I’m the proud owner of four incredible Maine Coon cats. I love all cats, but it’s the famous Maine Coon personality that particularly draws me to this breed. What is it about the personality of a Maine Coon cat that makes them so sought after? Let me explain!
The Maine Coon personality is full of attitude and confidence. This intelligent breed is friendly, sociable, and ever inquisitive. If you own a Maine Coon, be prepared for a cat that exhibits loyalty and affection that’s more canine than feline.
As long as a Maine Coon is well-socialized, it has the potential to become a cat with a personality that will entertain, amuse and melt your heart.
Each Maine Coon has its own unique personality but all exhibit the traits of the ideal pet. Despite their large size, they have gentle, laid-back temperaments.
Five adjectives aptly sum up the Maine Coon personality: sociable, inquisitive, friendly, playful, and tolerant. These traits make this cat the perfect pet for families with children. A Maine Coon never tires of interacting, loves to be part of the action, and thrives on human company.
Many people like the fact that Maine Coons exhibit many dog-like traits such as loyalty and playfulness. If you love dogs but don’t have the time to walk one, a Maine Coon might be the ideal alternative for you.
Maine Coon traits
All Maine Coon personalities involve a mix of five traits seen to some degree in all cats:
- Agreeableness
- Impulsiveness
- Extraversion
- Neuroticism
- Dominance
We’ll tell you more about these in a moment.
Most of the time, Maine Coons are agreeable cats with a certain amount of extraversion and a smattering of impulsiveness. Some can be more dominant than others and some a little more neurotic.
In short, the Maine Coon is often chosen as a family pet because of its loyal, loving, and sociable personality.
So, if you’re looking for an intelligent cat that’s confident and will thrive well in a lively home, will always be ready to lap up attention and play, the Maine Coon is absolutely a great choice for you.
The Maine Coon Personality
Many owners adore these cats because of their dog-like, loyal natures. If you’ve been out for the day your Maine Coon is likely to greet you at the door, almost happily wagging its tail.
Many will play fetch just like a dog – our last red tabby had a fetish for hair bands and would chase one about like a lunatic.
Maine Coons will keep you company, They will be onlookers as you prepare food, lay beside you as you work, and snuggle on your lap or nearby as you watch TV.
As you move around your home, your Maine Coon’s inquisitive nature means it will invariably follow close behind you to see what you are up to. Open a cupboard door or drawer and it will dive in to help you find what you are looking for.
At bedtime, if you allow it to, your Maine Coon will probably beat you to it and snuggle exactly where you want to lay your head.
Maine Coons are chatty cats and will let you know when they are around or call you from all over the house with a variety of trills, chirps, meows, and other rather random noises.
If you talk back you can almost feel like you are holding a conversation with one.
Five Maine Coon Personality Types
Personality can be described as a combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual cat’s distinctive character.
There are five different traits that combine to make up the Maine Coon personality. All are present in every cat but some will be more dominant than others.
Neurotic
A cat of this type is anxious or highly strung. It appears shy, insecure, anxious, nervous of people, and untrusting. It will run and hide when strangers enter its home.
To help settle a neurotic cat, allow it to hide and provide plenty of safe places for it to do so. Never force it to face a situation that scares it.
Over time it will realize it is safe in your house and gradually become more confident.
Impulsive
This type of cat often reacts to something stressful in its environment. The same situation can cause a different reaction each time it occurs. The reaction isn’t planned ahead but is on the spur of the moment.
You should avoid reacting loudly to a cat’s impulsive behavior as you could raise its anxiety levels.
Instead, have feeding and play routines that your cat can get used to. This way it knows when something is due to happen and will learn how to behave more appropriately.
Agreeable
An agreeable cat is friendly with everybody and loves to communicate through meowing. It will parade around the house with its tail held high and give its owners friendly headbutts.
This is the typical behavior of a cat that was socialized properly in that crucial 10-week window.
Extroverted
Many cats have a curious nature. The more extroverted a cat is the more nosy it appears to be. Plenty of mental stimulation is the key to keeping this personality type happy.
Make sure you provide an extrovert with an interesting environment especially if you are out a lot and it is an indoor cat.
Failure to keep a cat like this properly stimulated could lead to destructive behavior, such as scratching your furniture.
As well as providing it things like toys and scratching posts for entertainment you should also make time to play with it every day.
Dominant
This type of cat can cause stress and mayhem, particularly in a multi-cat household.
A dominant cat wants everything for itself and often hogs all the food, toys, litter box, and their owner’s attention.
If you have multiple cats, giving each its own food, water, and litter tray is a big help.
The average Maine Coon Personality
Which of the five personality traits are dominant in Maine Coons? I currently have two Maine Coon boys and two Maine Coon girls and between them, they are a mix of all of these types.
The majority of Maine Coons can be described as a combination of extroverted and agreeable, and occasionally impulsive.
You’ll find some interesting cat personality statistics in this study of cat personality types.
Are Maine Coons more affectionate than other cats?
I have owned cats all my life and Maine Coons for the past 17 years. On average I have found them to be more affectionate than my other cats.
How affectionate a Maine Coon becomes does depend to an extent on how it is interacted with from a young age. If you give a Maine coon kitten plenty of attention, play with it and interact with it a lot, it will develop affection for you.
Don’t be upset if your Maine Coon doesn’t want to cuddle or sit on your lap, especially when it is young. This often changes as they mature. Not all are lap cats. Not all are cuddly. But all will develop personality traits you will love and cherish.
Some Maine Coons are comfortable with being picked up and some aren’t. I’ve written a whole article on this subject because there’s a lot to know about why Maine Coons may or may not like being picked up. You can find it by following this link.
Male vs Female Maine Coon Personality
We have two boys and two girls and there are some differences in their personalities
Male Maine Coons tend to be a bigger size than females and can have livelier personalities.
Males are highly sociable and can be quite demanding of your attention at times. They often follow you from room to room and like to settle on your lap or close by.
You’ll find they love plenty of play and can display clown-like behavior at times – it’s almost as if they are aware of their ability to entertain.
Being curious, they are into everything. If you leave a cupboard door or a drawer open, he’ll be in there like a shot, to have a good nose about.
Female Maine Coons are often said to be a bit more cautious around people but we haven’t noticed this trait in ours.
Some owners say female Maine Coons are outgoing and friendly, but not to the same extent as the males.
Our current girls are as confident and friendly as our two boys. Their personalities are said to be a little more reserved and laid back but this is not true of our ladies.
The Maine Coon Personality Around Babies and Children
Maine Coons are not aggressive toward adults, babies, or children – unless severely provoked.
It is important to socialize a Maine Coon correctly from a kitten. A lot of the personality traits that we find so endearing are nurtured by us as owners.
Kitten socialization should start with the breeder at 3 to 4 weeks of age. From this age, there is a 10-week-long window when a kitten’s ability to learn is at its greatest.
This is when a kitten should be exposed to lots of positive experiences with adults, children, and other animals to enable it to develop into a well-socialized, confident adult cat.
A properly socialized Maine Coon will be well-behaved and gentle with babies and children. Of course, you should always supervise young children around cats.
Aggressive behavior such as scratching or biting is, more often than not, due to retaliation to extreme provocation. Whenever it is possible, a Maine coon will remove itself from a situation it doesn’t like instead of reacting aggressively.
Summary
Here’s a list of adjectives that can be used to describe a Maine Coons personality: adorable, adventurous, affectionate, amiable, cheeky, comical, curious, energetic, entertaining, funny, friendly, gentle, intelligent, loyal, lovable, outgoing, playful, confident and sociable.
What is the Personality of a Maine Coon Cat? – Conclusion
The Maine Coon has the perfect cat personality. If you want a fun-loving, funny, confident, sociable cat – look no further. Whether you are looking for a companion cat or one to mix in with busy family life, you can’t go wrong with a Maine Coon.