}:-)4
Posted on 03/28/2006 1:13:02 PM PST by BigTex5
Our Maine Coon "kitten" ... a 25-pounder at a year and a half ... is a gorgeous, rather shy boy. He plays ferociously with toys but seldom puts his claws out with us. He is more inclined to pat us with his paws. He has been a joy but has developed more slowly than even the ferals I have had in the past. My only other Maine Coon [what a cat!] was 10 years old when I took him after his owner died. If our experience is typical, our kitten will be two years old or more before he has completely given his heart to us, gotten over his shyness and outgrown his kitten ways. Our breeder cautioned us to expect him to develop more slowly than other cats. But, Oh! what a joy he has been. Only now, at a year and a half, is he beginning to want to please me. I ask him if he is hungry. He speaks when I look at him a certain way. Then I tell him to go and sit on his tray. He trots over and sits on the black plastic tray on which I will put his plate of food. I then go to the kitchen to get his food. He is smart as can be! Leash training is next ... but he had to reach a point of wanting to please me before it was worth beginning. I expect it to take only a few weeks at most. I have done it before with another cat.
Our coon turns on the water faucet. He also opens doors and also pretends to be an area rug, lying on his back sound asleep with legs spread out.
we had a Blue Russian named Chewie who would steal socks and drag them into his food dish. He chewed on them too... but only the cheap plastic mens socks.
Must be a genetic trait! Ours was always such a fussy feeder as a young kitten that I got into the habit of feeding him on the end of our bed so we could watch how much he would eat. The disposable plate of food goes on top of a plastic tray on top of a washable baby blanket [to keep my afghan clean]. Our Chummy wraps his food dish up like a Wonton ... hopping on one foot and using the other to wrap up the food. He hates the smell of things. He then goes back later and burrows into the baby blanket to have a snack.
Anyone who likes cats will love a Maine Coon. There are several Maine Coon rescue groups that save them from shelters and place them. Not through a rescue group, but, we took our newspapers over to a shelter in a neighboring county [that's how we "recycle" them] and saw a gorgeous 20 pounder in a cage. Needless to say, he went home with us. He sits up, sleeps on his back, has learned to shake hands ... and our breeder has seen pictures of him and says yes, indeed, he is at least mostly Maine Coon, if not 100%. There are always adult cats of all sorts available if one just looks for them.
}:-)4
Not intentionally, of course, but ... read on ... the itty bitty kitty ping seems to have been highjacked by the Maine Coon Mega Cat crowd ... Heh!
You're kidding right?
Meant to ping you to my Post No. 44 ... especially the comments about the Maine Coon rescue groups which can be found with a Google search. My life has been spent rescuing cats ... our kitten is the only "bought" cat we have ever had. We had always wanted another Maine Coon after loving a rescued one. And, when we learned last year that we were going to lose our beloved 20 year old non-Maine Coon to kidney disease ... we decided that a Maine Coon kitten was just what the doctor ordered to cheer up our life. It was a good decision.
}:-)4
Ping
He/she? is beautiful!! I love cats. I have a really ornery Manx with no tail and a beautiful sweet Siamese mix.
Cute cat, but a candidate for lil' kitty coronary.
We have another Maine Coon, a rescue named Beauregard, that's about half Livingston's weight but not much smaller height-wise. He lost his tail when he was a kitten so he's got a manx-like nub back there, and he's very skinny, but he makes up for it by having the most amazingly thick and luxurious charcoal-gray fur.
I love Maine Coons, they're great cats.
}:-)4
Thanks for the ping. I rescued my two muttkittens just a few months ago from semi "feral" status. They treat me like they died and went to heaven. And I'm afraid I would be pushing my luck with my landlord if I got another one ... but if I could rescue a Maine Coon, she's just gonna have to deal with it.
My ferals have [ultimately] become some of my most loving cats. They learn the meaning of gratitude. My way of dealing with a completely feral cat [once it is trapped and transported to a suitable confined location] is just to sit in the room with it and keep up a quiet conversation ... and allow it to come to me on its own terms. It takes a little time ... usually about six months before they will trust me completely. [I usually confine a feral to an area where I can use my computer so my time is not a total loss.]
OMG! That cat is gorgeous!
He is absolutely magnificent! (but I bet the shedding is awful!) More pics!
Livingston is a terrific cat! I know what you mean about inertia ... LOL
It took time and patience, but now a year and a half later he is an amazingly sweet cat. He loves to jump up in my lap while I'm on the computer. He loves to get petted and combed, and he has the most sinfully thick and luxurious fur, even for a Maine Coon. He's still stick-skinny; we've tried to get him to gain weight but he just doesn't eat a whole lot. The vet says he's healthy, he's just adapted to a situation where he was low cat on the totem pole and he only got the crumbs from the other cats.
And he is QUITE capable, despite massing only about 11-12 pounds, of kicking Livingston's ass on a regular basis. What he lacks in strength he makes up for in speed. :) This is my favorite picture of Bo, giving what I call the Condi Rice Death Stare:
And bonus picture of Livingston the day we got him at four months old, before he got fat and lazy:
}:-)4
Beauregard is one very lucky kitty. Thanks so much for the picture of a really gorgeous cat! [And for the "baby" pic of Livingstone ... what a cutie!] I do not find shedding to be a real problem. A good brushing at least once a week keeps coats in good shape ... more often if I can manage.Our "little" Maine Coon was frightened of everything at first ... not from having been mistreated [our breeder had tears in her eyes when she put him in my arms to take home!] but just because of his very cautious personality. One cannot overcome a basic personality of a cat ... one can only work with it and work around it.
I quickly began to assess what frightened our boy to try to overcome his fear. For example, I would speak his name before I touched the toilet paper roll ... and get his attention so he would know what was going to happen ... then he became curious instead of startled. Today, he can be in a deep sleep ... and if I quietly unroll thread from a spool he is on my lap like a shot to "help" me ... He was terrified of being brushed, at first. So, I tried to turn it into a game that would interest him. I satisfied myself with one swipe with the brush at first. Now, he will come to me and sit at my feet if I have the brush in my hand. I pick him up and hold him and brush as long as he will let me before he wrestles the brush away from me. He is an incredibly powerful cat ... brushing has become one of his games.
It takes real commitment on the part of an owner ... but the return on that "investment" will be enormous!
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