Thread: Adopting a domestic short hair to keep maine coon company?

We have a gorgeous maine coon male who is 1.5 years old and we were wanting to get him a friend to play with as he is really active. We saw a gorgeous 6 month old female domestic short hair at an animal rescue center at out local shops today which our daughter fell in love with. I was wondering how other people have gone with giving their maine coon a friend particularly a smaller cat?

I introduced 3 MC Kittens to my 18 year old moggie last year. They take a little getting accustomed to each other but they largely all get along although the bigger of the MCs is a bit of a bitch to his sister I think it is more down to the cats' temperaments and how you do the introductions than anything to do with breed or size.

I would agree, having had cats all my life [though on my first maine coon] it is very much about the cats personality & temperament rather than breed/size. We brought Ella into a home with 2 existing 'moggies' [and 2 bouncy dogs] and we made the introductions slowly and made sure they all had their own 'space' initially. It took less than a week for our big daft tom Mr Mumble to accept her but a few more for the smaller but tougher female that is Maisie to do the same, but they do all now live together very happily and play like they are all kittens.

Most rescue centres will have some history of the cat if it came from a home, and/or will carry out some behaviour checks to see if they are tolerant of other cats, dogs, etc, so worth finding out this information if its available before jumping in, because if the rescue is known to loathe other cats, then there is little point even trying.


Of course I am pretty sure that there is an argument to say the best company for a maine coon...is another maine coon but if you can offer a home to a cat that needs it, then I wouldn't advise against it

Are Maine Coons known for their racism / xenophobia do you know? Nice to see another new face here. Your MC is a beaut.

Originally Posted by Caternity Leave

Are Maine Coons known for their racism / xenophobia do you know? Nice to see another new face here. Your MC is a beaut.

oh now that would make in interesting psychological study that would require a research facility several hundred thousand pounds to conduct and find the answer is.....














....No, as we could have told them


...and thankyou, I shall tell her she has an admirer ;)

I ended up getting my Maine Coon a playmate before I got my Maine Coon LOL...
While we were waiting for Roxy (MC) to be old enough to come home from the breeder, I found a feral kitten so we ended up raising them together and they were best friends. However Church (the DSH) is actually similar to Roxy in size, he's a pretty big cat and Roxy is a female so she's on the smaller side. As adults Church is now 11 pounds and Roxy is probably around 12-13 (haven't weighed her recently.)
When they were a year or two old, I rescued a litter of feral kittens. I ended up keeping several of those kittens, however both Church and Roxy did not care for the kittens very much. They tolerated them but they weren't "friends" with them like they were with each other.

Here are Church and Roxy:

Originally Posted by montymainecoon

We have a gorgeous maine coon male who is 1.5 years old and we were wanting to get him a friend to play with as he is really active. We saw a gorgeous 6 month old female domestic short hair at an animal rescue center at out local shops today which our daughter fell in love with. I was wondering how other people have gone with giving their maine coon a friend particularly a smaller cat?

Before deciding whether or not to get another cat perhaps you would consider fostering a rescue cat to see how your own cat reacts. Just ring a local animal rescue shelter and ask about fostering. They will want details of your other pets, children in household etc and will carry out a home visit. I ask people to keep a rescue cat separate from their own pets for two weeks but after that they do mix. My Buddy loves all the rescue's that pass through my mad house but my Fudge is a hisser when it comes to new cats in the house.

Rescue centers are so over crowded at the moment that they will welcome you with open arms and if things work out you will find the right cat for you.