- Joined
- May 1, 2004
- Messages
- 2,290
I've had two purebred Maine Coons, both males. One, I adopted as an adult, a retired show cat, and the other I saved up money and bought(yes, they are expensive) and raised from a kitten. The older cat weighed in at 19 pounds, and the one I raised ended up at 24 pounds, which is heavier actually, that most of the bobcats found in this area! Standing on his back legs, his head easily came up to my chest. He grew up with my Pit Bull Terriers, and he and my male adult Pit would play-wrestle. The cat could easily take down this dog and pin him, and his paws were bigger than the dog's!
Few things to keep in mind about Maine Coons, though-one, they have very doglike personalities, much like bobcats that have been tamed(imprinted) by humans. They love to play fetch, they can be taught to walk on a leash with a harness, they LOVE water(including the water in the toilet, and they can learn to turn the faucets on). They seem much more intelligent than the average "moggie", that's for sure. They DO have drawbacks, though, one of which is that double coat, which sheds twice a year like that of a Northern dog breed, like a Husky. Some Maine Coon coats mat, while others don't, probably because some lines have had some Persian "sneaked" in their ancestry to create a "sweeter" facial expression and more coat for the show ring. These cats take a LONG time, up to four years, to reach full size and maturity, and like large-breed dogs and tamed wild cats, they go through the "Uglies" and the "Stupids", where they look like some scraggly, gawky oversized alley cat and act like they're on crack! They tend to go through a destructive, chewing stage, again, like a puppy moreso than a cat, and it can take them 3-4 years to finally settle down and grow a brain. Mine especially was fond of chewing electrical wires and speaker wires. Maine Coons also tend to have a much-higher prey drive than normal cats, comparable again to a bobcat. My last cat, though raised with dogs, would attack small puppies-he just didn't make a connection between them and the adult dogs. I found this out the hard way when he nearly killed a six-week-old Pit Bull Terrier puppy. He wasn't being defensive or scared; he literally stalked her and attacked, grabbing her by the throat and running off with her, actually jumping on top the refrigerator with the puppy clamped in his jaws, like you see a leopard do with a gazelle on tv! I have no doubt he intended to eat her. I had to literally beat him off of the puppy with a broom handle, and he was very aggressive in defense of his prey! The puppy suffered severe lacerations to her neck that punctured her windpipe and exposed her jugular and required extensive surgery and drains. I keep my current cats and my tarantulas separated, and that would be definitely recommended for a Maine Coon! I know some people might not have problems, but I've seen the sort of prey drive that these cats can have, and they are way more powerful than an ordinary cat, and very agile, too.
There are health concerns, and oddly enough, they're problems usually associated with dogs, not cats. Maine Coons, due to their size and skeletal structure, are prone to hip dysplasia and elbow dysplasia, so make sure you get one that is from OFA'd bloodlines. Genetic cardiomyopathy, a lethal heart condition, is also found in this breed more than other breeds. Other than that, they are usually healthy cats. They are just more like true wild cats than any other breed I've had or been around, including Bengals.
pitbulllady
Few things to keep in mind about Maine Coons, though-one, they have very doglike personalities, much like bobcats that have been tamed(imprinted) by humans. They love to play fetch, they can be taught to walk on a leash with a harness, they LOVE water(including the water in the toilet, and they can learn to turn the faucets on). They seem much more intelligent than the average "moggie", that's for sure. They DO have drawbacks, though, one of which is that double coat, which sheds twice a year like that of a Northern dog breed, like a Husky. Some Maine Coon coats mat, while others don't, probably because some lines have had some Persian "sneaked" in their ancestry to create a "sweeter" facial expression and more coat for the show ring. These cats take a LONG time, up to four years, to reach full size and maturity, and like large-breed dogs and tamed wild cats, they go through the "Uglies" and the "Stupids", where they look like some scraggly, gawky oversized alley cat and act like they're on crack! They tend to go through a destructive, chewing stage, again, like a puppy moreso than a cat, and it can take them 3-4 years to finally settle down and grow a brain. Mine especially was fond of chewing electrical wires and speaker wires. Maine Coons also tend to have a much-higher prey drive than normal cats, comparable again to a bobcat. My last cat, though raised with dogs, would attack small puppies-he just didn't make a connection between them and the adult dogs. I found this out the hard way when he nearly killed a six-week-old Pit Bull Terrier puppy. He wasn't being defensive or scared; he literally stalked her and attacked, grabbing her by the throat and running off with her, actually jumping on top the refrigerator with the puppy clamped in his jaws, like you see a leopard do with a gazelle on tv! I have no doubt he intended to eat her. I had to literally beat him off of the puppy with a broom handle, and he was very aggressive in defense of his prey! The puppy suffered severe lacerations to her neck that punctured her windpipe and exposed her jugular and required extensive surgery and drains. I keep my current cats and my tarantulas separated, and that would be definitely recommended for a Maine Coon! I know some people might not have problems, but I've seen the sort of prey drive that these cats can have, and they are way more powerful than an ordinary cat, and very agile, too.
There are health concerns, and oddly enough, they're problems usually associated with dogs, not cats. Maine Coons, due to their size and skeletal structure, are prone to hip dysplasia and elbow dysplasia, so make sure you get one that is from OFA'd bloodlines. Genetic cardiomyopathy, a lethal heart condition, is also found in this breed more than other breeds. Other than that, they are usually healthy cats. They are just more like true wild cats than any other breed I've had or been around, including Bengals.
pitbulllady
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