Why I Wouldn't Recommend This Breed to Just Anyone

Honest Advice on Maine Coon Ownership

I started writing this review before my Maine Coon even arrived, on the second day after delivery.

We live in a private house with no pets, except for one. We have a cat, but he's an old guy, 10 years old now. He spends the summer in the village and comes back home for the winter. I grew up in a house with animals, and my grandma always had pets, mostly cats. Having pets is essential for kids when they're young.

My husband wasn't keen on getting a dog while he's away on business, so we decided on a cat. I wish we'd chosen a regular, non-purebred cat, though. The first day, I regretted buying the Maine Coon. Both the cat and I were in shock, I think. The kids were excited about the new pet.

Purchasing the cat was a great experience. I visited the breeder, and she was a lovely, young woman, very friendly and helpful. She explained everything to me, and it was clear she's experienced with this breed. We decided on a kitten, a female, about two months old. She was dewormed, had her first vaccinations, and came with a passport.

It turned out that the breeder and I live in different cities, so she brought the kitten to me after I'd paid in advance. I had to pay for delivery separately.

The price of the cat depends on its color and whether it's intended for shows or breeding. We didn't plan on participating in shows or breeding, so we agreed on a price. The breeder said we should give the kitten its next vaccination and spay it ourselves, 21 days after we got it. She told us the kitten was ready for travel.

Photo from the breeder

Getting to know the cat was a challenge. We got the kitten delivered in the evening. According to the breeder, the kitten meowed a bit during the trip and then fell asleep.

We brought it home in a carrier, and when we took it out, it ran back in and hid in the corner. It was clear the kitten was stressed and scared from the trip and the new environment.

We showed it its food bowl, litter box, and new surroundings. We temporarily put the food bowl and litter box on the kitchen counter. The kitten hid under the kitchen furniture and stayed there until morning. In the morning, it came out to eat, but didn't eat much. I held it in my arms, and it was shaking like a leaf. I put it down, and it hid under the kitchen furniture again. At night, it meowed occasionally. Its meowing wasn't like that of regular cats.

What really shocked me was the smell. When we took the kitten out of the carrier and held it in our arms, the smell hit me. It was like a strong urine smell, but not quite. It was a specific smell. After we bathed the kitten, the smell came back a few days later. We bathed it two weeks after it arrived. In the morning, when the kitten came to me, it still smelled. After holding it in my arms, I smelled like that too. I ended up covered in its fur, and my favorite hoodie was full of its fur – all from a two-month-old kitten. I had to wash the hoodie twice with a roller to get rid of the smell. I wasn't prepared for the smell, and it wasn't mentioned anywhere online, not even in the reviews I read.

The kitten is quite big for its age, looks like a regular cat that's 8 months old. Its ears, coat, and face are amazing.

We got her home with the passport. All the marks on her are in line with her age. Her name is Quen Cloud Valley, but we decided to call her Loly, as her owner had warned us that we could name her ourselves, despite the name on her passport.

On the third night, the kitten seemed to be exploring the territory - the playmat in the nursery was turned over. She also went to the litter box for the first time on the third night. She quickly adapted to the litter box. We didn't notice her marking any territory. But on the fourth night, she started playing with the curtains, climbing up the kitchen table, and digging into the flower pots. We concluded that she's a night owl, as she's more active at night than during the day, and she mostly hides in her hiding spot during the day. Maybe it's because there are kids at home, and she's scared of the noise and sudden movements. We also noticed that she's left a scent all over the kitchen, not from the litter box, but from her own scent, considering the window is open all the time. She spends most of her time in the kitchen.

We've attached a list of the items we bought for her at Waldberries:

litter box: 178981710; food and water bowl: 119319430; claw trimmer: 235465366; shampoo: 147679534; leash: 199870587; claw nail clipper: 168910833; pet brush: 212237938.

She meows loudly every night. On the first night, she meowed softly. She meows during the day too, when she's not sleeping. Initially, we thought it was because the place was new, but later it turned out to be attention-seeking behavior, even when she's in the same room as us - she stops meowing.

We decided to feed her dry and wet food, as recommended by her breeder, and occasionally give her chicken and cottage cheese. She eats well. But we need to use heavier bowls, as shown in the photo, as she won't move them. However, the plastic bowl for wet food is a different story - it's flying all over the kitchen, and she's moving it around.

We bought the cheapest wooden litter from Perekrestok, and the kitten likes it, but she's scattering it all over the kitchen on her paws and tail. We'll look for an alternative when the current pack runs out.

I've gotta say, the litter doesn't absorb the smell of wood, and after just one use, the odor is pretty noticeable. It's not like the smell of a regular cat, which usually just pees a few times in a small area and then one big time. This Maine Coon litter has a strong smell that's similar to one big pee. And after two uses, it's still usable for a third time, but only just. The litter consumption is massive if you change it after every use. I tried it, and it clogged up my pipes, and the water wouldn't drain. It took some effort to clear it out. I wouldn't want to throw it away and have it still smell up the trash can, so I take it outside to the garden, which is lucky since we live in a private house and it's summer. I leave the window open all day and night where the litter box is. The smell does slightly drift into the adjacent room. I've started taking the litter box outside when my Maine Coon goes number one, as the size is similar to a full-grown regular cat. I'm worried about what will happen when the kitten grows up - it'll be handling human-sized waste. In a private house, maybe it's easier to train the cat to go outside with its business.

Sorry for being honest. Before getting this breed, I didn't read about these nuances much, and even if I did, it was just a brief mention.

After two weeks, the kitten adjusted. I decided to bathe it, which was a challenge. It scratched all my hands. But that's only half the problem. It refused to sit in a towel on my hands for the first 15 minutes. I was scared to let it go due to the fans, but I had to. It immediately ran off to pee on the floor under the kitchen cabinets. It was a mess to clean up. And that's what they say - that they're messy. I'm currently 50/50 on this, as the kitten is still young, but it's already showing signs. It spills dry food, doesn't eat it off the floor, and plays with it instead. It picks up litter in the dry form and rolls it around the floor intentionally. In the wet litter, it just lies there, gets all dirty, and the smell of pee sticks to its fur, as well as the litter that spreads around the house. I'm constantly chasing it with a broom. It's okay to play, but it's a first for me to see a cat just lying in the litter like that. I've had a lot of cats - a Persian, a Scottish Fold, a mix of Persian and regular, and three regular cats, two of which went outside, and the others were in a litter box, and I've never seen anything like this, not even when they were kittens.

After a month, I started to sneeze and feel short of breath. I was in contact with the cat more often, or rather, its belongings. As soon as the first symptoms appeared, I noticed that my youngest daughter was sneezing too. Whether she's short of breath or not, I'm not sure – she's only going to be two in September. Two days later, she broke out in a rash that looked like eczema, but it was interesting: eczema on her neck, like eczema, and patches on her shoulder, with more eczema beyond that. This eczema kept getting worse every day. Her entire scalp and neck were covered in it. I'm not sure if it's an allergy, but she's never had eczema before, at least not this summer. And the eczema would have been confined to the folds of her diaper, but amazingly, there were no breakouts there either. We started taking antihistamines. The sneezing stopped, but she started itching. The rash just kept getting worse in the areas where it was, but after the cat left the house, it disappeared. And I stopped feeling tightness in my chest, but I still couldn't catch my breath, and it was getting worse with each passing day, considering I was still taking antihistamines. And I couldn't keep taking them all the time.

I couldn't get any blood tests to check for allergies to the cat, since our town isn't big enough, and even the paid clinic isn't doing them temporarily due to some issues. And traveling 260 kilometers to the regional center isn't an option either – I'd have to take the kids with me, and I don't have any babysitters, and my neighbor won't be able to watch them for long. We haven't bought any new household items, like powders, conditioners, or cosmetics, in a while either. We finally figured out that it was the cat – I was in contact with it more than anyone else. And my youngest daughter was following me everywhere, especially closer to the ground, closer to the cat.

I would have kept suffering if my friend hadn't come to visit. She fell in love with the kitten, and she decided to help me out. She lives in a private house, and we thought it would be best for the kitten to go live with her. There were no arguments with the breeder about returning the kitten – we didn't have a contract, and I didn't want to give it away or have it put down. I just gave it to someone who would take care of it. My friend loves animals, and she has experience taking care of them.

As for the kitten's personality, it's not a lap cat, but it loves to be petted. It enjoys being stroked, and it would only let me do that. It makes a really loud meowing noise, like a tractor. I liked it when its belly was being petted.

I felt bad giving it up, and my older daughter felt the same way. But we'll still see the kitten and visit it.

I didn't expect it to turn out this way. Now, if I were to get a cat, it would have to be an ordinary one – we've never had any allergic reactions to those. But for now, let's just put it off and not get any more cats.

So, in the end, I'd recommend this cat to people with a private home, no allergies, and no young kids. My youngest daughter took the longest to get used to her, and they're not exactly fond of being held. This breed requires a ton of attention and care, like having a toddler. Plus, it's an expensive one, so make sure you get the right food, or you'll be dealing with issues like hair loss and digestive problems. We were prepared for the mess, though - we just needed a vacuum for the floors and a dryer for our clothes. And, of course, we knew the kittens would need social interaction, so we made sure to give them plenty of attention. They loved being brushed, especially on the floor, not on our laps. But, unfortunately, we weren't prepared for the allergy issues. Allergies can pop up at any time and from anything.

I think new owners would have it easier, though. They would have had a much smoother transition. We already had her acclimated, since she didn't have a mom cat and had a calm older cat to learn from. She started eating right away. New owners are thrilled to have a new furry family member, and they're always sending us photos and videos of her. She's in good hands!