I had mentioned in a post a while back that we own a Maine Coon Cat. Since a number of people find their way to OpTempo by looking for information and pictures about Maine Coon Cats I thought that I’d write another brief post on this amazing breed of cat.

First of all, here’s a picture of our cat:

He’s still quite a big boy, weighing in at about 22 pounds right now. Since we moved to our new house he’s getting more exercise now since we have stairs. Since he’s almost 5 years old now he’s probably reached his full size potential. Maine Coon Cats, unlike most other domestic breeds, grow slowly.

Maine Coon Cat Size

Here he is next to one of our other cats, a full sized 7 pound adult cat. He makes the other cat look like a kitten, doesn’t he. If you do a search of Maine Coon Cat images you’ll find other examples of their prodigious size.It is important to remember that this size comes into play in a number of ways.

First, Maine Coons tend to be ground hunters. Yours probably won’t leap high into the air to go after a toy. However, they love to chase things on the floor so think about this when you buy toys for them.

Also, due to their weight, they’re more susceptible to injury from falls or dropping than ordinary house cats. It’s best to handle them more like a small to medium sized dog than the way you would handle a limber 6-8 pound regular adult cat.

Lastly, their size can cause them to develop joint problems and the like as they get older. This is something you should watch for as the cat gets to be about 9-10 years of age.

Maine Coon Cat Scratching

Of course, being a cat, Maine Coons love to scratch. The problem is that where a regular cat might rip a small hole, these large cats can gouge a huge hunk of material out of your furniture. Not only that, they can easily scratch up countertops and cabinets with their often clumsy leaps. It’s like having a lion cub around the house!

We try to keep our cat’s claws clipped back to alleviate this kind of problem. Fortunately, his  disposition is good, as is true of most Maine Coon Cats. We’ve also found that he loves those cardboard box scratchers laced with catnip. It’s always fun to watch him do a vigorous scratching session on the box and then mellow out to the catnip.

Maine Coon Cat Hygiene

OK, here’s a delicate subject. Yes, Maine Coon Cat poops are proportionally larger too. Even though they have a disposition that allows you to put a diaper on them, this doesn’t work. What it means that they require more litter box space than your average cat. This means that unless you run across a very, very, large one, covered little boxes are out of the question. Small to mid sized boxes don’t work well either since the cat will often accidentally miss his target. Get a big box that offers the cat plenty of room.

If your cat is shy or if you want to build your own litterbox cover. Build a frame with PVC pipe and use whatever material you want as a cover. This is a good and inexpensive way to build a cover that fits you cat’s size. Of course, you could make it a full woodworking adventure if you wanted but I didn’t want to do that myself.

Also, Maine Coon Cats have thick fur from their heritage. And, yes, it’s thick around the rear end too. This means that often the cat will get excrement in their fur. No fun for you or the cat. Combat this problem by getting your cat a sanitary cut at the vet or groomers or learn how to do this yourself. This haircut removes hair from this area and keeps your cat, and whatever they come in contact with, cleaner and more sanitary.

OK, that’s all I’ve got to say for now about Maine Coon Cats. Feel free to leave your own comments about them.

Pets
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