Thread: Is your Maine Coon a "one person cat" or social butterfly?

hahaha I love the stories of how she interacts with the other cats! My girl Ginger was a momma's girl but now that the OH is home all day she is now preferring his company to mine! He lays in the spare bedroom on the bed to exercise and she runs in there and hops up for some cuddles from dad. I think she likes the way he rubs her head! Now if we have company over she hides under our bed until they leave. She is not fond of my daughter's Australian shepherd at all, she glares at Macy. But she loves the Beagles we have, especially our little guy Bentley who is allowed to sleep in her cat bed.

Neevie is a pirate - she terrorises everyone to get her way, including me.
When we first got her, she used to - very often - hunt our legs, really grab them and bite into them like she wanted to shred them or eat a piece. She also had a thing, when she was frustrated, bored, and I wasn't paying her enough attention, where she would jump on my head, plant her teeth and nails in my scalp, and then jump down immediately, leaving me with a few more holes in my scalp. At some point I had taken to working with a big towel wrapped around my head.... (I work from home) She's never done that to OH though.
And then, when we tried to leave her in a cattery last year, she started growling very threatenningly at the owner, and making it impossible for anyone to get into her pen. So we had to go get her on the same afternoon and the cattery owner came twice a day to feed her at home instead - that was not easy either, she started growling, hissing at him, and trying to grab him by the ankles every time he got into the house. Sigh.
BUT now she's better - we've had friends coming over, she's been fine with them, she doesn't jump on my head any more, and only grabs my legs when they are dangling over the armchair leg. Progress.
Note: she was never always such a harpy, just ... well, last year, most of the time, honnestly - but since then she's cudly...
She's never again been placed in company of other cats or MCs - I would LOVE to try, I think she's bored, but OH doesn't want to as it kind of limits us as far as going away is concerned... also if that doesn't work out we'll have to give up the new-comer, and that would be heart-wrenching.

Very interesting!! I think Mandy could also be a pirate, but only with other cats. With humans she mostly inflicts emotional abuse LOL. She has banished herself to the basement family room at night and refused to stay with me. Before Merlin arrived, Mandy was so insistent on having what I call "Coonie Time" before bed that DH would get annoyed. Then she would sleep on my pillow or by my side...Not now :-( I know she will come around soon, until then I'm sad and Coon-less at night!

awwww - yeah hopefully she'll come round soon - mine usually starts the night with me, and I'm glad when she comes and lays on my legs - but then when OH comes in he picks her up (all mushy fluff) and puts her in her bed outside - which I'm glad for too, because by then I've had a couple of hours of sleep with a 6 kilo dead-weight on my legs and it's a relief when she gets off. Sometimes, like last night, she hears him come, jumps off and hides under the bed before he comes in. In that case it's game over, I know I'll have a kitty on my legs all night as soon as OH starts to snore. Pirate!

Can I answer "both"? Whiskey loves his human daddy. He sleeps on his daddy, coos to his daddy, comes when his daddy calls him, and follows his daddy everywhere. Whiskey also loves company. He will coo, roll over, rub, follow, and just bat those gold eyes at anyone who is within view. Me, I get nothing but Pirate activity. He stalks me, bites my legs, jumps at my head, and just considers me to be the can opener and litter box scoop.

Interesting thread. My boy Kitten is not a pirate but isn't the ultra sociable type either. He is very loving towards his human mummy and daddy but very cautious with strangers. Takes ages to brave going into the same room as them. And then it'sa quick look, stop and stare before moving on. In the last few months he has got a bit better but definitely not as you read about for MC breed x

Sidney loves every single human being in the world except for my friend Anne. Anne is a dog person and the first time she met Sid, aged 10 weeks, she stroked him like she would her Jack Russell, ie belly rub and roughing up his head. Now whenever she comes round, Sid immediately attacks her feet.... It usually degenerates into the pair of them chasing each other round the living room! I would love for the 4 of us to go walkies together, but I can't see it working!
Otherwise, he is there by the front door wanting to greet whoever is there, and is friendly towards everyone he meets when we go out walking.

Update time!
Mandy returned to our room a few days ago. She came willingly but hesitated when she saw Merlin. I decided to put her in DH's sock drawer to prove that it was still "her" room. That's one of her hiding spots and Merlin didnt get into it, so it didnt smell like him. After that she was fine, and I'm no longer coon-less at night!

Merlin is definitely a social butterfly, but has been bonding a lot with DH and the boys. DH never believed how nice and special it is to have the explicit love and affection of a MC until last week. He had a terrible stomach virus and was up in the night with awful pains. Merlin never left his side, and even Mandy stayed by him! Merlin is very confident and masculine, and demands attention from whoever is nearby, but if he senses that someone is ill or not well he will not leave your side. It is this trait above all that I treasure the most in Coonies. My mom's old Coon Tucker stayed with me on my wedding night and purred me to sleep despite my jitters! (We lost him to cardiomyopathy last summer. :( He was only 11.