Dunno why but I keep lucking out with amazing animals. Rosie was a little rough around the edges, but now she is a super trooper.
And, ok. I’m sold. I will never have another cat that has no Maine Coon in the blood, because this guy is just amazing. He spends almost every waking moment with me, and I have accidentally stepped on his paw twice when I stopped short while walking somewhere.
And my goodness, the playfulness and the agility. Last night I pet him for five minutes while he balanced all four paws on the 2 inch wide gate that I have to keep the dogs out of his room. I found him on top of one of my speakers earlier, and that is a four foot jump onto a slick 6″x8″ surface.
And the vocalization- he talks to me all day long, chirping and mewing and just making all these guttural sounds when something interests him. When he gets stoned on catnip, he growls and gets all, well catty. You pet him, he bites you. You don’t bet him, he bites you and growls. The dogs bark, you get scratched and he growls.
This is an amazing cat. I may go back for another Maine Coon rescue in a year or two so he can have a buddy. They are that awesome.
Corner Stone
Thank goodness! Finally we can escape the absolute tyranny of an AL thread and safely discuss matters related to aggressive lovers once again!
Corner Stone
I’ve been at a few poke her tables like that in rooms in SE Houston.
Not a pretty site when coke dealers on 3 day highs start losing pots.
Zifnab25
My sister got a maine coon when she was 2 years old. The cat went through all the grief a small child could possible throw at it – carried around like a stuffed animal, dressed up in princess clothes, chased, excessively petted, cried on, you name it – and was still the sweetest and most loving animal you could hope to meet. The cat was, appropriately named, “Kitty” because that’s the only cat word my sister knew at the time she got him.
Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader
I shot a West Virginia coon when I was 12. She fell about 20 feet and then got hung up on a branch and I had to climb the tree and knock her down. True story.
cathyx
Winning the real money lottery would be better.
PsiFighter37
John Cole, Cat Lady
MomSense
So happy you love your Maine Coon! They really are wonderful. The only thing to watch for is that they can have problems with their hips. We are actually pretty mindful about how much we feed our coon cat since extra weight can exacerbate the problem.
Diana
So glad Steve’s worked out. You certainly deserve him.
However, for the record I would just like to say I adopted a part Maine Coon rescue as an adult and while he is a very sweet, loving cat he is so dumb it is a little more like living with a rabbit than with a cat. It took him six years to learn his name, he never recognizes any of my guests, and he’s mostly a pillow who needs to be fed. When I fostered another cat, he was a complete coward until after several days he realized she’d been declawed, at which point he became a bully, and chased her away from her food every mealtime until I finally got her adopted out.
To be sure, I got him as an adult, and I’m sure he had a deprived kittenhood. Still…..
James Hare
I miss my Maine Coon terribly. He was such a beautiful and loving animal. They’re a truly special breed. I’m a shelter guy but I am almost inclined to buy a pure-bred Maine Coon because they’re such wonderful animals. Beautiful and full of character. Steve will never be Tunch — my Evita will never be Persephone — but you will find a great deal of joy with your new family member.
Keith P.
I just left my couch where I had a cat on each side of me. One every so often does that (along with sleeping on the bed nuzzling my cheek), but he usually stays outside with a female I got him with. Now the other one, that cat sleeps on cardboard if I’m doing house chores, but if I’m on the couch, he’s next to me there. If I’m in bed, he’s on my chest for a few minutes before passing out next to me. I get a kick out of cats that have to be near their owners constantly.
Poopyman
Told ya. Thankfully, you listened to the commentariat for once.
Poopyman
… And in other cat-related news, the live-streamed Kitten Cam from Seattle is back up with another litter. Since they’re less than a week old there’s no action yet, but stay tuned.
johio
John, try playing fetch with him using something small and easily pick-up-able (for a cat). I have friends with Maine Coons and their cats play fetch, eat with their paws and love to play in water. On a more serious note, you and your vet should know that some Maine coons are prone to heart ailments.
Redshirt
All hail President Cat! Long may he reign!
Redshirt
@cathyx: I’ve got my Powerball ticket for tonight. A piddling 260 million jackpot, which would buy a lot of catnip.
Percysowner
Oh, yeah, Maine Coons are the best. I have a 12 year old named Percy. I may call myself his owner, but really it’s the other way around. They are sweet and loving and just great. I’m so glad you and Steve found each other. I lost my other Maine Coon last year. He was only 5 and developed chronic renal failure. Maine Coons do have a tendency toward that, so you might want to look for food that is good for kidney function.
zombie rotten mcdonald
when I was in college, I had a cat that would jump to the top of a door, then perch on the 2″ wide top stile, watching me walk back and forth. And when I didn’t notice, would whack me in the head as I walked by.
Cats are awesome.
Birthmarker
My friend has a couple of pure bred MC’s. She has always said they are more like dogs. They are very entertaining.
Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader
My cat does all the same cool shit but how do I know if he has Maine Coon in him? He rarely meows and when he does it doesn’t sound like “Ayuh”.
kdaug
P0wn3d.
Joshua Norton
Steve definitely needs a buddy. And you definitely need to call him “Adam”, proving that yes, fundies, there is an Adam & Steve.
p.a.
From Florida to Texas was there any other state he could slither to.
Leslie
Just fyi, JC, my tabby cat Chaucer, who had no MC at all, had all these traits you’re seeing in your wonderful Boss — er, Steve (except the biting). But the affection, playfulness, agility, constant vocalizing … he had all of that. Nothing against Maine Coons, of course; they’re wonderful animals. But regular old tabbies are pretty cool too. :)
Yatsuno
@PsiFighter37: I’m thinking we need to get him a big carpet bag purse and sensible shoes. But that’s s far down that sartorial path as my sanity will let me journey.
Redshirt
@Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: Eats lobster, wears old LL Bean clothes, drives a Subaru, member of a Unitarian Church but doesn’t attend, into “the arts” but only found art – like driftwood sculptures or old medicine bottles – has many, maybe most, of their teeth. Has a ponytail.
sw
John, I’m so glad that you guys found each other. I know that everyone meant well, but it was good not to wait. That hole would only have gotten bigger. I have no doubt that he is an amazing cat. But I have learned that what they ultimately are is a combination of what they bring to the table and their interaction with you their owner. The better you get at being an owner the better that thing becomes. You are getting good at this. You had a good teacher.
glasgowtremontaine
The great thing about cats with chronic renal failure is you give them subcutaneous Lactated Ringer’s solution, which means your vet gives you a prescription for subcutaneous Lactated Ringer’s solution, which is medically rated as the state-of-the-art hangover cure. Not that we wish anything other than eternal health for Steve, but it couldn’t happen to a nicer, more hangover-cure-deserving pet owner.
Yatsuno
That chicken is gonna need surgery after the GOP keeps fornicating with it. Jeebus. You people lost already. Get. Over. It.
Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader
@Redshirt: Nope, he’s not a Maine Coon but I may be. Thank you.
ETA: Ha, I just unlocked the door right after my wife locked it. This is cool.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Leslie: Yep. I’ve served four orange tabbies now, and all four have had similar personalities to Steve.
Speaking of whom, one of the corporals, who have been very well trained by Gunny Pixel, is informing me that it’s well past bedcheck.
Mrs. WhatsIt
@Zifnab25: We had a “Kitty” who suffered through the dressing up indignities put upon him by my sister, too. He was part Maine Coon, and all heart!
wonkie
I had an orange tabby.
Wonkie.
He was one-of-kind. Well, everyone says that about their cat!
Wonkie was friendly. The whole world was his friend, except the vet. I saw my orange tabby sitting out on the back steps nose to nose with a raccoon. When a house painting crew came out to pait the house, they ahd to contend with Wonkie; he’s climb the ladders, bursting with purrs and good cheer, expecting them to stop painting and pat him. Wonkie would follow me to the bus stop and try to get on the bus.
He fetched, too. He was a demon for those little foam ear plugs.
Wonkie got diabetes. I kept him going with shots for two years He never minded the shots.
He was a great cat. I miss him.
Redshirt
@Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: Also supports Medicinal Cat Nip. Back pain, donchyaknow?
Mary G
He sounds great; glad you didn’t wait.
Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader
@Redshirt: Yes I do, my friend. Yes I do.
Comrade Mary
@Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: Marry me, you magnificent bastard.
Anne Laurie
@James Hare:
Come to New England, every shelter has a supply of “Maine Coon type” cats that have all the personality, if not always the size.
Kishkan, for instance, never weighed more than 7 pounds, but she was a perfect specimen of MC-hood, tufted ears, massive ruff, furry paws & all. She spent the last ten years of her life escaping our “indoor only” restrictions on a semi-regular basis, successfully avoiding cars, racoons, and foxes in her search for a better hotel and a chance to murder small animals. We had a couple workmen replacing the house doors, and she did her best to get them to adopt her — guy came in and said, “You’re not gonna believe this, but we were eating lunch, and your cat just ran up and dropped a dead baby bunny at my feet!”…
Redshirt
@Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: That makes me wonder: Do cats worship Jah?
Yatsuno
@Comrade Mary: Think about this. You’d get him socialised health care as soon as you put the ring on it. Plus he’d have to learn French. It might get ugly.
Anne Laurie
@Redshirt:
Wait, are we talking about the cat or the blogmaster? Wait, Cole doesn’t have a ponytail *whew*.
Gex
Feeling secure and feeling loved will make just about any animal an awesome animal. I imagine there are some that have had training or abuse that counters that. But the way you love and care for your animals, you’d heal a lot of that.
Yatsuno
@Anne Laurie:
That we know of. It has been awhile since we’ve seen photographic evidence of our esteemed blog host. And pictures from his youth show no aversion to longish hair.
Gex
Also, he was barely working to jump those 4 feet. My Maine Coon could jump up onto a top bunk. Without scrambling. You’ll see.
Leslie
@wonkie: Chaucer would follow me on walks, if I let him. All through the neighborhood. One time I crossed a street into another part of the greenbelt, and he stayed behind. Since we weren’t far from home, I figured he’d just go back there. But when I got home, several hours later, no Chaucer.
So I retraced my steps from earlier in the day, calling him, and when I got to the spot where I’d left him he answered, rather frantically. I walked him home, and you should have heard him, scolding me every step of the way. Best cat ever.
Irony Abounds
Unlike the vast majority that reads this site, the thought of a dog or a cat that constantly requires attention is about as unappealing as it comes. I have to pay attention to clients all day long at work, deal with a variety of home issues after work, and make sure my wife doesn’t feel neglected. What I crave more than anything is time where no one wants anything from me and I can just breathe and relax. Our two dogs have a supernatural ability to block whatever path I want to take, so animals constantly under or around my feet really drives me nuts. Oh, and I’ve picked up dog shit for close to 50 years. It’s not something I really look forward to doing.
Comrade Mary
@Yatsuno: I’m a slave of my impulses. Also, I think I now have to explain myself to Le Guy.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
My first cat (high school) was part Maine coon. That cat was so smart and so sweet. She was a stray who was howling outside my bedroom window. My mom went outside to scare the cat away. The second she opened the door, this kitten runs in the house and makes herself at home on the sofa. We all said, “Oh. We need to find her home.” We tried. No one owned up to her. Everyone wanted to keep her but me. So, she singled me out for extra affection and I completely caved. I never regretted that. Best cat ever.
I just adopted a new kitten 6 months ago. We had been cat free for a few months, when my old (15 years) kitty died. My partner, who was a dog person and did not want cats, pushed for getting a new kitty. Funny how that works. She wouldn’t admit to being a kitty convert, until my beloved old kitty was gone. The one year anniversary of her death is this week. Sad how much I still grieve.
+2.5
kurt w
we have two half-maine coones; a thirteen yr old male, “meats” and a six year old female (little kitty). more like dogs is correct. they are sort of the inverse cat stereotype. meats will hang out outside with us wherever we are, come when called, basically talk back and forth..
little kitty has the smallest harness we could find and LOVES going on a walk(?!) on leash around the block every warm day. gotta keep a keen eye out for all dogs, but still the comments are worth it. she looks like a maine coone kitten but walks purposefully like a dog with her tail straight up and “beeping” periodically. strange cats.
Corner Stone
@Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: Man, you are on fire tonight. It’s like you’re some kind of hillbilly yogi or some shit. That’s two proposals of hardcore loving in just a few hours.
I’m totes jelly.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Comrade Mary: Oh darlin, I’m all married up. We’re celebrating 25 years next month, but truthfully it feels like an eternity.
Yatsuno
@Comrade Mary: Not to mention Fuckie’s current spouse. But hey we all have occasional dalliances.
Oh I have a friend visiting Toronto for a weekend. Any suggestions on things he should do? He’s Vietnamese, married, but very cute.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Redshirt: I think cats are Mormons that died and got their own planet.
pseudonymous in nc
@Anne Laurie:
I suspect that there are a few kitten mills in New England producing cats of that ilk. One other thing to look out for, medically, is heart conditions: we lost one of those “Maine Coon types” quite young to a pulmonary thrombosis.
James Hare
@Anne Laurie: I’m actually in Burlington,VT right now for business. Unfortunately right now isn’t the best time to be taking on another family member. Too much travel for business.
Redshirt
@pseudonymous in nc: I’ve got a “The Far Side” image of a Kitten Mill. There’s a water wheel, of course.
Redshirt
@Just Some Fuckhead: I sure hope not. Or what if all cats are Mormons only because Dogs are Mormon and have retro- and pro- actively baptized all cats, living or dead, as Mormon?
Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader
@Redshirt: lolz
Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader
@Redshirt: You should think about becoming a Thought Leader. I don’t know if you’ve put 10000 hours into blogcommenting yet, but it would appear so.
Redshirt
@Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: Hmm. What’s the pay?
Comrade Mary
@Yatsuno: Does he like music? Food? Nature? Art? I usually recommend that visitors check out The Grid or NOW for a look at what’s happening.
JoyceH
Can a dog join this thread? If she’s the cutest thing ever? I just got a Samoyed puppy –
http://joyceharmon.wordpress.com/2013/07/31/meet-jazzy/
Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader
@Redshirt: Thought Leading is its own reward.
j
I rescued what I though was a Maine Coon kitten from a snow drift and ended up keeping him for 16 years because nobody I knew wanted another cat. The vet told me when I took the cat in for a physical nad neutering that it was really a Norwegian Forest cat. They are very similar. Check his toes. NFC’s have Darvon like toe pads (half pink / half black). If I knew that before the “fixing” I would have bred him and made some rent money (not really).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Forest_Cat
Here’s the part that made me say “Hmmmm…”
That sure sounded like my cat, and he became instant friends with my dog (which I also found in a blizzard, tied to a stop sign pole with a sign saying “free to a good home”). They became lickers and snugglers.
Redshirt
@Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: Hmm. I’m going to think about it for a bit, at least until I find out if I won the Powerball or not. If I do, I’m gonna make it rain kittens.
Anne Laurie
@pseudonymous in nc:
Possibly, but I’m sure mostly it’s that the Maine-Coon-type “gene set” is self-selecting — robust, well-furred, highly sociable kittens find homes, or at least niches where they can survive and reproduce. I hear the “MC type” cats are common in the Pacific Northwest, as well. And of course, there’s the Norwegian Forest Cat and the Siberian Cat, which share many of the same traits.
catperson
@Diana:
That may be the funniest cat description I’ve ever read. Thank you for the laugh.
Cole, I’m very happy you and Steve have found each other but is it heresy to say I miss Tunch?
Keith P.
My brother had a Savannah (part African wild cat), and it was the same way. It would jump in the shower with him a lot (they love water) and chew naugahyde.
Suzanne
@JoyceH: Oh my God, that puppeh is GORGEOUS! I love the Arctic breeds. Don’t love the fur all over the place, but they are just the best dogs.
Roger Moore
@Gex:
This. I think this doesn’t just apply to loving your animals but also what you expect of them. You hear people talking about some breeds of cats as being “doglike” because they’re playful, affectionate, and eager to please. It’s actually kind of funny, because I got a subscription to Cat Fancy, and it seems that more breeds than not are described as being unusually doglike. I think that’s because people today are more likely to expect their cat to be playful and affectionate, so they play with and show affection for their cats, and the cats return their humans’ behavior. If you treat a dog the way most people treated their cats 50 years ago- leaving it outside most of the time to wander and hunt by itself and rarely playing with it- it will develop a colder and more aloof personality of the kind people assume is natural to cats.
Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader
@Roger Moore: Perhaps. Or perhaps it is that people usually have more than one cat now and because cats exhibit pack behavior, their personalities are forged differently by their place in the pack.
grishaxxx
So glad Steve has found his voice, so he can tell you what you mean to him. Seems he was just waiting for you to show up (with a little push from Tunch, perhaps). Loved the tail-in-the-face wake-up scene; wonder what he was looking for out that window…?
jenn
@JoyceH: Oh my goodness, what a sweetheart!
JoyceH
@jenn: Right now she’s in her crate on a time out. She was chasing Sam The Cat all over the house, ignoring the flashing paws of death – didn’t want anything bad to happen to those beautiful eyes.
Punchy
“Maine Coon” sounds like something my Rush-listening GOP pops would say in a sentence about Obama visiting Portland.
pseudonymous in nc
@Anne Laurie:
That makes sense. In this part of the world, there seem to be a lot of grumpy-looking longish-haired black cats: “Siberian type”, but probably just local ones with grumpy faces.
pseudonymous in nc
@Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:
Well, that BBC doc on cats in an English village (backed up by a decent bit of research) suggested that cats are developing patterns of behaviour to deal with sharing space, including time-sharing territory.
Yatsuno
@JoyceH: PUPPEH!!!
Mnemosyne
@JoyceH:
I also clicked through and answered your Regency survey. You probably should add a “general comments” box to the end of the survey to cover things not in the survey, because I had more to add but nowhere to put it. :-( Also, a “favorite Regency authors” fill-in box might have helped for you to narrow down who likes what.
(For the record: Mary Jo Putney, Rita Boucher, Karen Harbaugh, Jo Beverley, Joan Overfield are the names coming to mind.)
Odie Hugh Manatee
@johio:
Our Tommy would dip his paw into his water bowl and ‘cup’ it in his ‘palm’ to his mouth to lick it. It was the funniest thing to watch. He also loved to open closets and cabinets to snoop around in them. He never could master the front and back door knobs though.
Male MC’s are great cats, no doubt about it.
jenn
@JoyceH: Yep, that sounds like a new pup! I was just boggling earlier today that my puppy is now almost 10 years old. How did that happen?!
Yatsuno
@Corner Stone: @Comrade Mary: Sent onwards with much gratitude! Must get up there to get you a pint or some such beverage of your choosing!
@Odie Hugh Manatee: My mom’s Siamese figured out how to open the door. She then taught my mom’s border collie the same trick. Now if my folks leave the house they have to make sure the doors are locked or else the critters just let themselves in again.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@Yatsuno:
lol…PARTAAAY!! Where’s the catnip and treats?!
slag
If you want him to stop biting, just stop petting as soon as his teeth touch your hand. Immediately (right away) take your hand away when he bites. If Steve the Cat is anything like mine, he’ll stop biting almost completely within four times of doing this. But he’ll have to be reminded periodically in the same fashion.
Nate Dawg
Your cat sounds like a bad relationship.
You must have TOXO.
#dogsrule
Some Guy
Here, here! We have two Maine Coons and love them. They are very expressive, which can suck, but I feel like I am really talking with my cat. The older they get, the more they develop a vocabulary. I can tell exactly what they want most of the time just from the chirp or warble they make.
Crissa
I have a little cat who thinks she’s a maine coon, but she’s about 1/2 the size. Gregarious to a fault, follows us everywhere, and has to involve us in all her shenanigans.
It’s nice to know such cats exist elsewhere ^-^ She was very ‘play aggressive’ her first year but that’s been beat out of her, since the deer and the neighbor cats and dogs (and she’s not really one to share, anyhow) were less tolerant than we were about the whole I’m a princess thing.
Paul in KY
@glasgowtremontaine: You are nicer than I. If/when one of my cats gets ‘chronic renal failure’, a needle it will get.
Paul in KY
@wonkie: What a wonderful cat. Wish I had met him. RIP, Wonkie.
Paul in KY
@Gex: I had one that jumped rom the floor to the top of the refridgerator (saw it happen once).
Paul in KY
@JoyceH: One heck of a cute puppeh!
RenoRick
I agree with you John, Maine Coons are amazing. I’ve had mine for 6 years and he is super cool. 20lbs of big cuddly goodness. He does have asthma and at one point had an attack so bad that he “died” on the table at the emergency vet, but has been doing great ever since.
Erin
You’re so right, John! I have two kitties with a lot of Maine Coon in them, and they are the smartest, most affectionate cats ever. Hurrah for Maine Coons!
Pogonip
@Irony Abounds: I am puzzled about why John is so thrilled to have a cat that routinely scratches and bites him, but if they are happy together, I guess it’s all good.
JAFD
Hello, Mr. Cole,
My condolences for Tunch. Be sure he’s watching over you in kitty heaven.
Anyway, I have a couple of friends with Maine Coon felines, one purebred and one mixed. Agreed on their awesomeness.
Thanks for the work you put into Balloon Juice !
TAGinMO
@RenoRick: 9 lives and all that…