My Maine Coon Cats

I was posting about my Maine Coons in the Compelling evidence that cats have VERY powerful psychic capabilities?? thread. MC are soo empathic that they change your life. Anyways, I got carried away with uploading pictures so decided to post a new thread. These babies are what I am most thankful for in 2011.

Maine Coons grow up to 5 years. And Teddy still has a lot of maturing to do. Right now he is about 4 feet long. Measured from tip of nose to tip of tail. Which is the standard for the world book of records. He unbunches like a slinky dog. And his adult coat is still some time away. Little Sasha is a baby yet and still needs to develop her purrsonality. At the moment, she is just a nonstop snugglebug. Her mom was pretty darn long and weighed 16 pounds.

Teddy 1 year


Teddy 1 year


Teddy 1 year


Teddy 1 year


Teddy running


Teddy chasing butterflies


Teddy still chasing those butterflies


Teddy squashing an unidentified bug


Teddy sitting on a wall with my 10.5 lb domestic female, Nala


Baby Sasha 10 weeks


Teddy and baby Sasha playing with Da Bird


Teddy Flaunts his length (see the end for best shot)


Teddy eating with his paws

reply to post by elouina

Now you must stop this or I shall be forced to report you to the mods! Cute kitty assault syndrome. I think my eyes were welling up already after the first 3 photos. Oh my... I haven't dared click one of the youtube videos either...

ETA I dared to watch the vids What a beautiful example of a cat. I was thinking Coon is from Raccoon surely? After watching, they do their names justice. Tnanks for posting!

reply to post by elouina


I also have Maine Coon.....found it as a tiny kitten on a highway in the middle of no where full of worms and ticks, wild as hell; very intelligent cats. Would'nt part with him now.

reply to post by LightSpeedDriver


Oh oh... Maybe I should have held back a bit. Thanx for the kind words. I have been a member here for about a year and never showed my stash of pictures. MC's are like bambi's. Difficult not to love them.

reply to post by bluemirage5


Sounds like you both were very fortunate. I would love to see some pictures of your MC. You can tack them right on this thread, I won't mind. I can never see too many MC pictures.

reply to post by elouina

I've never seen cats with tails that long. They could almost get away with being monkeys. Weird stuff!

Thanks for sharing, I love cats!

I'm especially fascinated with Maine Coons because of their size, and behaviour



Also would love to find a Norweigan Forest Cat someday!



www.google.co.nz...

Although I'm guessing they would require a lot more cat food

reply to post by elouina

Your Maine Coon babies are beautiful and I can see why you have posted photographs - adorable!

I have a black Maine Coon - out in the sun you can see other colours running through his fur. He is called Amikas and is small compared your babies. I moved into my home eleven years ago and he would come and play with my girl cats - so I nicknamed him the boyfriend cat. No neighbours knew if he belonged to anyone and so he belonged to me.

Very abused - I have never seen a cat so scared to be near humans. I would put dry food out - half way down the backyard - go inside behind the screen door - only then would he eat the food. Over many days I inched the food closer to the door and came out and sat on the step - at a distance.

When he got close enough I would put the dry food in one hand and attempt to pat him with the other - he would not have a bar of it - he would push the dry food out of my hand. Anyhow...he eventually relaxed and then I had to get him in the cat cage to take him to the vet for desexing - I hated doing that - after working so hard to gain his trust - but I think he knew.

You are right about being empathetic - he will go off and wander for days sometimes more than a week or two but he always returns when I call him - from my heart - he hears me when I start to fret. It's amazing and I cannot explain it - he is a mysterious and unusual cat. I love him differently to my others - my girls are always around and its a different relationship.

He won't eat chicken necks - to clean his teeth - he is very stubborn. His fur is very soft and I don't brush him as he doesn't cope with that sort of attention. It is a shame he was abused for so long - he was about a year old when he appeared. He has the fur in his ears and between his paws. Is that for cold snow country? I call my cats my furry little monkies from outer space.

Much Peace...

reply to post by Realm52


Definately more food. The kittens eat almost too much since they grow so much. It was not uncommon for my boy to eat 3/4 can of food after eating an entire large chicken breast for a snack. Then cleaning all the other cats plates. Then eating kibble for desert. I would then top that off with a handful of treats. He actually would belch and make more room. Totally serious...Both of my Maine Coons need closed up in another room while my domestics are eating. Imagine my food bills.

But both of those breeds are worth every penny. You should seriously consider it.

reply to post by Amanda5


Thank you! You know Amikas may not have been abused. Sounds like he developed feral characteristics. Must have been outside for quite some time. With it happening to him during a younger age, it would affect him more.

And yes the furry toes and ears are for snowy Maine winters. They also have a thick undercoat. That is why they like or tolerate water. It is difficult for it to reach their skin.

Neutering at a younger age also makes them grow larger. Since yours was done later he would likely be smaller as a result. Plus he may have been a bit stunted from not getting proper nutrition during his rapid growth phase. Not certain about his age now, but he could still be growing if younger than 5 years.

reply to post by elouina


Thanks for your response. Amikas is now about ten/eleven/twelve years old. He suffers from FUS so I have to feed him medicated dry food so he can urinate properly. It's interesting you mention the water - he - out of all my cats - is the only one who will drink from the pool. Milly will run along side when I do laps but the others won't come near.

I still think he may have been abused but I trust your opinion. He still bites from time to time - I see his ears go back and I know to leave my hand down and wait for him to settle. Sometimes it is just a lovebite to get my attention but once in awhile he will just bite me - not to break skin but a bite nevertheless. I still love him - it's just his way of communicating - I need to learn his language. Any ideas why he bites? Your opinion would make sense as to why my girls don't ever bite. Sooooo much to learn.

Much Peace...

reply to post by Amanda5


So sorry to hear he has urinary tract issues. The poor baby.

He could have been abused. But if a purebreed, the odds are against it. Most purbreeds are bought with love. And are pampered beyond belief. He could have gotten lost for a while. Males that are not neutered will wander quite far away. Plus even if not feral, not all cats trust strangers. And some even just have skittish behavior from genetics. Yes even an easy going breed like MC's can still produce the oddball skittish cat or litter. Or it could have even been from a lazy breeder not socializing him properly as a youngster. If that was the case he could have been dumped. It is difficult to give much love to a cat and not have it returned. But all cats can be turned around with time and effort. Skittish cats are loving but just too scared to show it.

He bites because he was never taught not to bite. You got him when he was older. So gentile reminders, acting hurt, walking away etc.., may or may not have worked. It may be too late now, but I would still try. Just gag him with your finger every time he bites you. Nothing forceful. Just make sure he bites your finger, when he goes at ya with his mouth. Then tickle his throat lightly and make him gag. Don't feel bad, he is hurting you. He is getting off easier since gagging is just a reflex and not a painful thing.

Now love bites I wouldn't even count as biting. And would not discourage it. Some cats do it as a sign of affection. Very gentile and loving nibbles. Disouraging this would be discouraging affection. You can always try distraction if it goes on too long. I once had a cat that nibbled our elbows to wake us up for his breakfast. He was a bold and macho kitty, but a great pal. I suppose kissing to awaken us was not kewl for a macho boy. LOL...

BTW, Sasha can drive me insane from hanging on me without a break. Gosh I set her on the floor and up she hops again. Over and over again... Some cats can even be too nice.

reply to post by elouina


Ours is male but I think either someone dumped it on the highway or it wandered out of the National Park near by where I live. Took me a year to figure out it's pedigree as it did'nt appear to be the common moggy due to his enormous size at a year old. It must had known it was on it's last legs when I found him, it in fact found me rather than the other way around. I'd just lost a cat recently (had to put it down due to cancer), did'nt want a replacement but this kitty I found was in a very bad way. He's very affectionate, has a nose superior to a hound dog and if you don't give it what it wants he will throw himself on top of your feet and won't budge. He's top cat of the neighbourhood, I'm sure he's shagged every female cat in the street. Our cat has been bitten by a snake, twice by funnelweb....and he still lives. He even brought in a possum once....we were worried he might bring home a kangaroo next!

reply to post by elouina
I have one as well(see avatar)I need to get a better picture.Your cats are beautiful and they look like their full of mischief,ha,ha I love cats,you can count on them to do the unexpected.I can see how people become so attached to them.Anyways my cat is really half main coon,the other half is manx so she looks like yours with the exception of a tail.absolutely no tail no nub nothing.I also have a dog with no tail,go figure.How masny do you have?Also how much do they weigh,I ask because I know main coons are very large,and can get quite big....HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!

oops,Just saw the above pictures

reply to post by elouina
I wanted to mention also how very intelligent these cats are.As a kitten my cat was a tiny thing,the runt of the litter.When we got her I had previously installed a dog door on my screen porch.Well after getting Lu Lu,(her name)I had my husband put in a sliding door on the dog door so Lu Lu wouldn't get out,well in a matter of hour the cat learned how to slide it back to get out.So we put a hook and eye on to latch it.Well again in a matter of hours she unhooked the latch.The next move would have been a dead bolt but gave up instead and left it at that.

I do want to get another main coon so she will have a partner in crime to hang with

reply to post by TWILITE22


From what I can see in the pic, LU LU is adorbz. Yes they are very intelligent. My Teddy as a baby turned the bathroom water faucet on with his teeth. We had to turn off the water there to discourage him. He has also shut off my kitchen light. And opened my back screen door. Which we now lock shut. He also tries to communicate and will hold conversations back and forth. Although I would need a cat interpreter to know what he is saying. He scared the living bajeebers out of my daughter once when he walked up to her and said hello just like a parrott. And in the morning greets me with a happy "maaa"!

I once had a non MC cat do something that scared the heck out of me. She learned how to change the time on my alarm clock with 2 paws. She would hold down the time button with one paw and tap the minutes button to change it with the other paw. Gave me the willies.

BTW, I have 4 cats. 2 domestics and 2 MC. Although I prefer to not have more than 3 cats. The last MC, Sasha, was for a playmate for Teddy out of necessity. MC are very different in the lovin and playing dept with other cats. He needed someone like himself. Those 2 are attached at the hips. And he even grooms her. I find it hysterical to watch my little half pint, Sasha, chasing my huge male Teddy around the house. So yes a second MC would be a good idea.

reply to post by bluemirage5


Yes MC males are the definition of macho. Back in my youth my male MC ruled the neighbothood also. And my neighbors were distressed when I planned on getting him neutered. He had the most beautiful kittens. They even offered to pay for his services so we would not neuter him. But he started spraying and no amount of money could make us tolerate that.

But my cats now never go out unsupervised. I have trained them all to stay in my fenced yard. Gives them all some fresh air without the hazzards of the streets. Plus my boy is too big to play in the house without getting hurt.

reply to post by elouina



Awesome pics and vids

I love the teddy pics ,is it 'their' teddy ? (i had a ferret called Gin and she had her own teddy too,so funny that sort of behaviour)

reply to post by elouina
That is too funny,your cats are geniuses you should put them on animal planet,or have them in commmercials!Lu Lu talks to me as well and will go on and on.Like I said I would like to get another but she actually thinks she's a dog,she's always been around my dog Pokie(rat terrier)so when she sees another cat she runs and hides,but is very friendly towards other dogs,she's an oddball.I'm sure she would take to another kitten though.

unfortunately,she was hit by a truck(2 yrs ago) and the only good that came from that was she stays in my backyard and doesn't go near the street anymore,so she has free reign of the yard.I do fear the hawks that fly around I've seen them dive down and pick up a squirrels and she is not much bigger than them.But all in all stays close to the house.I'm glad you started this thread there is such a fascination surrounding cats and their antics,I'm sure people have many hilarious stories of them.

reply to post by elouina


You have some beautiful cats there, i have a black cat , jack, and he is amazing.But then i think i'm just a cat person

reply to post by Rafe_


Well it is now.


reply to post by TWILITE22


Yeah it's nice to talk about something besides conspiracies for once. My cats do some pretty kewl stuff. But so do a lot of other kitties. I would love to hear more stories from other folks.

reply to post by imnothereru


Thanx Cats are truely remarkable. And they can keep us company while we visit ATS.