Five years ago, we adopted Alex, a Heinz 57, from the local animal shelter. Alex was, and still is, a street kid. He is very shy of new people, but does warm up to regular visitors. He spends his mornings sleeping on our bed, and the afternoons romping around our extensive gardens, hunting and playing (he has rid our neighborhood of moles!). Alex is a happy, friendly and healthy soul. He comes inside late afternoon and hangs around us until late evening, when he goes outside until around 2:20am, when he crashes in through the ever-open bedroom to join us on the bed.

However, I have always wanted a Main Coon, and my husband and I are now considering one. In my 50-odd years of cat ownership, I have always allowed my cats to enjoy the sunshine, and I am concerned that owning a cat which, apparently, needs to be indoors, will conflict with owning a 'flower child' which are unlimited access to the outdoors.

BTW, none of my outdoor cats have ever been run over or attacked by my garden critters, infested with fleas or bothered the neighbors (also animal lovers). My last tabby just died at the age of 22 years - dribbling and totally senile!!

Alex is very buddy buddy with our raccoons, who have owned my gardens since we moved here in 1974. Alex and the male raccoon are often shoulder to shoulder at the den door to come inside. Obviously, this request is ignored, and Alex knows go to the front of the house to climb the tree to gain access through the ever-open bedroom window on the second floor.

I hope I have painted a very realistic picture of the environment we provide for our cats.

My question   is the only reason it is suggested to keep a MC inside, is because they are so valuable? Are they not a creature which enjoys the stimulus of the outdoors. Their fur is said to be waterproof.. Would they not be thrilled being outside in the rain? If these animals are so intelligent, would they not follow me around as I garden? I work at home and am an avid gardener.

Thank you.

Janet Phillips

-- Anonymous, July 21, 2000

Answers

Hello Janet,

i think you are right to ask yourself those question about a Main Coon outside. I have an MC since 6 month now and I was use to have cats all my life I can tell you that even if i have observe that MC are very special cats, they are physically fit for outdoor life. My boy and I are used to go very often to our country side house and he enjoy it a lot. I think that breeders tells you not to take them outside for fear that some owner will not let them leave as pet cat and make them stay outside all the time without any special caring. They ARE valuable cats, I don't let him go outside the night, and i made sure at first that he wasn't going into trouble (for he is quite thinking himself as "Supercat", not being afraid of anything at all). Now he follows me like a dog, come back when i call him and we are doing great walk in the woods

-- Anonymous, July 21, 2000

I'm not a breeder, but I am on some Maine Coon cat email lists where quite a few breeders post. Many breeders make it a point to include in their contracts that the cat you purchase will be indoor-only. It's not because the cats are valuable in a monetary sense, but rather that the cats are valuable to breeders in a very personal sense. These cats are often like their children, and, like any good parent, they want what is best for their children. An outdoor environment is really not very healthy for a cat. For example, my mother recently started letting her beloved Himalayan outdoors, and one day he just disappeared. She is consumed by worry for him, and may never know exactly what happened to him. In my neighboorhood, people let their large dogs roam unleashed and think nothing of ot when the dog rips a family cat to shreds. On top of this, there are people who, while driving, aim for cats walking alongside the road, and people who leave antifreeze (a very poisonous substance that cats find very tasty) to sit in puddles on their carport.

I once volunteered for the local animal shelter, and we would receive cats who had been tortured at the hands of animals and people who would have lived long, healthy lives if they had only been allowed to stay inside. I went home and cried nearly every day I volunteered there, and I eventually had to stop. I looked at the statistics for last month at the shelter, and out of about 500 cats they received, only 10 had been adopted. 490 were killed, and one thing that would have prevented those deaths is if people had not allowed their unspayed/unneutered pets to run around outside and breed, giving rise to a large feral cat population.

Now that I've said all this, yes, cats do enjoy being outside, and I take my Maine Coon outside -- on a harness. He loves it, we both get exercise, and he can lay in the grass and do cat things safely. But, unrestricted roaming is simply irresponsible and can shorten a cat's life a great deal. I don't want to seem overly harsh -- I'm sure you provide a wonderful, loving environment for your cats (and you got Alex from the shelter! Hooray!), it's just not ideal; and that's why breeders won't allow it.

-- Anonymous, July 26, 2000