Maine Coon kittens typically calm down between 9 and 12 months of age. However, spaying or neutering often makes them settle down at an earlier age. Maine Coons are known to maintain kitten-like behavior well into adulthood so you can expect them to have more energy than many other breeds.
How long do Maine Coons stay kittens?
A Maine Coon is officially a kitten until it is 6 months of age. After this, it is considered a junior cat until it is 12 months old.
Once a Maine Coon kitten is 12 months old, it is officially a young adult. However, Maine Coons are renowned for maturing at a slower rate than many other breeds. They can keep growing for up to 5 years.
If you consider a cat to be a kitten until it stops growing, you might say a Maine Coon is a kitten for several years! In my experience, Maine Coons are young at heart forever!
The following table is what you might expect:
Energy levels versus life stages of a Maine Coon
| Age | Life stage | Energy levels |
| 0 to 6 months | Kitten | High |
| 7 to 12 months | Junior | Medium to high |
| 1 to 6 years | Young adult | Medium |
| 7 to 10 years | Mature adult | Medium to low |
| Over 10 years | Senior | Low |
How do I get my Maine Coon kitten to stop biting?
In order to stop your Maine Coon kitten biting, you need to establish what type of biting it is and address this accordingly.
Kitten biting occurs for several reasons:
- Playing is really hunting practice so your kitten might bite your hand like it would its prey.
- When a kitten is teething, chewing your fingers offers relief.
- During petting sessions, your kitten may give you little love bites of affection.
To stop pay biting, use toys and not your hands. If your kitten still tries to bite your hand, gently remove it and persist in redirecting its teeth towards a toy.
A kitten begins to cut its adult teeth at around 11 weeks and has them all by about 6 months. Teething-related biting should then stop.
Swap your hand for a toy if your Maine Coon kitten is biting you for relief. If this type of biting persists after 6 months, your kitten may need a dental check-up to ensure all is well with its teeth.
Love bites are quite endearing but if they start to hurt, gently remove your hand so that your kitten doesn’t get carried away.
Why is my Maine Coon kitten so hyper?
Maine Coon kittens and cats play energetically and rarely lose their playful natures. However, this is not a trait that should be described as hyperactive.
Hyperactivity in Maine Coons often results in destructive behavior. Preventing boredom through interaction and an enriched environment is the key to preventing hyperactive tendencies.
Play with your cat to allow it to channel its hyperactive energy in a positive way. If you can do this for 10 to 15 minutes a couple of times a day this will really help.
Do you need to calm your Maine Coon kitten down?
You might want to calm your kitten down if its behavior feels anti-social or destructive. This could take on several forms such as:
- Running around the house like a crazy cat, leaping onto tables, and knocking things over. Also, running up and down the stairs, meowing.
- Spraying the furniture with urine.
- Clawing your possessions.
- Aggressive behavior towards other cats and people.
- Desperate to get outside, especially at night.
Running around the house and jumping on things is normal kitten behavior. They may do this at any age, neutered or not but usually not during the night-time.
Trying to stop this behavior is like asking a kid to stop running around! Kittens do grow out of this but you can manage it by playing with them and wearing them out.
Spraying, aggressiveness and wanting to get out at night are not normal behaviors in a cat that has been neutered or spayed.
The best way to prevent this behavior from manifesting is to have your Maine Coon kitten spayed or neutered as soon as you can.
How to calm down a Maine Coon kitten
If your Maine Coon kitten has excessive energy and has been neutered or spayed then maybe you need to up your game! Simply put, they need your help to get rid of some of their energy.
Dedicate at least 20 minutes a day (at least) to spend entertaining and exercising your kitten.
Here are a few ideas:
- Buy them some toys! If you’re short of ideas then I’ve tried all kinds and it tends to be the simplest things that work best. Here is my pick of the best toys for Maine Coons.
- Allow them outside in a safe space. The Maine Coon is a hunter and it will use up lots of energy chasing anything in its outside space that moves!
- Give them things to climb. Maine Coons like to climb things. Invest in an indoor cat tree if you have the space.