by Bambi Watson

Created on: March 06, 2009

Maine Coons: The Gentle Giants

Maine Coon Cats are one of the most beautiful and friendly breeds of cats in the world. They are also the longest bredd of Domestic Cat in the world. The World Record for Longest Cat belongs to a Maine Coon named Leo who is 48 inches long from nose to tail and weighs a whopping 35 pounds.

Maine Coons have amazing personalities and are among the cuddliest of cat breeds. These cats are also incredibly smart, many get into trouble frequently because they teach themselves to open doors, turn water faucets on and off and even open kitchen cupboards. Many Maine Coons teach themselves to use the toilet.

Most Maine Coons are almost dog-like in their friendliness to their human parents. These cats do come running to greet you when you come home. They do recognize their names and come quickly when called.

Maine Coons are also much more playful than most breeds. Most can be trained to play fetch and other dog type games, especially if they are fetching a rolling ball.

Maine Coons come in just about every color, except the Siamese point colors. They do however have certain physical characteristics that set them apart from other breeds. Of course their incredible size is one clue to identifying a Maine Coon. Their size is more in length and not necessarily weight. Maine Coons have long rectangular shaped bodies, that end in the long extra bushy tails that give them their names.

Maine Coons have a distinctive "M" on their foreheads, even solid colored Maine Coons have a slight color variation there that shows the "M".

Maine Coons have Lynx tips on their ears. They also have very distinctive fur patterns. These cats were built for winters outside. They have three different layers of hair, that makes them incredibly soft, like bunnies. These fur layers serve a more important purpose, it gives them a water-proofing effect that helps them shed water and snow and keeps them warmer in the winter. They also have long hair between their toes, that helps insulate their paws while treading on snow.

Maine Coons can be identified by their unusual fur patterns. They have short hair on the top of their heads, but a lion-like main of hair around their necks. The hair on their front legs is short, for plowing through snow, and they have distinctive fluffy fur on the backs of their rear legs that look like Fancy britches.

Many Maine Coons have tabby markings along with the other distinguishing features.

To learn more about Maine Coons Check out these fun links.

Maine Coon Cats Wikipedia-Maine Coon Kitty Wompuss-Maine Coon Adventures

To help Homeless Maine Coons: Maine Coon Rescue

All in all Maine Coons make excellent pets. The males average from 15-25 pounds when full grown and the females are usually a bit smaller. Maine Coons take 4 years to reach full maturity, unlike the 2 years it takes most other breeds to mature. These cats have an even friendly temperment that makes them ideal pets for families with children and dogs.

When choosing a pet please consider adopting from a pet shelter or your local humane society, every animal deserves a family to love it. Also please get your cat spayed or neutered to help keep the homless pet population down.

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