New maine coon owner

We have been adopted by a moderately large adult (7-10 yo) Black Maine Coon with one of the best personalities we've ever seen in a cat. Except for the occasional weirdness found in most cats, he has a steady, quiet and calm character. Okay - some questions:

1. What do we feed him?

He doesn't seem to like canned food (at least friskies), likes dry Meow Mix, the occasional tuna (with emphasis on the water in which it came), but little else so far. We've asked him what he wants to eat, but so far, has refused to share.


2. What are the typical personality traits of Maine Coons?


3. As a Maine Coon owner (breeder) yourself, what advice, in general would you offer to new adoptive parents?


Thanks.

Hi & welcome,where does one start....firstly just get ready to accept that MC's are so different,they are friendly,bright,thick {when it suits them}large bundles of chirupping fur..... They do tend to be people orintated especially if they are indoor cats & they are ace at pinching the best chair/chairs in the house,they tend to luv water {although there seems to be one new member here whose cat bucks that trend} they like to drink from running taps & as for water bowl movers & paw swillers to make sure there is still water in there they are second to none.... you will get very used to not walking in that area with bare feet & plenty of paper towling for mop up is a must , there are threads on here where everyone has tried to come up with different ideas for keeping the floor dry.....
Feeding wise it really is a case of hitting by chance on the right thing,have to say don't know the brand of biscuits but if he does seem to like dry more make sure it is one of the good brands,causes less problems long term, i do mostly wet feed tinned food but some cats seem to prefer sachets more so perhaps just get different ones to trial but I really think perhaps you are both going to be on a steep learning curve here but he also could be further along it then you they can get you under their paw very very quickly so trying it on could also come to mind & we know who would be the winner well he might already be.......
They do like playtime both with you as well as on their own & lot of them will play fetch & for sure you will be worn out before them,I would get him used to you grooming him & cutting his nails straight away so he does know his place in your household but think we could have some fun postings as to how long a piece of string he has actually got you on....photos please...... with you on the end of the string if you wish....x

Hi welcome to MCF and to your new furry! I agree with Jackie, the better the food the healthier the cat. I give my girl Ginger a good dry food and she also eats a can of good grade cat food daily. I give her Science diet canned to help her with her water requirements and dry food because big cats eat a lot of food. I feed mine a brand called Pure Vita, it is grain free chicken kibble. I live in the US, I know a lot of the MCF use "Royal Canin Maine Coon formula". My girl is almost a year and she is funny, and feisty not as laid back as a male Maine Coon is. She is a cat dog and loves the attention of us and our Beagles. Good luck with the new Cat and have fun, we all love our babies and I am sure you will also.

Hello Donnad, please tell me your thoughts about Pure Vita? Is it good for maine coon? Whats is your mc weight after feeding pure vita?
I have fed my scottish folds pure vita, the results very good; silky fur, healty, weight good, etc..
Im about to feed my mcs pure vita to but still no sure..
Please let me know
Chenqe

Chenqe, Hi! I have been feeding Ginger Pure Vita Grain Free Chicken Entree along with Science Diet canned chunky chicken since she was 11 weeks old. She loves them both. I feed her a half can of Science Diet for breakfast and a half can for dinner. She gets a bowl of Pure Vita each night. She is 12 1/2 months old and she weighs 13#. She is a very long cat, her coat is very thick and silky, ginger is a healthy girl. My daughter feeds her tabby Pure Vita also. We like it because it is grain free and packed with protein. I recommend it to all my friends who have cats. It is a little more expensive, but I use a bag every three months or so 6.6 #.

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welcome MC001, have a look at the thread "dear cat some house rules"- it will tell you everything you need to know :-D
also, strangely when mine was a baby she ate her weight in anything I could give her - now that she's 3 years old she became more difficult, she has even been known to turn her nose on some chicken lately which is something I never thought would ever happen as chicken were her treat of choice - when she used to gobble up to 6 pouches of the very best and pure food (well, spoilt is spoilt what can I say) I could find, she now has about half a pouch in the morning, although I still give her the whole pouch - and then I change it in the evening so she has another half a pouch through the night - have to turn because sometimes it's sheba, sometimes it's gourmet, sometimes it's felix... Mademoiselle doesn't like repetition. I also have some Royal Canin special for MC dry food in the food maze. I am careful that I only ever feed her Royal Canin if she's had water in the morning - I see her drink because as Jacky said she drinks from the tap - more annoying to her human, therefore more fun that way. So the rule is if she's had water from the tap in the morning then she's alowed a fistful of dry food - this way she has less chance of getting dehydrated and damage her kidneys.
PLEASE post some pics :-)

Welcome!

Our Sidney had cat flu as a baby so we have to be quite careful what we feed him - anything dodgy and we are back to the vet with a ball of snotty yuck instead of a cat.

So, I have become a bit of a cat-food-label-hound.
Just go to a big pet food shop and read the labels. Cats are carnivores and their digestive tracts are not designed to cope with grains or cereals. Most commercial cat food is stuffed with grains and cereal cos it is cheaper than meat. Some of the major brands have ridiculously low levels of protein (which is basically the meat that cats NEED) - even the ones the vets recommend. Read and be prepared to be horrified! I have seen labels of "salmon cat food" which was only 4% fish! The rest was just filler. The packet looked fantastic, it's very confusing.

The best ones are Applaws and Orijen for dry food and Lily's Kitchen and Wainwright's for wet food. It costs about the same to feed the good stuff cos they don't need to eat as much to get the protein they need. Also, the litter tray will be less unpleasant! I will never use Royal Canin or Hills or Iams again. (Also, our last cat lived on Hills/Iams and died of complications from kidney failure - likely linked to not drinking enough whilst on only dry food. Dry food keeps better and smells less, but it just isn't as good for the cat.)

Sidney has mostly wet food, but there is always a bowl of dry available - we need to build him up cos he is a tiny little scrawny scrap of only 5.6 kg. He also has a water fountain of fresh clean filtered water and a manky garden pond full of yucky brown water for when he is thirsty.

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