I don’t know anything about cat breeding; all my cats were rescues from a life of crime. My latest was adopted from a house in my neighborhood teeming with unwanted kittens. The mother was a short-haired polydactyl calico. When I adopted Maceo, he was just a “cameo tabby” fluffy kitten with golden eyes. Now that he’s 7 months old, he looks very different from Mom.
Maceo has long fur on his very puffy tail and chest, but almost normal length fur on his body. Out of his ears shoot very long tufts of fur, about 1.5" long. He also has huge feet (3 toes on each front foot, an extra toe on each back foot). He loves to make this weird trilling noise when he’s excited or wants something, which is so cute. Also, he loves water. When I take a bath, he sits on the edge of the tub and dips his tail and paws in. He plays in the sink too, is very goofy a playful, and likes to be involved, “helping out” with whatever I do.
Could my Mace be part Maine Coon? Or do Maine Coon qualities just pop up in alley cats by coincidence? I’ve read some descriptions of Maine Coons and he sounds like one, even looks like one, though they’ve apparently been trying to breed the polydactyly out of the pedigree.
Does anyone have a Maine Coon? Do they have similar personality traits or physical characteristics to what I’ve described?
Try here for some information. A lot of what you described fits a Maine Coon perfectly (long hair, chirping, big feet). Here’s a picture of my Maine Coon, does your cat look anything like him?
My cat Leroy is of unknown parentage, but he looks like a Maine coon cat so I call him a Maine coon cat. He doesn’t make the trilling noise; in fact, he hardly makes any noise. Sometimes his mouth shapes a “meow”, but nothing comes out.
Like your cat, Leroy loves to play with water. He waits for me to end my shower, then he jumps in the tub and licks the faucet. The tub is always dirty because he gets in there with his muddy feet to lick the faucet.
It’s hysterical to watch him play in the water of a dripping sink.
I’ve never heard of another cat that behaves this way toward water, until you mentioned it. I wonder if it’s a Maine coon thing?
I don’t know about Maine Coons, but Bengals like water too. I used to have one, and he LOVED to get in the tub after I took a shower and get his paws wet. I only ran a little water for him to play with in the tub once because of the GODAWFUL mess he made, but did he ever have fun.
Maine Coons are BEAUTIFUL cats. I’ve thought about getting one someday.
We had a Main Coon for years. Once, during a blizzard we couldn’t find him. There was a shelf outside the kitchen window where he would sit or lay when he wanted to come in. On this occasion there was just a pile of snow about 16 inches deep, with no visible trace of cat in it. After a while I opened the door again and called, the snow pile on the shelf got up and shook itself off and came in. he seemed to have quite enjoyed his nap. After a quick snack he resumed napping, this time in front of the fireplace. He seemed equally indifferent to rain or water, as long as it didn’t involve actually swimming.
Sounds like a Main Coon, particularly if he ends up huge. My mother-in-law has two, and the male is about six feet long.
Okay, he just seems like he’s that big. However, when he’s standing on his hind legs he can reach about to my husband’s waist. My husband is 6"3, so he can stretch at least… 45 inches or so. He also makes cute trilling noises.
Bob55, what a cute kitty! Sammy, I take it? My Maceo is only 7 months old, so his head is still pretty small, but he does have that same lion-like ruff around his neck . Like your cat, he has those long tendrils coming out of his ears. His tail looks like a feather-duster.
I checked out the Cat Fancier website that you posted, so if you want to see what Mace looks like, scroll down to the Red Silver Classic Tabby (aka Cameo) picture on the link below. That looks almost exactly like him, except he doesn’t have white feet. He’s all cream colored except his chin, his ear tufties, and the underside of his tail.
Some other things I noticed is that Maine Coons don’t like to be picked up and held. This is very true of Mace. He loves to lay across my neck when I sleep and will sit in my lap when I’m at the computer, but he doesn’t like to be hugged or babied. He’s into everything, is extremely affectionate and friendly, but independent. He gets along great with the other cats, but is still a kid and sometimes is too energetic and playful for them. Overall, I’d say he was a cute but odd-looking boy who’s a great addition to our family. I don’t care if he’s got a pedigree (obviously he doesn’t), but it’s always cool to find out more about him.
I also have a half-Siamese that I got off the street too. Blue, crossed eyes, white fur with beige stripes, and the sweetest cat on the planet, bar none. I’m very lucky in the cat department.
I have an itty-bitty kitty that looks just like a Maine Coon except she’s too small. I think she’s most likely a muttcat with a lot of MC background. Here’s a few pictures of her. She has all of the MC characteristics except size, weight, and personality. She’s a non-child cat currently living in a house with a year-old baby, so most of her days are dedicated to “stay away from kid.” Once I take her home with me, her temper will probably improve.
Thank you he’s just a very pleasant cat -he’s never scratched, swatted, or bitten anyone, and he seems to be posing for pictures everytime I look at him. In contrast, I have a 2nd cat that always looks angry and never photographs well, and seems to always be sizing me up looking for any sign of weakness (even though he’s still a nice cat too).
We once had a cat that had a lot of MC qualities, including the large muscular body and the neck ruff. He also had a constant case of stud tail (though neutered) and an allergy to flea bites, poor kitten. He died in 1999. I miss you, misanthropic Benji - I’m the only person you liked. smooches kitty
I can confirm there was no purebred in his background - he came from the family reservoir of farm cats. Any color or pattern you could care to name managed to show up there at least once.
Thats quite unlike a Maine coon - they tend to be very friendly with strangers. Yours might have had a streak of Siamese, which would make for a very pretty cat. Benji must have been gorgeous.
My Misha was half Maine Coon. He was shorthair. He died of Feline Leukemia and had lost a lot of weight, his weight at the vet the day he was put to sleep was 19lbs. We estimate he was probably over 25lbs when he was healthy. I only have two pictures of him:
I’ve got what I think is a Maine Coon half-breed. His mum is a regular tabby shorthair, the father a vast fluffy black tom.
Philippoussis, the son, is a huge tabby - very heavy, long-legged, big-footed, with a fluffy tail and ruff, plus tufted ears like a lynx. He’s also fascinated by water and, as another poster said, has a very juvenile high pitched voice considering his size.
I would agree that if your cat is a Maine Coon, you are lucky as they are the most affectionate as well as the most beautiful cats. The only disadvantage is that in my experience these cats seem to love being carried about draped over your shoulder, so you can end up with an aching back.
BTW Bob55, your cat looks beautiful, like a silvery version of mine.
Hmm, I have Bengals, American Bobtails, and Chausies, as well as several Nature’s Select (mutt cats). Chausies and Bengals are just plain weird because of the recent outcross to a wild species (Chausie=domestic x Jungle Cat; Bengal=domestic x Asian Leopard Cat).
American Bobtails chirp and trill also; interestingly enough, they are also a native American breed.
Just for the hell of it: a friend’s Serval lived with me once for about 6 months (it needed orthopedic surgery). You should have seen the reactions when I walked into the vet clinic with him on a leash!
