Mobirise.comDespite their size, the Maine Coon cat is sweet-tempered, gentle and friendly and gets along with just about everyone. They have a clown-like personality and are willing to ‘help’ their owners, yet aren’t demanding of attention. Find out more about this breed and if the Maine Coon is right for you and your family. Click here to see TICA Maine coon standards.
Temperament: Friendly, Intelligent, Gentle
Height/Weight Range: Maine Coons don’t typically reach full maturity until they are 4 years of age.
Adult females: Females are typically somewhat smaller at 12 to 15 pounds, but still larger than average for a cat.
Adult males: Males are quite large with healthy weights that are usually around 18 to 22 pounds
Colors: The Maine Coon breed is available in a variety of colors and patterns except pointed (pale body and relatively darker extremities, i.e. the face, ears, feet, tail and in males, scrotum). The most typical colors and patterns are brown, red (orange) or silver tabbies (with or without white), and in classic (bold, swirling patterns along his sides — much like a marble cake), mackerel (vertical, gently curving stripes on the side of the body) or ticked patterns. In most recent years, breeders have been producing solid colored cats in black, white, and blue (grey).
Life Expectancy: 12.5+ years.
About the Maine Coon
The Maine Coon is a beautiful and loving cat that you will treasure having in your life.
Social by nature, they make excellent companions for large, active families of all ages that also enjoy having dogs and other animals, including other cats. Despite their size, Maine coons are among the gentlest of cats and tend to follow their people room-to-room as constant companions, if not always lap cats. While sometimes mischievous, Maine Coon antics are good-natured and easily forgiven by adoring owners.
Activity Level:
Kittens are of course, more active than their adult counterparts, but if encouraged, most Maine Coons remain playful their whole lives. Interactive toys can provide both exercise and bonding time, while many play fetch, walk on a leash, and entertain their family by following simple commands (for a reward, of course!)
A lot goes into the raising of pedigree Maine Coon kittens. Unlike your typical barn cat, these kittens are created by design. As a breeder, I have selected Healthy breed standard Maine coon cats to breed. There are many tests and behind the scene costs that most people are completely unaware of. A typical month in our house costs between $150-200 per cat to raise, when their overall yearly costs are averaged out. You get what you pay for. We personally made that mistake before becoming breeders. Discount kitties equal high vet bills and unhealthy cats.
We feed our cats a variety of kitten to adult kibble, plus tinned cat food, as well as raw. Kibble is always available, tinned/raw is rotated and given each morning or early afternoon.
*Kibble we use Ultra, Acana and Science diet dental. We mix the three types together to prevent them from becoming picky. With currently shortages, sometimes the food we normally get isn't available. This prevents any issues. We add the Science Diet Dental to help keep their teeth clean. They love it so much, they dig through their bowls to find it.
*Tinned wet food we use Tiki Cat exclusively. We have tried other initially, but found this to be the best and well received by all ages.
I'm sure they can swim. Most mammals can. Whether they like it or not is entirely dependent on the cat. So far, all of our Maine Coons are fascinated by water, but they don't want to get into it. Except maybe to play in their water dish.
Yes and no. Our pet Spook, who is 3.5 years old, walks on a leash. He loves it. The other adults Maine Coons in our house, don't hate their halters, but they aren't going to let you take them for a walk. They like to be outside and explore while we sit out there, but will quickly stop if you trying to encourage them to walk. This may change as they get older, but currently, nope. Our recommendation, practice. Take them out on a very long leash, and encourage them to follow you. But don't push it if they don't like it.
When you first bring home a new kitten, you will want to limit the kitten space to a small room, such as a bathroom or spare bedroom. In there they should have their litterbox, food and water, and toys. Over the next few days you can let them out (unless you own other pets, then a vet visit is required first) while supervising them. Some kittens are more adventurous than others and will adapt quickly. Within a few days, they should be happy and well adjusted into your life.
You will receive a well adjusted healthy kitten. Our kittens see the vet a minimum of twice before going to their new homes. They will have received their first 2 of 3 vaccinations (7 and 11 weeks), and will need a 3rd around 16 weeks. They will be dewormed twice before they leave. Besides a 2 year health guarantee for Hip and HCM, you will receive a lifetime of support from us. We love to hear from our families as much as they are willing. Pictures are always welcome. Our kittens go home with a care package that includes a small fluffy blanket from our cattery with smells they are accustom to, toys, several days of kibble, treats and a 30 day trupanion health insurance packet.
At Fluff n Tuff we recommend health insurance to certain families. Generally speaking, people fall into 3 distinct categories when it comes to having pets.
1) The first group have animals, but don't necessarily have the funds to come up with a large unexpected bill. There is no shame in this category. This is the majority of people. This group we HIGHLY recommend insurance for. You never want to be in the position where you have to make a major financial decision when your emotional distraught.
2) This second group can have a lot of overlap to the other two groups. When there is more than one adult making a financial decision, when it comes to animals, they may not agree on whether to spend 1-5k on "just a cat". In this case, I also recommend insurance. Usually for the one that doesn't want to spend the money, insurance is a way to help alleviate the unexpected cost, by having a small monthly payment and a guarantee that 70-90% of the bill is covered. It can still be expensive, but not nearly as bad.
3) The third group has the financial means to cover unexpected bills. If all adults who make decisions are in agreement on covering the costs of unexpected vet bills then in this case we recommend they don't have insurance.
We as a cattery have insurance on all our cats. So far of the 5 we have had, only 2 have needed it. And one, the insurance premiums have been far less than what the insurance has paid out in vet bills. I pray we don't need the insurance for the others, but I wouldn't be without it. I NEVER want to have to make the painful decision to put my cat to sleep because I cannot afford to fix them.
This debate will go until the end of time :) Typically males are more affectionate. Females tend to be more independent. BUT they both love their people and will show it differently, even within the sexes. So far we have found that females tend to have a much higher prey drive. They want to catch and kill. Males will chase but not with the same I WANT TO KILL IT. Both can and will get along with other animals.
Sometimes when a kitten or cat goes through a major stress in their life they get a cold. This is typically caused by the Herpesvirus. Most cats have this virus. In a lot of cats it lays dormant with no symptoms or side effects. Occasionally when a kitten goes to their new home, they get a flare up. In the majority of cats it lasts a couple of days and goes away. We have found that in our cattery, if a cat goes to a home with a dog, it usually hangs around and may even need a round of antibiotics to clear up. We want to be open and upfront about this. We have many families with dogs that have adopted one of our cats and now the cats are living their best life ever. We suspect the reason its only with families with dogs for two reasons. One, we don't have a dog, and therefore our cats have no experience with one. Two, new allergens and bacteria in their environment. We will work with you if this happens with your kitten.
When it comes time to pick up your new kitten, we will work with you to figure out the best way. You can come to our home in North Battleford, SK. We can meet up somewhere in the middle (this may or may not have an added cost depending on the rest of the litter). Or we can fly your kitten to you. From Oct 16 - March 31 we fly out of Calgary, AB and from April 1 to Oct 15 we fly from Saskatoon, SK. If your kitten requires a layover in Toronto or Vancouver and there are added kennel costs, these are the responsibility of the buyer. Alternatively, a buyer can fly to Saskatoon (any time of year) and fly home with their kitten under their seat as a carry on (about $75-100). Not all carriers allow this, so its up to the buyer to confirm.
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