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The Maine Coons are known for their gentle nature and loving purrsonalities. They're especially good with children and dogs, making them a great family pet. Many people consider them to be the perfect domestic pets, with their clown- like purrsonality, amusing habits and tricks and easily groamed coat; a weekly combing is all that is usually required to keep it in top condition. Even their voices set them apart from other cats, they have a distinctive, chirping trill which they use for everything from courting to cajoling their people into playing with them. They rarely meow, and when they do, that so soft, high pitched voice doesn't fit their size! Everything about the Maine Coon points to ist adaptation to the harsh New England climate. Nature is not soft-hearted. It selects the biggest, the brightest and the best fighters and hunters to breed successive generations. Its silky coat, heavy and water-resistant and longer on the ruff, stomach and britches to protect against wet and snow, and shorter on the back and neck to guard against tangling in the underbrush. The coat falls smoothly, and is almost maintenance- free. The long, bushy tail which the cat wraps around himself when it curls up to sleep can protect the cat from cold winters. The body is long and rectangular and the chest is broad. The ears are more heavily furred (both inside and on the tips) than many breeds for protection from the cold, and have a large range of movement. Big, round, tufted feet "serve as snow shoes". Their expressive eyes and large ears are also survival traits, serving as they do increase sight and hearing.
They are indeed tall, muscular, heavily-boned cats; males commonly reach 7 to 10 kg,
with females normally weighing about 5 to 7 kg. Maine Coons develop relatively slowly
and may not achieve their full size until they are about four years old.
Overall, the Maine Coon should present the apearance of a well balanced, strongly-built, rectangular cat.  |
