I just got a 4 mo. old kitten from a shelter. I think she is at least part Main Coon. She has the silky fine hair the ear tufts the long bushy tail and big feet. She is a dark brown and cream colored tabby with amber colored eyes. She is very affectionate and follows me around the house constantly. Also, she tends to talk and purr alot. Am I right to think she is a Main Coon? What other characteristics should I look for to identify her as one?

-- Anonymous, July 24, 1999

Answers

Well I have a mainecoon and he tends when he drinks water to brush the side of his bowl. I hope this will help you...

-- Anonymous, July 26, 1999

My wife and I have a Main Coon cat called Lacey, and she is a dream. She is big, follows me everywhere, loves water... will even get into the bath. Lacey listens very good, and will go down stairs on command when I lock up the house before leaving. She meows like crazy when I come home to let her up stairs... if I have to go down stairs right after coming back home... she will still follow me instead of wanting to go to the first level. We are best buddies!

-- Anonymous, July 26, 1999

I am also wondering if my new kitten is a Maine Coon.... I purchased her at a pet store and she is now 5 months old. She has some tabby markings on her legs and stomach, bright and wide green eyes, long hair tufts in her ears and a huge bushy tail. The vet doesn't know if she will be long or short haired because she has long hair more on her underside and around her neck. Her paws are large and she is very long in size. She hardly ever meows, is very friendly and adaptable to any setting. She absolutely loves water, she even turns the faucet on herself! As for toys she is crazy about little fur mice and glitter balls. If anyone would like me to scan a photo of her or can help me out in identification please email me back. Thanks!!

-- Anonymous, August 23, 1999

Maine coons are also famous for head butting. My Maine Coon is very talkative - he especially chirps a lot. He follows me around wherever I go. I read in a book though (can't remember which one) that maine coon boys are like mischievious boys with frogs in their pockets and maine coon girls act like they are the most beautiful things in the world. I haven't been around maine coon girls, so I'm not sure, but the description of maine coon boys is pretty accurate. He's always getting into something!

-- Anonymous, August 28, 1999

I also have a new cat. He was a stray who adopted me back in July. He was so insistent, it was hard, no impossible to say no. His bright red fox colour, pale yellow eyes, stunning proud long neck and body, tufted ears, big tufted feet, long plume of a tail, and silky soft fur with a neck ruff totally captivated me. To say nothing of his bigger than life personality. He was obviously young, and preferred to stretch out on a bench or picnic table and watch the sun setting over the lake, rather than curl up somewhere. ( and still does) This showed his long length, and it was startling because he was clearly still a young cat, and very scrawney and thin. For his size, he hardly weighed anything.

After a month of feeding him, and not letting him in, listening to him disrupt the neighbourhood all night, and trying everyone I knew to find him a home, I caved in. I invited him in, fed him properly, took him to the vet and had him tuned up. It took him awhile to adjust to dry catfood - I had to mix canned salmon catfood with it(not chicken, beef, lamb, veal or tuna) or he would walk away. By September he weighed ten pounds.

I thought because he had lived in the wild for some time, he might not enjoy being inside.

I was wrong. He was so grateful to have a home, and someone to love him, and regular food, and Hates to be outside all night, the way he used to have to be. He follows me around everywhere in our home, and will not stay in one room, if I am in another. He is curious to the point of annoying - climbs into everythig. He also has an uncannily amazing ability to totally disappear in a silent second. One second he's there, the next, he's not. And I can search high and low for him without success. Eventually he wanders in from wherever.

He drinks a lot of water, but I can't say that he would go swimming! He does like to put his paws on the edge of the tub and watch while I'm having my bath. He's fascinated by the water moving in the tub. Suddenly, he is enormous. He now weighs 12 lbs, and his body is full and thick and healthy. He is a full yard long from tip to nose to tip of tail. His face is full and square, ear tufts really long, ruff full and thick, feet large and tufted, tail full and plumy, He looks just like the pictures of the red mackerel Main Coons I found in a book. Beautiful yellow eyes, exquisite proportions to his nose and muzzle - really enormous mouth when he yawns. He loves to hunt and prowl around the area, the edge of the lake, catch mice, and chase and pounce on anything that moves, like birds, squirrels, bugs, moths, etc. The other cats hiss at him, but he would prefer to be friends. He has no issue with them being in his territory, its them that have the problem.

He is bored by colourful toys,(like a blue satin mouse full of catnip) and just loves his simple furry toy mice. Rips them to shreds actually.

I tried to name him something a little different, but gave up. The names all sounded so pretentious becuase he is such a guy. I ended up naming him Sam, which fits his off beat personality. If he really is a Main Coon, then I suppose he could be Samson.

Recently Sam has become the most affectionate animal I have ever encoutered. He loves to cuddle on the couch at night when I watch TV, and wants his ears and neck scratched endlessly. I am startled to think he might be largely Main Coon. It seems there is no clear way to know for sure, but he sure seems to fit the bill to me. He's become a huge honkin cat, and he's getting bigger every day.

I welcome anyones comments.

Janet

-- Anonymous, November 21, 1999