Maine Coon cats are huge and that´s why you are most probably asking yourself if this cat breed really is made for being kept indoors. That´s a good question since Maine Coon cats are very strong and can definitely destroy your furniture and other things if kept wrong. However is this really a common problem with Maine Coon cats?
Are Maine Coon Cats Indoor Cats? You can definitely keep Maine Coons as indoor cats. Maine Coon cats are very laid back and cat owners rarely have any problems with them, no matter if they keep them indoors or keep them as an outdoor cat. Maine Coon cats are very expensive and beautiful in appearance, that´s why outdoor Maine Coon cats often get stolen. Further I don´t recommend to let a Maine Coon outside if you are living in a city appartment. An alternative to let your Maine Coon outside alone is to train it to walk on a leash.
This is the short answer to your question. There is of course so much more to know about this topic and many more things you should consider when deciding if you want to let your Maine Coon outside or not. All the information you need about this topic can be found in this article. So without further ado, let´s get started!
Why Your Maine Coon Should Go Outside
As I said, you can keep a Maine Coon as indoor cat, there is no problem. In fact, we keep our Maine Coon, Maze, as indoor cat as well and Maze is doing fantastic. There are some cats that should go outside though.
Especially if you keep a single cat, you should consider letting your cat outside. Maine Coon cats are very intelligent and they get bored quickly if you are not at home and they don´t have a partner. All cat breeds should have a partner, since being alone too often and too long and being bored all the time can cause psychological problems.
This should not be taken lightly as this can have serious consequences. Maine Coon cats are not aggressive at all, but if they are bored all the time and suffer from mental problems, even they can become aggressive and you don´t want a Maine Coon to attack you.
So the alternative to letting your Maine Coon outside is getting a second cat if you don´t already have one.
Exercise
A big problem with house cats is that they don´t get enough exercise. I am not only talking about physical exercise here. I am also talking about mental exercise. When your Maine Coon goes outside there are a lot of things to explore.
There are various smells, trees that can be climbed, other cats that need to be scared away because they are in the wrong territory and so on and so forth. All this is exercise for your cat. Running, smelling, staying alert because of potential dangers – this is great for your cat and if it can experience this, it will definitely be not bored. It will enjoy the perfect cat life.
I Want To Let My Maine Coon Go Outside But I Am Worried About That
I understand that as I would be worried as well. However there are a couple of things you could do if you are worried about your Maine Coon, but you still want to let it outside.
If you have a garden or a balcony, you could make it “cat proof” which means that you prepare it in a way that your Maine Coon can´t escape. This way your Maine Coon could be outside and you wouldn´t have to worry about it.
You could also train your Maine Coon to walk on a leash. This way you can even travel with your Maine Coon and you don´t need to be worried as you are always there to protect your Maine Coon in case something happens. I wrote an entire article on this here: How To Train Your Maine Coon To Walk On A Leash.
The Risks Of Letting Your Maine Coon Outside (Alone)
Maine Coon cats are very expensive. Trust me, I know that. We paid around $1200 for our Maine Coon and this isn´t even the highest price you can find when looking for Maine Coon cats to buy. This is a reason why many Maine Coon cats get stolen each and every year. A lot of cat owners experience that their cat didn´t come back home and automatically think that the cat might be dead.
The reality is that most of them get stolen. Those Maine Coons appear on the internet for sale and the thieves make some good money with it. The well-being of the cat does not matter to them.
It doesn´t always have to be a person that wants to make some money though. In many cases people just see the cat and notice how beautiful it is and decide to take it home. Maine Coon cats are normally pretty leery when it comes to strangers, but they can get surprised and well, some Maine Coon cats just love strangers. This makes it easy for those people to steal the cat.
There are other dangers, of course. Yes, some Maine Coon cats do not come back, because something happened to them and they died. Unfortunately such things happen. I will come to this later in this article.
Where Are You Living?
If you are living in a city appartment, I do not recommend to let your Maine Coon outside. There are just too many different dangers like cars, people on bycicles, people with dogs, construction zones and so on and so forth. This is not really the natural environment of a Maine Coon.
If you have a house outside the city with a garden, that is the perfect environment for letting your Maine Coon outside. Most Maine Coon cats will stay in or near your garden, so they won´t really be gone for too long. However there are always exceptions. There are Maine Coon cats that love the adventure and will leave in the morning and come back in the evening. It depends on the individual character.
Even if you live outside of the city, there are things that can happen to your cat. There are wild animals that hunt cats. There are also hunters who shoot Maine Coon cats (This might be an issue if you live near a forrest). Maybe they think a Maine Coon is a wild animal because of the size and appearance, or maybe they just want to shoot something, I don´t know, but it happens sometimes.
How To Make Sure That Your Maine Coon Comes Back In The Evening
There is not really much you can do to show your cat the way home in case it gets lost, but on the other hand, cats don´t get lost. They will find the right way home eventually. What you can do though is, you can do certain things to make sure that your cat comes home in the evening and doesn´t stay outside during the night.
The easiest way to make sure that your Maine Coon comes back in the evening is feeding in the evening. This way your cat will always come back to get food and rest. You can also greet your Maine Coon with their favorite treat, this will definitely make sure that your cat understands that it is good to come home in the evening.
Conclusion
Maine Coon cats can be kept as indoor cats, but it is definitely great if you are able to let your Maine Coon outside. Exploring the world outside is a great mental exercise and a great physical exercise for them which most indoor cats don´t get enough of.
Only let your Maine Coon outside if you are living outside of the city. If you are living in a city appartment, this might not be a good idea. Further, if you are worried about your Maine Coon cat, train it to walk on a leash and go outside with it.
If you have any questions, feel free to leave your question in the comment section below. I will get back to you as soon as possible.
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