Maine Coons are large, loveable cats with mega personalities and bags of energy. Many people keep them as indoor cats (for safety reasons) which is fine as long as they are provided with an enriched environment to prevent lethargy and boredom from setting in.
How do you make sure your Maine Coon is entertained? What products does your Maine Coon need to keep it happy and healthy?
Your Maine Coon needs plenty of toys, a good scratching post and quality time with you to make sure it gets the mental and physical exercise and stimulation it requires for good health. Here are 22 products your Maine Coon simply must have. Why not treat it to a few?
Hopefully, this list will solve the problem of what to buy your Maine Coon as a Christmas or birthday gift. Your only problem now will be choosing which to get.
1. Another Maine Coon
The most expensive thing you can buy your Maine Coon is another Maine Coon! Seriously though, I recommend you by two at the same time if at all possible. That way they will bond well, especially if they are litter-mates, and will be the perfect company for each other when you are out.
Maine Coons are sociable cats and don’t like being left on their own. The other bonus is they will play with each other so you can relax a bit more.
2. A Cat Charmer
No Maine Coon’s toy box is complete without a cat charmer. Also known as a cat wand or cat teaser, they must be one of the oldest designs of cat playthings around, and cats never seem to tire of them. Whether your Maine Coon is a kitten, a junior or senior cat it won’t be able to resist playing with you if you jiggle one of these in front of it.
The Cat Charmer is such a simple creation and is perfect for these reasons:
- It will ensure your cat gets a daily aerobic workout.
- It’s cheap.
- It’s well constructed.
- It’s totally cat-safe.
- It provides a fun way for you and your cat to bond.
For an excellent example at a really competitive price with rave customer reviews, this cat charmer is hard to beat.
3. A Paper Bag
All cats love a simple paper bag. They just can’t resist the rustling noise and the way they make the perfect hiding place. If you have two kittens, they will have fun and games pouncing on each other from inside the bag and jumping onto each other inside the bag.
And even grown-up Maine Coons will place that game. The best thing about this ‘toy’ is it doesn’t cost you anything! For safety reasons, I recommend snipping the handles off before letting your cat have a paper bag.
4. Snuggly Cat Ripple Rug
Have you ever seen a Maine Coon go crazy with a rug? They love the way they move about on wooden floors and love to ruck them up to make tunnels and camps.
Now you can preserve your favorite rug and buy your cat its own Snuggly Cat Ripple Rug. One of these rugs is excellent value for money because it functions as a bed, a play space, a scratch mat, somewhere to sleep, a pouncing area and somewhere to tunnel.
It also provides a great distraction which can help to preserve your rugs, carpet, furniture, and curtains. It’s definitely worth considering.
5. A Cardboard Box
Why do cats love cardboard boxes so much? It seems the smaller the box, the more determined a cat is to squeeze into it. Most people agree the reason cats love boxes so much is that they feel secure in them. If you buy anything that comes in a box, donate the box straight to your Maine Coon.
It will probably be right there waiting for you to hand it over. Above is our red tabby, Harry, squeezed into a much smaller box than his size. You could really make your Maine Coon happy by interlinking several boxes to make a cat tunnel camp – this is something our son loves to do.
6. The Cat Genie
Maine Coons are extremely clean cats and do prefer an immaculately clean litter box. If you are out for long spells, it can often be necessary to have more than one litter box – and you can look forward all day to cleaning them out as soon as you arrive home.
However, if you don’t relish this task then the Cat Genie is definitely the gadget for you. With minimal plumbing, you can install one of these in your bathroom or laundry room.
The Cat Genie is a self-cleaning, self-flushing litter box and if you’re sick of cleaning litter boxes it could be just the thing for you.
7. PetFusion Ultimate Cat Scratcher Lounge
Maine Coons are extremely accomplished when it comes to scratching things. They have 18 sharp claws and plenty of strength too.
The best way to save your precious belongings it to train a Maine Coon from a young age to scratch things you provide specifically for it to claw at. The PetFusion Ultimate Cat Scratcher is one of the most popular scratching products on the market and it has thousands of 5-star reviews.
Some of the things that make it so well-liked are its strength and durability, its sleek appearance and the fact that it is made from recycled cardboard. Cats seem to love the shape of it as well as the feel of it.
They can sleep on it, scratch it and wriggle in and out of it too. It comes in three different colors to suit any home color scheme. To see exactly what I’m talking about, find all you need to know plus photos and a video right here.
8. Cave Bed
Maine Coons like to feel secure as they sleep. There are many lovely cat beds on the market but here is one that’s slightly different – the cave bed. If your mini-lion likes to hide and sleep in a cozy space this could be the solution. Made of eco-friendly 100% merino wool, the cave bed comes in a range of colors.
9. Cat Tree
Many Maine Coons live indoor lives because their owners feel the area they live in is not safe for a cat to roam around in. The trouble is, this can mean they live quite sedentary, unhealthy lives.
If a Maine Coon doesn’t get enough exercise it is also likely to eat more than it should out of boredom and the end result can be an overweight, unhealthy cat that is more likely to suffer from related illnesses.
One thing you can do to encourage your cat to move about more is to buy it an indoor tree. As Maine Coons can be rather large, a large tree is what you really need.
I’ve looked at many and this Cat Tree is one of the biggest and best on the market. It is extremely sturdy and comes in a choice of heights and includes, platforms, hiding spaces, hammocks and scratching posts. It looks amazing!
10. A Slicker Brush
A Maine Coon cannot groom itself and if you don’t help it keep its long coat in good order, knots and mats can quickly develop. These are incredibly difficult to remove because they cling tightly against their skin.
They also pull and cause a great deal of pain. Most of the time, knots have to be clipped off and some cats have to have a sedative before the procedure. Don’t let it come to this – groom your Maine Coon as often as possible, a little bit each day is best.
It’s also a good idea to begin a grooming regime when your cat is still a kitten so that it gets used to the feel of being brushed. Once its fur has thickened up, the ideal brush for a Maine Coons is a slicker brush. It really keeps the knots at bay and is self-cleaning at the click of a button. We have one and I can thoroughly recommend it.
11. A Grooming Arch
A Grooming Arch is attractive to any Maine Coons because they like rubbing against things especially if they give them a bit of a scratch.
The bristles are long enough to give their coat a little bit of a groom but most owners say their cats just love playing with it and scratching at the base. It comes with a supply of catnip which helps to make it irresistible to most cats.
12. Three-way Tunnel
All cats love a tunnel and Maine Coons are no exception. This three-way tunnel gives a cat more places to leap out at you from – much more fun. With this style, cats can pop in through a hole at the intersection and emerge from one of the three tunnels to surprise any passer-by.
There are toys dangling inside from the roof for additional play. With over 3,000 5-star reviews, it comes in all sorts of colors and when you want to tidy up it folds flat for easy storage.
13. Kitty Cot Cat Perch
Cats can spend hours watching the world pass by from a window. On a sunny day, they love nothing more than laying on a ledge, soaking up the sun. A window perch is a great invention that allows cats to have a view out of a high window that doesn’t have its own ledge.
The Kitty Cot Perch consists of a comfy platform held up by 4 extra-strong suction cups that ensure the perch remains secure under the weight of a large cat such as a Maine Coon. In fact, it will hold a cat weighing up to 25 pounds.
14. A Drinking Fountain
It is claimed that Maine Coons love water. They are supposed to love swimming and bathing in it. I can’t speak for other people cats, but I can categorically say that my two detest getting wet. Maine Coons do need access to plenty of fresh drinking water and many do prefer to drink from a moving water source such as a faucet.
It’s not always convenient to run to the kitchen to turn on the tap every time your cat fancies a drink so why not consider buying your cat a water fountain?
This Pet Fountain is popular and ensures clean filtered water is always available. Even if there’s a power cut, water is still available in the bowl whereas in some designs no power means no water. It also has water bowls set at three different heights to suit the different drinking preferences of cats.
15. Fling Ama String
If you’ve never seen this brilliant cat toy, it’s time to introduce you. It is such a simple idea and will amuse your cat for hours. You can watch from the comfort of your armchair whilst your cat gets all the exercise it needs.
It comes ready assembled, is battery operated, hangs on any standard doorknob and has two speeds to suit a cat’s preferred pace.
Basically, a piece of string travels around and around on a conveyor belt for your cat to paw, claw and bite at. And it can get the satisfaction of finally catching it with practice. Click this link to see full details and reviews the Fling-Ama-String.
16. The Ultimate Scratching Post
The Smart Cat Pioneer Ultimate Scratching Post has a height that makes it ideal for Maine Coons plus a sturdy base and durable sisal post. A Maine Coon can get a good vertical stretch up this post whilst shedding the dead layers of its claws and giving its muscles and ligaments a thorough flex and workout.
17. Ethical Pet Springs
Did you know that cats love to play with springs? It must be something to do with the random, bouncy, jerky, unpredictable movement. A Maine Coon will chase and possibly even fetch these back to you as you unleash its inner dog! You can buy them by the bagful and they are so cheap! Ethical Pet Springs get amazing reviews from many cat owners.
18. Turbo Scratcher
Anything that a cat can scratch instead of the furniture is OK by me. Buy a Tubo Scratcher and your Maine Coon can scratch the pad in the middle to its heart’s content (which incidentally is replaceable) and play with a ball that runs in a channel all around the edge.
There are plenty of accessories to buy to add on so you can really vary this toy on a daily basis to keep your cat amused. See more information and a video here.
19. Thermo-kitty Heated Bed
A Thermo-Kitty Heated Bed is an excellent way to keep a Maine Coon cozy all through the winter without heating your whole house all day long. The Thermo-kitty bed comes in two sizes, has a heated pad and can be thermostatically controlled to come on at a set temperature and then only when your cat enters it. It has been safety tested and only uses 4 watts.
20. Yeowww! Catnip Banana
Catnip is a perennial herb from the mint family. It contains an oil that most cats find irresistible. It gives them a bit of a high that can last for about 10 minutes. It can be used to entice cats to scratch where you would prefer them to such as on their scratching posts.
Many cat toys are laced with catnip to encourage play. My favorite is this catnip banana (click the link to read reviews on Amazon) because a Maine Coon just looks hilarious rolling around on the floor with one of these between its paws.
21. Toothbrush and Paste
Main Coons tend to suffer from more dental problems than other cats. If their teeth are not checked on a regular basis they can develop periodontal disease. This begins with a build-up of plaque, which can lead to gingivitis and far more serious gum disease and tooth loss.
The best way to minimize the risk is to invest in a cat toothbrush and paste and clean your cat’s teeth every day. Easier said than done, I know. I’ve written a whole post on this subject called Maine Coon Teeth – All You Need To Know. It’s definitely worth a read.
22. A Bird Table
This might sound like an odd idea but if you have an indoor cat it will really enjoy watching the birds that come to feed. It obviously won’t be able to harm them and you may hear it make those adorable little chattering noises that are generally only made by a cat when it spots prey that is out of reach. A bird table can go a long way towards preventing boredom affecting an indoor cat. I wouldn’t recommend one if you have outdoor cats as they will just spend their time terrorizing the birds!
To Conclude
These are just some of the things you can provide to really keep your Maine Coon happy. I hope you found something amongst them that inspired you.