Thread: What made you choose a Maine Coon?

I had rescued a tiny toy Yorkshire Terrier, Bibi, from the animal sanctuary where I am a volunteer. At the time I also had Millie, a 9 year old Felix look-alike,domestic short-hair which had originally moved into our garage as a stray kitten. Sadly Millie died a few months after I got Bibi, leaving a big gap in our lives.

We "rescuers" often take our dogs back to the sanctuary on social visits to show off how well they are doing. On one such occasion, approximately 5 months after Millie had died, I had Bibi with me and was having a cuppa with friends, sitting just by the cattery pens. Bibi wandered off towards the cats' pens and I called after her, "Yes that's right Bibi, choose us another cat please".

We started a discussion about my need for another cat to keep down a mouse problem and I said all I needed was a lazy old cat which only needed to lie around the house leaving its sent to scare away the mice.

This prompted a friend, who helps out with the cattery, to tell me about his favourite, Choo Choo, describing a 14 year old, very friendly cat which had been in the cattery for nearly 6 months. When he described him as long-haired, ginger, American and de-clawed, I thought I could at least take a look. At I approached the pen, without any hesitation Choo Choo came running over to me and it was love at first sight - for me at least! He was indeed friendly and I wouldn't have been surprised if he had been carrying his packed suitcase. Everyone was glad that he had at last found a home and I'm so thankful that the sanctuary never puts an animal down (unless it's ill) as many others would not have kept an older cat like Choo.

I had no idea he was an MC at that point. When he arrived he was a skeleton, with thick matting down both sides. However, once he was groomed and started to clean himself up his true majesty started to emerge and the penny dropped with me that he is an MC. A quick check on the internet and comparison with pictures and I was sure. Joining the forum and learning the behaviours and traits of the breed had given me all the assurance I need.

Choo Choo most certainly isn't the lazy old boy I envisaged getting, despite his age. He's a real character, as MCs are and I know that any cats I have in the future will be MC's. The best thing is the was he gets well on with Bibi. He is so gentle with her despite her getting a bit jealous, protecting her bones from him, jumping on to the sofa on top of him, waving her tail across his face, etc etc. I have seen him take on a dog and I know he could knock her across the room as he is about 3 times her size. Instead he sometimes deliberately goes across to her in her basket and gives her a long sniff as if checking she is ok and is happy to share the sofa with her. Testimony to the way MCs get on with other animals. I love every bone in his soppy old body.

Originally Posted by Wareagle90

Well, Some time ago my wife mentioned that she had always wanted a ragdoll cat. She is an avid cat lover and I thought i might suprise her one day. So, I began researching ragdolls and in the process ran across the Maine Coon. The name is really what caught my attention and as i looked a little more at the MC's I quickly determined that this was the cat for us. I found a breeder close to home and the rest... as they say ..... is history.

Dan

How strange, I started off wanting a ragdoll too! but as we both work we were having problems finding a breeder who would allow us to buy two from them. After a lot of looking on line we discovered MC's and the rest is history................

Back in the 1970s I went to a cat show with my parents. Not because we intended to get another cat (we already had a moggie) but merely out of interest. I saw lots of lovely breeds and rather fancied the longhairs, particularly the Persians who were a lot less flat-faced in those days.
At one of the book stands I bought a book on cat breeds. In it there was an item about the Maine Coon with a picture of a majestic brown tabby with flowing mane and an enormous plume of a ringed tail. Being a snobbish European, I thought: “Fancy that, they have their own cat breed in the States!” I read about how the name came from the vague resemblance to a raccoon. Also, the book said the breed was virtually unknown outside the US.
Shortly afterwards I left the parental home. Went to live in the city, met future hubby and shacked up with him in a succession of inner-city apartments, went to university… in short, not the kind of life suited to keeping cats. Moreover, hubby was a confirmed ‘dog person’ … at least, so he said.

Fast-forward to January 2010. We’d just moved out of the city and into our first own property. Nice big house with a modest garden in a quiet neighborhood. Hubby had even mellowed to the idea of getting a cat… some time in the future when we’d settled in.
I started searching the internet for long-haired cats. The Persians were out … they’d gotten too flat-faced to my taste. But the Birmans looked nice, as did the Somalis and Turkish Angoras. And then that wonderful American ‘coon cat’ I remembered from the old book popped up. “Well, well, well – they’re here! They’ve gone and conquered Europe!” The more I read and saw, the more I knew: this is my kinda cat! Big, beautiful, smart, funny, sociable… a cat even hubby the dog person might warm up to.

At the end of our third week in our new home I heard meowing in the garden. A moggie I’d never seen before wanted in. After a few hours I couldn’t resist her pleas any longer. Hubby protested like mad: “If you let that cat in, I’m out of here!” “Okay, don’t forget your toothbrush” I replied and opened the back door. She walked in like she belonged. I gave her some fish from the fridge and some watered-down milk, and was pleasantly surprised to see hubby climb upstairs and come back not with his toothbrush but with an old blankie which he spread out in front of the fireplace. The moggie – a slender silver tabby with white – curled up on it and fell asleep.
It took us three days to track down her owners, who live a few blocks away and were elated to have her back. In the meantime we’d grown crazily fond of her. We’d bought toys, feeding bowls and a cat bed. We had even given her a name – but more about that later.

The evening after our foundling had gone back home, hubby and I sat staring at the empty cat bed. Sighing like two sentimental old people. There was only one thing to do. I fired up the computer and went to the website of the Dutch Maine Coon breeders’ club. Found a breeder in a neighbouring town. Went to their website. Saw they had an 11 week old litter with three lovely kitties still available. Sent them an email and got a very warm reply within the hour. The next afternoon I was sitting on the breeders’ sofa, cuddling a fluffy little princess named Tatjana.
But they’re like Russian dolls… you end up with an entire family. One month after we got Tatja her uncle Monty moved in. And after six more weeks we welcomed Tatja’s cousin, whom we renamed in honor of the little moggie who had lost her way: Minnie.

When Dave and I decided to move in together we wanted to get a pet at the same time as we both love animals. I've had both cats and dogs in the past growing up whereas Dave has only had a grumpy Collie and a succession of lab puppies going through the early stages of Guide Dog training.

I was looking into getting a Ragdoll but came across Maine Coons (I think someone else in this thread just said the same thing!) and we both fell in love with the idea of them. I know someone who has four and she helped by telling me lots about hers. That was it...we set about finding a breeder and are currently enduring an agonising wait until May for Teddy's arrival.

May is just around the corner,when you have any baby pictures post them so we can get to know Teddy ,of course you do realise it won't be too long before Teddy has a friend because you just won't be able to keep to just one....
I was going to get a ragdoll for my daughter a lot of years ago until I had a phone call from a friend who had come back from holiday with a beautiful MC kitten & that was the start of both daughters & my luv of the breed.
I admire your partner for being involved with the guide dog pupy training I think it takes a very special person to be able to do that.

I was brought up around Siamese cats and once i left home vowed i would never get such a loud needy breed of cat! You couldn't even go to the bathroom without these cats howling at the other side of the door! lol

Anyway when i was 17 i was taken to a Great Dane breeders house and told to pick a puppy. I was soooo happy and got my first Great Dane, a harlequin called Blue. However i also met my first Maine Coon. Imagine that a giant dog breeder who also had a giant cat! lol

I have had a couple of Great Danes since then but never got my Maine Coon! Well since my last Dane died i've been looking into them again and have decided we're settled enough and ready for our Maine Coon. Now i just have to find one!

Originally I was just looking for a moggie, wasn't interested in a pedigree at all.

However I was looking through various listings online for kittens and saw Maine Coon kittens advertised in one ad - now, being British my initial reaction to the name is obviously going to be different than our friends across the pond - once I had finished laughing / being in a state of disbelief I went to Google to find out what was going on.

Then I find out that not only is the breed unfortunately named, they are also massive by cat standards.

So then I carry on reading about this novelty oversized, racially inappropriately named cat and find out that they are known for having an awesome disposition and temperement, that they are smart, and are a pretty healthy breed. Also the kitten pictures were just adorable.

The rest as they say is history. MCs > All other cats.

I had a Persian/Manx mix for 13.5 years and miss him.

Sometimes referred to him as a "Manx/Coon" {grin}



Spencer I or the honorific Spencer The Lion



Just looking at this guy in the pound, I think it's obvious why he is now Spencer II.

I grew up with cats, (fish, rats and hamsters) and my boyfriend had cats so have always been cat people. My boyf had a cat when we got together but we moved to a flat where we weren't allowed pets (had no other options) so had to give him to a friend (where he's prospered!)
Since then we said that when we bought a place and could afford it we'd get 1 or 2 kittens (despite both of us being allergic and him being asthmatic on top of that). I've got to say I never previously considered having a pedigree, grew up with moggies and loved them but a friend of mine got a beautiful MC and I just loved her personality and look.
We bought our house last June and prompted by my friend's cat I started looking into MCs; to be honest once I've got an idea in my head that's kind of it...
Did a lot of research in Dec and decided they were definitely for me (us) and in early Jan found Susan (Sueragdandy) online and made contact... Fortuitously she had kittens that were due to be ready in March (which was enough prep time) and had silver tabbies; we saw Rasputin's picture and both instantly decided he was the one. The rest, as they say, is history....