Anyone have a Maine Coon cat?

[Simba's Mom]

If so, tell me about him/her. We have a cat who's 19 pounds. For various reasons, we always thought he might have some Maine Coon in him. But today, when I took him to the vet for his check-up, she said "When I look at him, I'm thinking Maine Coon." Besides his overall size, she noted his "shape", the fact that he has lots of fur between the pads of his feet, and something about his tail. So if you have a Maine Coon, what can you tell me about their personality. The only quirk I've noticed is that he loves to drink from the running faucet and let the water run off his head. His fur seems sort of like a duck's-the water runs off his fur without penetrating.

 

[momto1]

I can't tell you too much but my MIL has a Maine Coon. I don't really like cats so I can't tell you much about his shape or fur. But, he does drink out of the running faucet in the bathtub, too. I to think I though he was just spoiled!
Lori

 

[helenabear]

We have one that is half Maine Coon and half American Shorthair (or the like). She took absolutely NOTHING after her mom and so she is all her dad. I didn't realize this but cats can more or less ignore one side of teh gene pool Anyway she is about 16 pounds or so at the moment. She also loves to play with water.

However very closely related breeds are the Siberian Forest Cat and the Norwegian. We have one Norwegian that we rescued. She's about 17-18 pounds maybe and is *very* similar to our Maine Coon in both looks and personality.

They are both kind of like dogs... like to lay at your feet, follow you around and are both very bright and very good hunters.

So you might have a Maine Coon or one of the other two. I have found after having two Main Coons (my cat I lost in February was a Maine Coon as well) and this Norwegian that they are quite similar. Biggest difference is that the Norwegian loses more of her fur in the summer than the Maine Coon does. Also water seems to run off of the Norwegian a bit quicker than the Coon.

All in all I love these breeds. I think they are the best ones out there and will keep on trying to get them in the future

 

[SharonLowe]

Our dear old Oliver, rest his soul, was part Maine coon. He too loved drinking out of the faucet and getting his face wet. He was the sweetest cat you could ever want. He was loyal and very smart - could open cabinet doors. His only bad habit was he liked to "kiss" you on the nose, which meant he would give a gentle nip. He too was very heavy; we put him on diet food and he was fine. Then he developed a thyroid problem and his weight plummeted. I gave him his thyroid pills faithfully every day for at least 8 years, increasing the dosage as his condition got worse. He died peacefully in his sleep at the ripe old age of 18.5 on Christmas Eve last year. The saddest Christmas I have ever had.

 

[chris1gill]

We had a Maine Coon before he passed, and now we have a female Maine Coon. Their personalities are the very best in the world IMHO.... so nice and friendly. The Maine coon should be long haired, with long bushy tail.... also there's usually a faint white ring around the eyes.

My male Maine Coon had quite a beautiful mane around his neck (like a lion), I don't think the female's come in quite like that. The male is larger than the female by around 3 or 4 pounds apparently... our kitten is only 5 months old, and they grow for 2 years, so can't really say what the female will look like compared to a full grown male....

Personally, between the mane, the long hair, bushy tale and perfect personality, they are give away traits

Oh, the other thing very typical is that they are NOT lap cats, they will sit next to you til the ends of the earth, but not on your lap... now my female who is only 5 months old sits on our laps, so it's very weird!

We're not sure that the male was 100% all Maine Coon, but the female is.... they have a great interest in water, no doubt...

 

[drag n' fly]

We have a rescued male Maine Coon. They are big massive teddy bears that like water. He is smallish on the Main Coon side at 17lbs he loves dogs, cats, cattle, gophers he even caught a weasel last summer! We love him to death his nickname is frederick beeksicle lardy!

 

[ticktock]

Maine coons will chirrup at you to "talk" to you. They are also very good with their paws, mine can open doors with the knob if there's something to stand on nearby. Some also like to be guarded when they eat. When Flynx was little she wouldn't eat unless I sat beside her. The vet said alot of Coons are like that. Luckily she outgrew it.

 

[Virgo10]

One of ours is part MCC. She's a chatty little thing but I've never seen her drink from the faucet. Her name is Cleo

I also think The Old Cat, who went to Rainbow Bridge in 1999, was mostly MCC. He was a dog in a cat suit.

 

[Dana49]

We had a Maine Coon cat, Sarah Jean, who lived 23 years. She was the most feminine little thing, who was extremely independent. However, when she wanted some loving, you had better take the time to give it to her. We really miss her.

 

[rhanditresmom]

We have a 16 year old Maine Coon...his name is Buster, but he goes by Boo-Boo. Very loving, he gives hugs even! He tends to coo kinda like a pigeon sometimes. He has the fur between his toes, very bushy tail, mane, etc. He has always been interested in water, when he was young his favorite pastime was playing in running water.

He's kinda moody now, but we still love him!

 

[sajetto]

We have an 8 year old Maine Coon. His most distinct quality is that he chirps. Yes, chirps. It is a very noticable sound and anyone who has been around him mentions it. He is also very heavy and has very large feet. He doesn't mind getting a bit damp and he'll walk for a little while in the rain, but he hates to get soaked in a bath tub. He has the best personality of any cat I've ever had. The whole family adores him and we hope he's with us for many years to come.

 

[Robinrs]

This is my Maine Coon Queen, Xena. She is Large and IN CHARGE, a deep thinker and extremely feminine. She basically has me around to enforce HER rules...

Her brother is my niece's cat, Rex. HUGE, beautiful and dumb. My sister said if he was human he'd be a male model! Xena, on the other hand, would be the first female president!!

 

[JulielovesDisney]

This is my Maine Coon Queen, Xena. She is Large and IN CHARGE, a deep thinker and extremely feminine. She basically has me around to enforce HER rules...

Her brother is my niece's cat, Rex. HUGE, beautiful and dumb. My sister said if he was human he'd be a male model! Xena, on the other hand, would be the first female president!!

One of ours is part MCC. She's a chatty little thing but I've never seen her drink from the faucet. Her name is Cleo

I also think The Old Cat, who went to Rainbow Bridge in 1999, was mostly MCC. He was a dog in a cat suit.

Gorgeous cats!!

 

[wendy46001]

I had a wonderful maine coon cat for 18years...he was a huge teddy bear...24pounds of fluffy love...he could squeeze his big old body into any and everything...He was very smart but spent his days on “his” couch

wish we got another one, current kitty is a bouncing ball of energy....i miss my lazy boy

 

[Kimberle]

Yup, we have a Coon, and he CHIRPS!! He does not sound like any other cat. No "meowing" at all. He's beautiful, very gentle, and excellent with children.

Another thing he does, is walk around in the middle of the night HOWLING!!

 

[helenabear]

Thought I'd share a few pics of my furbabies the day we brought home Lily

Lily (Norwegian) and Gwen (Maine Coon)

again Lily & Gwen

Gwen

Lily

the two again

 

[RadioNate]

I had one growing up. She had a great personality. She was very smart and loved to play fetch.

She also developed thyroid problems later in life.

She didn't do the faucet thing but both my current cats do and neither have any Maine Coon in them.

 

[chris1gill]

Maine coons will chirrup at you to "talk" to you. They are also very good with their paws, mine can open doors with the knob if there's something to stand on nearby. Some also like to be guarded when they eat. When Flynx was little she wouldn't eat unless I sat beside her. The vet said alot of Coons are like that. Luckily she outgrew it.

I forgot about that!!! Our old male Coon liked to be guarded while he ate as well, we got plenty of laughs out of that I think our female is definitely different from our male.... I wanted another male, but DD really wanted the female... the female plays with water more than our male did...

 

[Simba's Mom]

Thanks everyone! There've been alot of personality traits that describe Tigger, I especially liked the "dog in a cat's body". And I forgot about the chirping.

 

[klmall]

Yup! We adopted at 7 years old, an adorable long hair of undetermined breed with a heart defect. She is now 13 and the heart specialist group identified our Moxie as a Maine Coon cat. She has the Maine Coon flattened nose, lots of hair between her toes on her front paws especially, and a very long tail! Her meow is the meekest, smallest sound but her purr is LOUD! She is a mouser as proven when she pursued and caught a mouse last spring. She doesn't drink from faucets but she loves to play with water in her bowl and helenabear, her ears are set back like your cats. And though the pics don't really show it, she is HUGE; by far the biggest cat we have ever had (only about 14 pounds but miles long and difficult to pick up and carry - bulky is the best word I can think of to describe her size.

She is the most loving, sweet, affectionate cat we have ever had! Despite all predictions she is a great jumper, eater and 'steals' any jewelry left on dressers. She is so docile that when she got an anal gland infection requiring visits for draining etc. that the vets remarked that she was the first ever to allow such without more than a local. Despite our brushing though she sheds mercilessly and we do get her shaved in what's known as a "lion cut", actually quite adorable! She is very loyal to us and spends hours sleeping peacefully next to any member of the family! Here are some of my favorite pics! (Sorry for the out of focus second pic but it shows her fuzzy paws and her profile)

Note the L - O - N - G tail!