each individual domestic cat has their own repertoire of sounds that they make. The books will list the sort of sounds that domestic cats make and you might believe that you can pigeonhole all the sounds Maine Coons make into this list but you can't. Young Maine Coon speaks - meows. Picture: Pixabay. This is because there are millions of variants of the standard sounds. So, for example, the cat meow can be produced in a wide range of ways to the point where you can't really recognise it as a meow. It is a standard sound the cat makes. The video below proves my point. The few sounds that you'll hear are all standard within the parameters of domestic cat vocalisations. You'd think that the Maine Coon being a large cat would make loud sounds but, no. They are kitten-li...