Comments on: Maine Coon boil

Maine Coon boil

Trurl — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 19:04:44 -0800

By: thsmchnekllsfascists

thsmchnekllsfascists — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 19:05:59 -0800

AHH I JUST WANNA SMOOSH THEIR LITTLE KITTY FACES

By: phunniemee

phunniemee — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 19:08:46 -0800

Seeing their reactions all in a group like that, it's easy to tell which ones need to be held back for Remedial Kitten 1A. (Mr. Third from the End, I'm lookin' at you.)

By: cmoj

cmoj — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 19:10:31 -0800

Not as delicious as I expected.

By: something something

something something — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 19:11:26 -0800

I would love to see what's going on behind the camera there. As the proud owner of adolescent cats, I can't believe that not one of them leapt in the air to try to capture whatever they were watching. They all just sat there! Dunces.

By: Trurl

Trurl — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 19:13:28 -0800

I would love to see what's going on behind the camera there. I wondered if there was digital trickery. I'm easily gulled.

By: Blasdelb

Blasdelb — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 19:24:59 -0800

Vicious predators, all of them, AND SO CUTE!

By: Slap*Happy

Slap*Happy — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 19:34:02 -0800

Needs more Prisencolinensinainciusol.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 19:40:05 -0800

Maine Coons are The Best Cats because 1: They are big 2: They are fluffy 3: They follow you around like dogs 4: They trill. 5: They have tufted ears 6: They have proud manes

By: Slap*Happy

Slap*Happy — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 19:47:48 -0800

My uncle has a Maine Coon cat named Butterbean. After the 400lb boxer and MMA fighter. It's a biiiiiig kitty, but one of the most loving and lovable household pets I've ever met. Cats usually hate me, with a spitting, clawing fury, but Butterbean just comes ~~padding softly~~ thundering ponderously up to me wherever I sit, and asks nicely for ear-scritchings. He can also hip-check my toddler onto her rump if she gets all bear-huggy, which she likes much better than scratching/biting. Butterbean's an honorary dog in her eyes - she's terrified of cats.

By: Greg Nog

Greg Nog — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 19:55:04 -0800

Maine Coons are The Best Cats I sometimes feel like when you get a Maine Coon, you enter into this secret society where the unspoken rule is "Don't constantly brag about how Maine Coons are so much better than other cats because people might not be able to handle it if they knew how rad Maine Coons truly are." I recently snuck into my friend's apartment while she was on vacation, stole her Maine Coon, and gave it a lion cut. She was surprised and delighted when she returned home! Sir Digby Chicken Caesar before Sir Digby Chicken Caesar after

By: Diablevert

Diablevert — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 19:56:14 -0800

My uncle has a pair of Maine Coons called Cheech and El Guapo. El Guapo plays fetch.

By: tomswift

tomswift — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 19:59:28 -0800

you know, of course, that if you die, unlike a dog which sits quietly by your body with big, sad eyes, these kitties will eat you. just wanted to put this in perspective.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:00:39 -0800

El Guapo plays fetch. Cat the Cat found DEMAND to play fetch. She had a toy mouse she would drop in front of you as a sign that she wants to play. If you ignored this, she would jump on your shoulder, drop the mouse in your lap, and STARE AT YOU.

By: Diablevert

Diablevert — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:01:04 -0800

you know, of course, that if you die, unlike a dog which sits quietly by your body with big, sad eyes, these kitties will eat you. Check the subhead.

By: Greg Nog

Greg Nog — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:03:45 -0800

these kitties will eat you. My Maine Coon would eat me, sure. I don't think my other cat is smart enough to realize I'm meat, though.

By: SomaSoda

SomaSoda — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:04:15 -0800

Say what you want about metafilter, it never fails for lack of cats.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:06:11 -0800

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar after I want to say imaging Greg as a roof-top skipping cat-shaving burglar is completely unrealistic but then I've met him sooooooo

By: phunniemee

phunniemee — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:07:26 -0800

I recently snuck into my friend's apartment while she was on vacation, stole her Maine Coon, and gave it a lion cut. She was surprised and delighted when she returned home! Does your friend also have a dog named Numberwang?

By: tomswift

tomswift — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:09:51 -0800

Diablevert , I was talking about US dogs, those were canadian dogs... they probably had a molson afterwards!

By: Trurl

Trurl — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:10:57 -0800

Who wouldn't want their pets to eat them if it would save them from starvation?

By: Ber

Ber — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:11:38 -0800

I have 5 Maine Coons (my wife is a bit addictive when it comes to cats). They truly are the greatest cats but the gentle giant meme is a only partly true. They can be extremely active when awake, especially the males. And if you have a pride of them (and they do form a pride), they LEARN from each other. One finds a way to get up on a 8 foot bookshelf, and then across the 4 foot gap to the other bookshelf, within an hour or two the rest will have to try it for themselves. They also attack prey as a pride. My wife was shopping for a parrot once. She told the bird lady that she had multiple cats. "No problem, an African Grey or Cockatial can handle themselves" I said that we had Maine Coons. Bird Lady: "You can't have birds." I've seen 4 of them go up a wall in an attack pattern to bring down a June bug. I swear the damn thing died of fright.

By: polymath

polymath — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:25:34 -0800

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar after Can't favorite this enough - it had my husband and I laughing for a good five minutes.

By: wowbobwow

wowbobwow — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:40:21 -0800

No sidekick named Ginger?

By: rtha

rtha — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:44:24 -0800

This makes me miss my Linus a wicked lot. Although my god, he could be a pain in the ass. I still miss him. It made me laugh helplessly as well. Thanks!

By: FelliniBlank

FelliniBlank — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:48:17 -0800

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar after How the hell did you manage to do this without being exsanguinated? I have some affable laid-back cats, but come ON.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:51:51 -0800

You can basically do whatever you want to Maine Coon if you have a sot voice and move slowly. They're the Dude of Cats.

By: dersins

dersins — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:55:31 -0800

My uncle has a pair of Maine Coons called Cheech and El Guapo. El Guapo plays fetch. Fetch is not unique to Maine Coons. Fyi.

By: FelliniBlank

FelliniBlank — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:56:51 -0800

Well, that tail pom-pom does pull the room together.

By: winna

winna — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 21:10:39 -0800

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar is such an awesome name for a cat. Cats are very like Sir Digby Chicken Caesar. Ginger: "Robots, sir!" Digby: "Metal bastards! Run the other way!" The amused and startled look on his face in the after picture gets five stars. He even looks slightly inebriated!

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 21:32:33 -0800

Cat the Cat and me Cat liked to be in things.

By: BitterOldPunk

BitterOldPunk — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 21:46:43 -0800

I have had cats all my life. My mother raised and sold Siamese cats when I was a kid, and I've owned many cats of many breeds, from banged-up ex-feral tooth-missing ragged-eared alley cats to graceful prima donnas. But I've NEVER had a cat as smart, chill, and awesome as Chicken-Leg Al, the Maine Coon. He's neither too aloof nor too intrusively needy. He's neither foolishly cocky nor tremblingly cowardly. He came from Canada. A full day in a roaring jet, confined in a carry-case. He didn't piss himself. We let him loose in the house, which is, I should add, redolent of cats past. He made a circuit, sniffed a few items, located the food and water, and plopped down in the middle of the floor and began to wash. Like, "yeah, this'll work." The very next morning, less than 12 hours after traveling more than 3000 miles, he went outside. Found a good spot for poops, found a good tree for scratching, and settled in. Stayed out all day. At dark, he came inside and he slept on the bed, like he'd never lived anywhere else. He's the least flighty, least neurotic, calmest cat I've ever had. He is the epitome of Awesome Cat. Best. Cat. Ever.

By: tumid dahlia

tumid dahlia — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 21:51:07 -0800

Over here, "coon" is both the single worst thing you can call an Aboriginal, as well as a brand of cheese! The slur is ugly and the cheese is bland.

By: tumid dahlia

tumid dahlia — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 21:52:56 -0800

OMG MY CAT IS A MAINE COON I ALWAYS WONDERED

By: Decani

Decani — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 21:54:42 -0800

Greg Nog: it is simply magnificent that you called your cat Sir Digby Chicken Caesar. That is all.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 21:57:22 -0800

I know from experience that Greg Nog has the best named cats ever.

By: obiwanwasabi

obiwanwasabi — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 22:06:57 -0800

This is exactly - exactly - what I needed from a two minute net break to get through the next two hours. Back to work!

By: tumid dahlia

tumid dahlia — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 22:08:31 -0800

Actually she's probably only Maine Coon in looks, because she is incredibly stupid and also very angry.

By: tumid dahlia

tumid dahlia — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 22:11:48 -0800

Also this is really weird. At first I was like mildly grar at the word "coon" for the reason outlined above (it's a horrible racial slur in Australia,), but now that I have associated it with the possible breed of my violent, idiot cat...it's not so bad.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 22:18:29 -0800

The word is also problematic in America, albeit a bit anachronistic, I only come across it when talking about the breed of big, happy cats so I'll be happy if it supplants the previous use.

By: Xoebe

Xoebe — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 22:51:33 -0800

I suspect the "coon" in Maine Coon is more a reference to the size and thickness of the coat of the cat, like a raccoon, which are commonly called 'coons. That, and Maine isn't known as a hotbed of southern American racism. A quick Google of it didn't reveal much in the way of the name of the cat, but there is a good Wikipedia entry.

By: 445supermag

445supermag — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 23:09:34 -0800

I'm very disappointed that the link didn't lead to a video about people in Maine who have parties where they boil up a bunch of racoons (a Maine version of a Louisiana crab boil). Actually, I'm probably more relieved than disappointed.

By: Apocryphon

Apocryphon — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 23:12:30 -0800

I'm meltingggggggggggggggggg

By: nicolas léonard sadi carnot

nicolas léonard sadi carnot — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 23:55:23 -0800

Anyone with comparative experience of Maine Coons and Norwegian Forest Cats? The two lion-cat breeds seem quite similar in a lot of ways! I kind of favour the latter, just because I love the idea of a grim and frostbitten housepet.

By: Eumachia L F

Eumachia L F — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 00:40:25 -0800

I used to have two Maine Coons who were brothers. Best cats ever. One was an expert hunter of all things, the other was a vegetarian. He used to bring in the biggest, gnarliest, most bad-assed oak leaves you've ever seen. The only living thing he ever caught was a luna moth, and I'm convinced he must have assumed it was an especially playful pile of leaves.

By: honey-barbara

honey-barbara — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 01:17:24 -0800

Serious dog-lover here, but I am converted! Coon Cats rule.

By: fraula

fraula — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 01:44:23 -0800

My little 'coon (probably a mix, we don't know his parents, but he is very Maine Coon) was a rescue, and I am so delighted with him. On day 2 with me (two and a half months old), he'd figured out how to scale a wall. A few months later, he was drinking from the faucet. He potted himself, played hide-and-seek in buckets, bags himself (I don't leave plastic bags unsupervised for this very reason, btw!), and does an excellent lion impression. And he takes a shower every day. (Yes, my shower looks moldy, it was even worse when I moved in, it was installed by the previous owners without any waterproof backing. Shall be entirely redone eventually.)

By: sodium lights the horizon

sodium lights the horizon — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 01:59:37 -0800

I recently snuck into my friend's apartment while she was on vacation, stole her Maine Coon, and gave it a lion cut. Cat burglary: You're doing it ~~wrong~~ ~~right~~ ~~wrong~~... Erm...

By: Sweetie Darling

Sweetie Darling — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 02:55:52 -0800

The funnest thing* to do to a Maine Coon is to take the fur on the side of their cheeks and give them "Bozo face," like Bozo the Clown**. Then talk about Bozo Face and tell them how cute they are. The look of derision you'll get from them in return is priceless. Our current Maine Coon boy, Murphy, is our favorite cat ever. Totally chill. When he decides it is time for him to love you, it's like winning a gold medal. (*If they will sit still long enough, the second funnest thing is to twist that cheek fur into Salvador Dali mustaches.) (**Not linking to picture of Bozo because clowns are kind of creepy.)

By: flyingsquirrel

flyingsquirrel — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 03:38:37 -0800

fraula, your cat Kanoko is all kinds of awesome. He even wants to ride a bike! Dayumn.

By: vanar sena

vanar sena — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 03:53:45 -0800

fraula, that tailed bucket is just too much.

By: giraffe

giraffe — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 04:04:11 -0800

In college I had this magical cat. She was basically a puppy wearing a cat costume. Also, she made ribbit-type nosies. It all makes sense now: she probably had some Maine Coon in her! Another weird thing: people who have cat allergies were not allergic to her. Is that a Maine Coon thing as well, or was my kitty actually magical?

By: gjc

gjc — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 05:03:49 -0800

Camera trickery: I believe the table the cats are on is tall enough that they are not confident jumping off of it. And I'll bet the person working the "tease" object (I'm imagining it as a rodent carcass) is just far enough away that they are not quite confident leaping through the air to attack that person. My cousin has an all black Maine Coon (mix of some kind). Every time I see that cat, I am agog at the size of the thing. If sufficiently amused by the idea, I believe it could kill me. I swear, it is part Serval. Allergies: I agree- I don't find myself as allergic to this cat as others.

By: ardgedee

ardgedee — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 05:17:32 -0800

> you know, of course, that if you die, unlike a dog which sits quietly by your body with big, sad eyes, these kitties will eat you. At the time, I will be dead. You might be surprised how apathetic this will make me about things.

By: padraigin

padraigin — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 05:45:18 -0800

My boy cat Craig Nichols is a Maine Coon and he is fantastic. He is the biggest, orangest cat ever (you can look it up). DID YOU KNOW that Maine Coons are, legendarily anyway, descended from the cats of Marie Antoinette, who put them on a ship to America in an attempt to escape the French Revolution? She didn't make it onto the boat but her cats did. My girl cat Murphy Nichols is a Norwegian Forest Cat and she is also fantastic but mysterious. Totally different vibe.

By: Mizu

Mizu — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 06:03:17 -0800

Yes, padraigin, I DID know that! I grew up with a half purebred Main Coon cat - her mom was an escaped purebred show cat who was shown a good time with the neighborhood Tom and her rep was destroyed forever! Such a jezebel, goodness. On the upside, she had the most AMAZING kittens, including my cat, Anastasia. Annie was like, imagine a Maine Coon, huge enormous fluffy thing, calico with perfect black leggings and white paws, only sized down perfectly to about 6 pounds of cat. She was miniature and ideal in every way. I was always told that Maine Coons were called that because of their raccoon-like affinity for water, and stealing things in very presumptuous ways. My cat Annie functioned under the assumption that any pair of socks in the house was her prey, as well as anything red, and that every sink was her bed, particularly when the faucet was dripping. She liked to catch the cardinals that fed near our deck and pluck them alive in front of the glass door when we had guests over. She would also catch all the baby moles and line them up perfectly in a row at our front door, headless, and leave the heads in a semicircle next to the bodies. Such a sweetheart!

By: rtha

rtha — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 06:15:28 -0800

He is the biggest, orangest cat ever (you can look it up). I think he only gets that title because Linus passed on to Kitty Heaven some years ago, because *he* was the official biggest, orangest cat that ever was. I have a plaque somewhere that says so.

By: Greg Nog

Greg Nog — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 06:18:14 -0800

The word is also problematic in America, albeit a bit anachronistic True story from a few months back: I was in a cookie-baking contest at a nearby bar, so I spent all afternoon baking delicious cookies to bring to the event. As I was doing so, bustling about my kitchen, my Maine Coon (Thunder Perfect Cat) kept meowing at me in her little high-soft voice way, BEEP BEEP PEEP, presumably because she thought I was about to feed her. So I go to the event, and everyone gets a piece of paper and marker to write the name of their cookies on a sign for the front of their table. Because Thunder had been annoying me the whole time I was making them, I decide to call 'em "Greg's Maine Coon Almond-Toffee-Coffee Cookies" and write that on the sign, along with a wee drawing of my cat. They then open up the event to the general audience who get to vote on the cookies. So I'm handing out cookies, drinking some beers, relaxing and having a time. Scores of people are filing past my table, taking cookies, barely paying any attention to the sign, until one guy, this twentysomething white guy, stops in front of it and just kind of gapes, with this UTTERLY HORRIFIED look on his face. He looks up at me. "Maine COON?" "Yeah!" I chirp happily. "Really. REALLY. COON?" he asks, a mixture of bafflement and disgust. "Yeah! Maine coon!" I say, now a little puzzled. And then I realize what's going through his head. "OH GOD, NO. WAIT. IT'S MAINE COON, IT'S A CAT BREED, IT'S NAMED AFTER MY CAT." Dude still looks a little unsure as I gracefully stammer my way toward an explanation of why my cookies are just delicious and not racist: "MAINE COON IS A BREED OF CAT, IT'S SHORT FOR RACCOON, MY CAT IS A MAINE COON, I, I, WAS LIKE, MAKING THEM, AND THE CAT WAS BUGGING ME, ALL MEOWING AND I NAMED THE COOKIES AFTER HER. AFTER MY MAINE COON CAT." "Oh," says the guy, clearly now in this weird place where he's not sure if I'm like the KKK Betty Crocker or just some hapless shmoe, though it seems like he's beginning to come around to the latter explanation. "IT'S MY CAT, IT'S A KIND OF CAT" I stammer. "Oh. Okay, then," he says, and trundles off. So of course now I'm a little paranoid, and wondering who else has been reading my sign and thinking I'm like the kind of white person who blithely collects golliwogs and lawn jockeys and tells his white friends "what, oh come on, it's not racist, they're just charming". And I'm wondering if I should just scrap the sign altogether or what, but also feeling kind of defensive like "God DAMN it this is a standard CAT BREED named after raccoons, FUCK, don't people know their CAT BREEDS" So I continue giving out the cookies, but a little nervously, periodically chuckling, "AH HI HERE'S MY COOKY I NAMED IT AFTER MY CAT HUH HUH OKAY", and for the most part, no one else has any kind of reaction to the sign. Except one more: a black girl about my age. She grabs a cookie, stops, and stares down at the sign, and again I feel this surge of panic. "Maine Coon?" she says. "Uh yeah uh I uh my cat" She looks back up at me, smiling. "I have a Maine Coon! Aren't they just the best cats?" "OH YES THEY ARE" I agree, nodding like a maniac, "YES THEY ARE THE BEST CAT, THEY ARE THE BEST FUCKING CAT, THEY ARE SOFT AND PUFFY, I HAVE ONE" "Oh, cool," she says. "YES I AM GLAD WE AGREE THAT THEY ARE SUCH GOOD CATS, PLEASE HERE HAVE ANOTHER COOKY FOR WE BOTH SEE THAT MAINE COON CATS ARE GOOD CATS"

By: jeather

jeather — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 06:26:30 -0800

My Maine Coon, though a lovely cat, was neurotic and about 7 pounds. I love big cats, and I try so hard to adopt them -- I have a Siberian, who weighs 5 pounds, I have a rescue cat who was the size of a 6m old kitten at 2m but is still only 13 pounds. Why can I not have a nice 25 pound cat who will lovingly suffocate me in my sleep again? (The cat who did that was not a Maine Coon, either.)

By: padraigin

padraigin — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 06:26:37 -0800

I think he only gets that title because Linus passed on to Kitty Heaven some years ago, because *he* was the official biggest, orangest cat that ever was. I have a plaque somewhere that says so. I WILL FIGHT YOU

By: tzikeh

tzikeh — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 06:59:57 -0800

re: allergies -- most people with cat allergies find that they are far less affected by longhaired cats than by shorthair cats. My vet explained it to me once, damned if I can remember, though. (Maine coons rock.)

By: blucevalo

blucevalo — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 07:03:58 -0800

I had a Maine Coon a while back. They are the most awesome cats in the world. But the one we had was mildly deranged. He would follow you around like a dog and jump on your shoulder from the floor and purr extremely loudly while kneading your shoulder with his claws and then start biting your ear. I swear that cat was more like a dog than a cat.

By: aught

aught — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 07:23:01 -0800

He would follow you around like a dog and jump on your shoulder from the floor and purr extremely loudly while kneading your shoulder with his claws and then start biting your ear. I swear that cat was more like a dog than a cat. For what it's worth, this all sounds like typical cat behavior to me. The nipping of ear, cheek, arm, etc. -- very typical particularly of larger male cats when being aggressively affectionate.

By: rtha

rtha — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 07:33:37 -0800

*yaks in padraigin's shoes*

By: thebrokedown

thebrokedown — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 07:55:49 -0800

True that you can do anything to a Coon. My Mainie Max (RIP, my best boy) would let me pull knots out of his fur by the root as he preferred that to shaving. (Though a single person could shave him, he was that laid back.) My favorite Max stories: The morning I saw him simply destroy the neighbor's pug Taco with a running tackle. "Yipe, Yipe, Yipe!" The day he fetched in a stick longer than he was from outside. Very proud! The night he comes in and has cooked spaghetti all caught in his under-carriage. We never did figure out what the story was behind that.

By: rtha

rtha — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 08:09:05 -0800

Linus used to let me vacuum him.

By: jeather

jeather — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 08:13:38 -0800

If I adopt a Maine Coon this summer I will blame metafilter. I have enough cats! I don't need more. Especially not one which will outweigh all the other cats put together.

By: everichon

everichon — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 08:21:15 -0800

A Maine Coon and a Boxer would be a fine arrangement. I must devise a plan.

By: rtha

rtha — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 08:35:32 -0800

jeather, what do you mean by "enough" cats? Our particular ideal is that there should more 1 more cat than there are people in the household. We're currently short a cat (three cats, three people), but can't realistically rectify that now, as one of the cats is elderly and not great at accepting new anything. At one point, we had five cats, which was a lot of cats. But there were four people, so the proper ratio was maintained.

By: infinitywaltz

infinitywaltz — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 09:26:29 -0800

most people with cat allergies find that they are far less affected by longhaired cats than by shorthair cats. Not entirely true; Maine Coons and Norwegian Forest Cats are some of the best for allergies, but Persians and Exotics are some of the worst. What causes cat allergies is not the hair itself, but rather a protein in their saliva (which of course completely coats the hair as cats groom themselves). Maine Coons and Norwegian Forest Cats have lower levels of that protein than other cats, possibly but not necessarily due to a more "wild" phenotype (triangular head rather than squished face, long hair, toe tufts to protect the feet from snow, etc.). Other breeds that are possibly but not necessarily good for allergies include Abyssinians and Russian Blues.

By: slappy_pinchbottom

slappy_pinchbottom — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 09:27:02 -0800

my longest-term life companion to date was a Maine Coon (who happened to be the reincarnation of Janis Joplin, and who shortly after her death was then reincarnated into my daughter -- long story.) Janis (the cat, not her pre-incarnation) happened also to have the frequent MC trait of polydactylism -- she had 7 toes on each of her front paws, and 6 on each of the back. when she was a kitten i used to sometimes catch her just gazing all WTF-like at those enormous paws. she was also unusually intelligent and communicative (or so i perceived) -- this is a cat that could untie knots, open latched doors, and indicate fine shades of disdain or interest with the subtlest of facial expressions...though i admit to the possibility of projection on that last tip. i didn't know MCs were known for intelligence, though; i always attributed her extra level of consciousness to an incident from her kittenhood, where i had had a little foil packet filled with a number of tiny paper squares on my kitchen counter (ah, youth) and came home one day to find the foil ripped apart and the squares scattered all over the living room floor. i *think* i managed to find them all, so there was no ingestion of paper, but licking, quite possibly....i certainly watched Janis very carefully for a couple of days after that, but how to distinguish the spazmolicity of a kitten from that which may have been induced through other means? still, i was not the only one to remark over the course of her life upon how....*aware* she seemed, compared to most cats. draw your own conclusions here....you may be one of the lucky 25!

By: ausdemfenster

ausdemfenster — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 09:27:53 -0800

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar started off as one of many foster kittens, but his sweet dumb face and affability made him impossible to give up. He seems to be enjoying his new look—thanks, Greg! I aspire to one day own a sidekick Leonberger I could name Ginger; I will encourage Sir Digby to ride it.

By: monospace

monospace — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 09:33:45 -0800

Shaving your Maine Coon is just cruel. We adopted one that had gotten a lion cut from her previous owner and she was miserable, just really miserable, for all the time she looked like a circus clown. Only now that she has her full glorious coat back does she seem happy again. Yeah sure, she needs extra brushing, but that's a small price to pay for her essential dignity as an animal.

By: aught

aught — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 09:35:10 -0800

as one of the cats is elderly and not great at accepting new anything Quality v. quantity: while we'd love to get a couple rescue cats, our current old lady (who was the shy omega cat for many years in the household before old age took its toll) is loving her "only" status. We figure we'll give her these golden years; she deserves it.

By: jeather

jeather — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 09:35:39 -0800

2 cats, one of whom disdains all other feline companionship, 1 person. I actually intend to foster again in the winter, which should bring me up to an appropriately crazy cat lady number again.

By: pts

pts — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 10:40:32 -0800

Maine Coons are great. I miss mine. And just in case you're not being facetious, slappy_pinchbottom: You admit to the possibility of projection w/r/t the subtle facial expressions of your cat, but on the matter of said cat's status as the reincarnation of Janis Joplin and your daughter's status as the reincarnation of said cat, you are wholly confident? Is that what you're saying? I just... you know, I just want to be clear.

By: mudpuppie

mudpuppie — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 10:46:40 -0800

I loved this video yesterday, and I love it some more today. But I have no freaking clue what "Maine Cool boil" means. Cannot parse. Please help. Thank you.

By: rtha

rtha — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 11:06:25 -0800

I occasionally fantasize about fostering cats, but I know myself well enough to know that I'd end up adopting each and every one. That way lies cat-lady-hood, and I'll probably get there eventually anyway.

By: elizardbits

elizardbits — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 11:24:17 -0800

dear mr nog, where is your cooky recipe? yours, disappointed in nyc

By: Trurl

Trurl — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 11:28:52 -0800

But I have no freaking clue what "Maine Cool boil" means. "Boil" is the collective noun for a group of hawks. But I like using it to describe any seething mass of homogenous life forms.

By: jeather

jeather — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 11:36:17 -0800

By: rtha

rtha — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 11:39:07 -0800

"Boil" is the collective noun for a group of hawks. Really? We say "kettle" out in these parts. Alternately, "bunch," "stack," "lotta," and "batch." This pretty much only applies to a group of more than four or six, rising in a thermal. /hawk pedantry

By: BitterOldPunk

BitterOldPunk — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 11:50:36 -0800

I also am more familiar with "kettle of hawks". But I'm really just commenting to post a picture of Al, the Best Cat Ever.

By: dersins

dersins — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 11:53:52 -0800

Kittens are actually very easy to give up, because you get sick of the stupid cats playing on your face at 3 am. Then, a week after they're gone, you want kittens back. Repeat until people all neuter their pets. Yeah, fostering kittens is actually a pretty great deal-- you get to keep them through their time of absolute maximal cuteness and extreme cuddliness, then just as they start turning into little monsters (10 - 12 weeks, give or take), you get to trade them in for a new batch of tiny adorable ones. And the whole time you're like "Wait, this is my volunteer work? What a great fucking deal." It's as if eating pizza and drinking beer was suddenly considered doing a good deed or something.

By: mudpuppie

mudpuppie — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 12:03:10 -0800

Another vote for 'kettle.' Besides, "Maine Coon Kettle" sounds really, really cool.

By: blucevalo

blucevalo — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 12:28:12 -0800

For what it's worth, this all sounds like typical cat behavior to me. The nipping of ear, cheek, arm, etc. -- very typical particularly of larger male cats when being aggressively affectionate. That may be true, but this cat was still unlike any male cat I've ever been around.

By: Greg Nog

Greg Nog — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 12:30:32 -0800

Shaving your Maine Coon is just cruel. I know, that's why I shaved my friend's Maine Coon instead

By: homunculus

homunculus — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 12:43:43 -0800

Kittens on DJ Decks

By: edbles

edbles — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 13:16:24 -0800

Yeah, fostering kittens is actually a pretty great deal-- you get to keep them through their time of absolute maximal cuteness and extreme cuddliness, then just as they start turning into little monsters (10 - 12 weeks, give or take), you get to trade them in for a new batch of tiny adorable ones. They don't turn into little monsters, they turn into demon cats made out of demons who sometimes play fetch if they can remember how the game works, and sometimes play missile command, where you throw nerf darts in an arc and they smack them down out of the air. But yeah mostly the demoning around.

By: thebrokedown

thebrokedown — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 13:36:18 -0800

One more thing I like about Maine Coons (and this comment is not simply my way of showing y'all a picture of Max), they are the only cats I have had that play with toys in such a way to up the difficulty level. Not only did Max fetch, but he also would put toys into boxes and shoes so that they would be more fun to dig out. My new baby, Olivia, does the same thing. They both also place(d) their favorite toys in their food bowl for safe keeping.

By: grapesaresour

grapesaresour — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 13:42:52 -0800

Ok. Now I need to adopt about 10 maine coon kittens and Greg Nog's cookies!

By: rtha

rtha — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 14:00:15 -0800

Roswell, who is not at all a Maine Coon, loves to fetch, and he loves to bring the toy - now covered in cat spit - back for you to throw again and again, usually when you've just sat down to dinner. Linus, my dear departed Maine Coon, liked to fetch as well, but his method was to bring you the toy once; when you threw it, he would chase after it, bat it around for a minute, and then holler until you came and got the toy and threw it again. Yes, he had me trained well. A very smart cat.

By: MelanieL

MelanieL — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 16:38:24 -0800

This is Chopin, my Maine Coon mix. He's about 17 years old now. He can be the sweetest thing -- just a look from me can trigger a virtual purring storm. But he can also be vicious as hell, relying on sharp teeth to make up for having been declawed as a kitten (by previous owners). I've had to quickly learn to read his cues, and he's had to learn to chill the fuck out. So far, so good. Adopting him was one of the best decisions I've ever made. We're great pals.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 16:52:18 -0800

All these bug fluffy Maine Coons with their adorable manes and faces plus spotting a mouse in the apartment is seriously erdoding my " oh we can't have cats here" stance. Except I really want a Maine coon and SO really wants a Siamese and this two cats would just never. Stop. Talking.

By: Graygorey

Graygorey — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 16:57:24 -0800

My family was adopted by a Maine Coon before I was born. There was already a pet in the household, a collie, who was made to quickly understand her place in the cat's view of the household pecking order. The dog would defer to the cat on any scraps placed in her bowl. Except turkey skin, which was worth the sacrifice. The cat's name was Prudence.

By: sebastienbailard

sebastienbailard — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 17:52:49 -0800

But he can also be vicious as hell, Cats can get arthritis quite young, apparently; it they don't like being touched along the spine this may be the reason. At the same time, they tend to hide that they're in pain. A test my vet suggested was to gently (moderately firmly but not hard) squeeze on the cat's hips joints and gently prodding the spine. It's worth checking for if your cat doesn't like being touched on the back or is 'slowing down'. Arthritis can apparently be treated with glucosamine, etc. If your beast just likes to grapple with your hand and try to eat it, that is because when he was growing up as a kitten, he either didn't wrestle with people's hands or his caregivers didn't know to yelp and pull away when the kitten bites too hard and so the kitten never internalized how hard is too hard.

By: eviemath

eviemath — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 12:55:44 -0800

tiny kitten asleep in the kitchen is adorable! Hmmm, Nievan looks like a white Maine Coon cat (sorry no specific photos). I never knew what he was, aside from unusual hereabouts. He was originally found starving in the woods of New Brunswick by his first foster family while they were out camping. He's all white and long-haired and so they figured he was too fancy looking to be a stray, but he kept coming back to their camp for food, so they took him home with them. But one of the family members turned out to be allergic, so he got passed on to his second foster family. The second foster family already had four cats, a dog, two rabbits (or was it three then?), and two kids (now three), in a small house that they had just purchased and were trying to fix up (Nievan came with a stylish spot of slate grey/blue paint on his forehead). So they sent out an email at our mutual place of employment, and I ended up adopting him. He is indeed interested in water, not a lap cat but is always around me, though shy around strangers, playful, but very easygoing; and I call him my nerd cat because he's very smart (recognizes his reflection, for example), but not great at traditional cat instinct stuff (goes to litter box, comes out, goes to food area, scratches at floor...). So that sounds like the description as well. Cool. I miss Maine sometimes, so it's nice to think that Nievan has some connection there as well. He does not like having his mane trimmed. He won't put up resistance of course, but looks so hurt afterwards, like I've completely mutilated him. He also gets his exasperated face on when I do it, but picking him up sideways and rubbing my face in his belly fur is the Best. Thing. Ever. I try to do this sparingly and only when absolutely necessary.

By: misha

misha — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 16:19:20 -0800

rtha: "Linus, my dear departed Maine Coon, liked to fetch as well, but his method was to bring you the toy once; when you threw it, he would chase after it, bat it around for a minute, and then holler until you came and got the toy and threw it again. Yes, he had me trained well. A very smart cat. posted by rtha at 5:00 PM on July 15 [1 favorite −] [!] [quote]" Our Maine Coon, Cheddar "Chunky" Fats, does this as well, and we call it playing "Fet". He's the biggest coward ever when it comes to loud noises, deep voices or anyone wearing long pants, but he's a prolific hunter and can bring down any lizard on the screened porch. It's hard to believe he's such a serious badass predator when you catch him being adorable.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 17:37:14 -0800

Cat the Cat caused a problem cause she would leave tiny piles of dead voles on our shared stoop and the neighbors would complain. SOMEHOW we impressed upon her to leave the presents in our parking space Except for that live baby rabbit she brought home and tried to treat like a kitten. That was strange.

By: rtha

rtha — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 17:55:21 -0800

The Whelk, one time when gingerbeer and I were visiting her parents, we were all sitting on the screened porch have coffee when one of the cats came trotting across the grass toward the porch door. She was carrying something in her mouth....something long, and green, and...moving. She was bringing us a grass snake for breakfast! Everyone immediately leapt to their feet and ran around the house closing doors and latching cat doors. She was very sad that we did this.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 18:02:55 -0800

yeah we jut let me uh ...love the rabbit (lciking, purring, protecting) until it got a chance to run away. I always made a big "It's good the curtains are on fire! Very good!" attitude toward her super-hunting powers cause she kept the bug/mouse problem down but she was a bit mopey after the rabbit went away. Poor thing, she wanted a pet. When she started bringing me cigarettes is when it got spooky.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 18:03:39 -0800

er let HER love the rabbit. I wasn't doing any licking.

By: rtha

rtha — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 18:10:57 -0800

Oh sure yeah okay whatever you say!

By: FelliniBlank

FelliniBlank — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 18:13:41 -0800

I'd better not come back here and see some French Kissing School for Rodents link.

By: sebastienbailard

sebastienbailard — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 20:56:39 -0800

No worries.