Compared to most other cats, the personality of a Maine Coon cat is truly unique. I am sure you already heard that before, but what does that mean in detail? Most people who are thinking about getting a new cat do their research on various cat breeds and I am sure that almost everyone stumbles upon the Maine Coon and reads how friendly they are. However this isn´t all. There is a lot more to know about the Maine Coon breed. So what should you know about Maine Coon personality?
Maine Coon cats are very friendly. You can read everywhere, that they are gentle giants or the dogs of the cat world. However this describes only a very small part of their personality. Maine Coon cats are very curious, they are always interested in everything their owner does. They are very affectionate and get along with almost every other pet. Further they are very vocal and love to knead everything they love while purring loudly.
Even though I explained briefly what the Maine Coon character is like, there are a lot of more awesome things that you should know about Maine Coon cats. My girlfriend and I got a Maine Coon kitten and the experiences we made are completely positive, without any exception.
Maine Coon Personality – Get Ready For This!
Before you start reading this, you should also know that we also have a regular house cat, so this article will also show you in detail how Maine Coon cats are different from regular house cats. So, let´s get started!
Maine Coon Cats Chirp When They Are Excited
A lot of people want to have a very vocal cat, but on the other hand they don´t want to be annoyed by a cat that is too loud and won´t stop meowing. I absolutely understand that. Talking to your cat is fun, especially when your cat answers with short meows and similar sounds. However this definitely can be annoying when it is too much.
I have very good news for you, if you want to get a cat that talks, but isn´t annoying, a Maine Coon is the right cat for you! Maine Coon cats don´t meow often, but they make weird sounds that most people call chirping. This can be heard whenever your Maine Coon is excited. For example, whenever our Maine Coon jumps on our bed or on the couch to greet us, we hear a short chirping sound.
This also happens when our Maine Coon, Maze, plays or sees a bird outside, or a fly inside our house. The great thing about that is that this chirping is not annoying at all. It is rather gentle and she doesn´t do it the whole day. Besides that, most Maine Coon cats have a very high voice, which makes you think that a kitten is making that sound even if your Maine Coon is already 10 years old. Compared to their massive appearance this is pretty funny.
Maze looking for birds.
Also, your Maine Coon will definitely talk with you, but it won´t go on forever. After answering three or four times, Maze just stops and gives us a headbutt instead of answering again.
Maine Coon Cats Do Not Meow A Lot
I already said above that Maine Coon cats don´t meow often, but I think it is important to tell you what that means and when you likely will hear your Maine Coon meowing. Most of the time Maine Coon meow when they miss you.
For example, when my girlfriend is in the bathroom and closes the door, Maze will let her know that she misses her. She will meow three to four times and then she just lies in front of the bathroom door. If you want to know more about how vocal Maine Coon cats are, read my article on that here!
A Maine Coon Will Always Help You!
Need a helping hand with something? Trust me, your Maine Coon will be there! What does that mean? Well, we can´t do anything here in our house without our Maine Coon observing very curiously what we are doing.
She is always there when we work. While I am typing this article, my Maine Coon is lying next to me on my desk. Since my girlfriend is also sitting at her desk and working, I definitely know that my Maine Coon will check what she is doing in around 10 minutes.
This also goes for baking, cooking, cleaning the aquarium, decorating a room – it doesn´t matter what it is, our Maine Coon will be there to “help”. If you think now that this might be just the character of our Maine Coon I have to disagree, every Maine Coon owner will tell you the exact same thing.
They Are Very Affectionate
I can´t even describe how strongly we feel that our Maine Coon loves us. And let me tell you, we are not those people who believe that their pet loves them even if it tries to kill them. If an animals doesn´t like us, we know that and we don´t sugarcoat anything.
However Maze truly shows us love each and every day. She especially shows love to my girlfriend.
When my girlfriend is sitting on the couch or is lying in bed, our Maine Coon will definitely come to her and start to knead while purring loudly. She does that for at least 15 minutes before falling asleep on, or next to my girlfriend.
She will wait for us when we are in the bathroom and she will greet us with a short chirping sound and a headbutt. Same goes for when she is in another room and we come to her. She is always happy to see us no matter if we have been in another room or at work.
Maze wants to be with us!
They Are Very Gentle And Not Aggressive At All
As you know, Maine Coon cats are gentle giants. While they surely are giants, they are definitely gentle as well. No matter what you do, or if you have a kid, no matter what you kid does, a Maine Coon will always be gentle.
They don´t want to harm anybody, all they want is love and loving you.
We have never experienced any aggressive behavior in our Maine Coon and even if we have to do things she doesn´t like, she doesn´t hurt us. For example, we sometimes have to clean her. Most of the times she just endures it and makes short sounds until we let her go. That time it took us a little bit longer to clean her and she really wanted to go.
So she wanted to bite me my finger. As you know, a cat bite can be very, very painful and even dangerous if the wound gets infected. However I absolutely knew that she wouldn´t hurt me, so I didn´t move.
I was right, all she did was opening her mouth, and touching my finger with her teeth. She couldn´t get herself to really bite me. It looked so funny, we really had a good laugh and we rewarded her with some treats for being cute, haha.
They Are Very Gentle With Other Animals As Well
I have to be honest here. Our regular house cat, Gigetta, can be pretty mean. In fact she slaps and hisses at Maze at least three times a day. Gigetta doesn´t like to be touched a lot. Most of the times she will show you that it is okay now, and then you can touch her.
Maze doesn´t care about Gigetta being grumpy. Maze always gives her headbutts or she tries to groom her, but Gigetta always slaps her or runs away. However that doesn´t mean that Maze would get defensive. Our friendly Maine Coon cat just sits there and takes the slaps as if it were nothing.
As soon as our other cat calms down she tries it again. She tries to cuddle with Gigetta since almost one year and she never stops, because she is never mean at Gigetta for being grumpy. And by the way, Maze already got Gigetta to allow her to sleep next to her. Update: Maze got Gigetta to play with her. Gigetta isn´t that grumpy anymore, since Maze is so patient.
We also have a small aquarium with one betta fish. Maze loves to watch our fish, but she never tries to get into the aquarium to get the fish. All she does is sitting in front of the aquarium and observing the fish that´s it.
I have no doubt that Maze would get along and be gentle with any pet we would get. Read: Are Maine Coons good with dogs?
Maine Coon Cats Are Forgiving
Do you know those cat videos where a cat owner does something funny to their cat and the cat will slap them or avoid them for days? This won´t happen with a Maine Coon. Maine Coon cats are very forgiving. They rarely slap their owners and they don´t avoid their owners. They are way too affectionate for that.
Here is an example. Our Maine Coon had to be neutered. Visiting the vet is horror for most cats and I have to say that Maze doesn´t like it either. There are a lot of very loud sounds in the waiting room. Dogs that bark loudly all the time and so on. For an indoor cat this can be quite disturbing of course.
She doesn´t like the vet, but she never tried to bite and she always endured the examination without a single noise.
After such an event, most cats like to hide under the bed/couch for a couple of hours, or they show you that they are mad at you with avoiding you. Not our Maine Coon. As soon as we let her out of the transport box she wants to cuddle.
She is still a little bit jumpy then, but all she shows us is love.
They Play A Lot
Yes, a Maine Coon cat is definitely very playful. Remember when I told you above that Maze is lying next to me while I am working? She just checked out what my girlfriend is doing and now she is playing with a ball in the living room.
This is another great thing about Maine Coon cats. They play a lot and it is fun to watch them playing, but you don´t have to play with them if you don´t want to. Of course, you can play with your cat, but if you don´t like to play or if you don´t have time for that – no problem!
Maine Coon cats can play alone without any problem. In fact you don´t have to play with them at all. Most Maine Coon cats are just happy that you are there and they show you that they are happy with playing. Of course, this goes along with chirping from time to time, since a rolling ball can be pretty exciting, lol.
They Use Their Paws A Lot
All cats use their paws, but Maine Coon cats seem to very unique here. They even use their paws to eat. If you get a Maine Coon you will most probably see the cat picking up dry food or treats with their paws and eat it out of their paws.
Further they somehow like to stay in contact with you by touching you gently with their paw. This happens most of the time when we sit on the couch and our Maine Coon falls asleep next to us. When she awakes for a short time, she makes sure that we stay there by touching us gently with her paw.
They Are Wary Of Strangers
Maine Coon cats are very loyal to their family. They love every single member of the family no matter how mean that member might be (our example: Gigetta), but they usually don´t trust strangers. Whenever we have guests, Maze will hide from them. If a stranger tries to touch Maze, she will run away.
All Maine Coon cats are known for this behavior. However when the cat learns that those people belong to the family or that those guests are okay, your Maine Coon will calm down. Still, most strangers won´t be allowed to touch your Maine Coon as the cat will run away.
Maine Coon Cats Are Independent
As affectionate Maine Coon cats may be, they are still very independent. I already explained that when I told you that they play by themselves a lot. That is definitely a good thing as cats that are too clingy can cause problems over time.
Maine Coon cats can be left alone and they can keep themselves busy. No need for you to be there all the time.
They Are Very Intelligent
Maine Coon cats learn quickly, because they are very intelligent cats. Maze learned in a matter of days what we want from her when we make certain sounds. A “shh” means she should stop doing what she is doing. “Komm” means that she should come to us.
We didn´t really train that, she just learned it. If you want a cat you can train, or a cat you want to travel with, a Maine Coon is a great cat for that.
However you should also know that if you keep just one Maine Coon and you leave your cat alone the whole day, your cat might get bored and that´s when Maine Coon cats start to do dumb things.
This shouldn´t be a problem though, as you should always keep at least two cats.
The Maine Coon Compared To A Regular House Cat
A regular house cat is like a box of chocolate, you never know what you´re gonna get (I didn´t steal that from Forrest Gump, they stole it from me, lol). But seriously, a regular house cat can be mean, aggressive and just grumpy, but they can also be very friendly and affectionate.
However the majority of people that had a house cat before and got a Maine Coon afterwards say that Maine Coon cats are way more friendly and affectionate while house cats are independent and just need you to give them their food.
Even our vets said that most house cats are pretty mean compared to most other cat breeds. I can´t really say what it is, maybe it depends on what breed is in the regular house cat. If you want to learn more about the difference between regular house cats and Maine Coon cats, read my article Maine Coon vs Regular House cat.
Once A Maine Coon Always A Maine Coon
There is no exception here. I have never heard anyone who got a Maine Coon saying, ” It was nice, but I will get a different cat breed now”. Never! You know anybody who has a Maine Coon cat? Ask them if they would get a different cat breed. I am a 100% sure that they wouldn´t want to get a different cat breed.
Maine Coon cats are just so friendly, they give so much love, no person who likes cats would say that they do not want that.
Actually what most people who got a Maine Coon cat say is that they are thinking about getting another Maine Coon. We also thought about getting a second Maine Coon, unsfortunately we don´t have the time and the space for a third cat.
Are All Maine Coon Cats The Same?
You might think that I am just too biased, because we have such a friendly Maine Coon. Not really. Actually, before I met my girlfriend I would´ve never gotten a cat. She already had her house cat, Gigetta and brought it with her when we moved together.
I was even scared of Gigetta at the beginning since she hisses a lot. No I am more relaxed and I love both of our cats. However what really convinced me was the friendliness of a Maine Coon. It is truly something special.
That being said, there are Maine Coon cats that do not behave as described above. Every cat has a unique character, you should keep that in mind if you plan to get a cat. However the chances of getting a very affectionate, friendly cat are way higher if you get a Maine Coon or another cat breed that is known for its friendliness, instead of a regular house cats.
Only a few Maine Coon owners have problems with their cat. Often this is the result of bad husbandry.
You should also make sure that you get your Maine Coon from a respected breeder. Knowing how the kittens grow up will erase any chances to get a Maine Coon with behavior problems.
Conclusion – Maine Coon Behavior
This is a very long article. Even I was suprised that I found so many things about our Maine Coon and the Maine Coon cats of others. If you really want to get a cat, and you read my whole article, you should know now that a Maine Coon cat is one of the best cat breeds you can get.
There are other cat breeds that are friendly as well, but the Maine Coon is known for being the friendliest cat breed of all. Especially if you have a big family, if you have kids and want a cat, this is the cat you should get.
They might be huge, but as most huge animals, they seem to be aware of that and never use their power and their size for bad things. I really hope this article on Maine Coon personality helped you. If you have any questions, or want to share a Maine Coon story with us, leave it in the comment section below!
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