I AM HAVING A MAINE COON TODAY, HE IS A 2 YEAR OLD MALE.

HOW CAN I MAKE SURE HE SETTLES IN MY HOME. HOW DO I ENTERTAIN HIM. I ALSO WORK FULL TIME, SO HOW LONG SHOULD I KEEP HIM INDOORS.

DOES HE NEED A SCRATTING POST, ETC.

IF YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE TO GIVE ME I WOULD BE GRATEFUL.

THANKS

JAN

-- Anonymous, September 30, 1998

Answers

> I AM HAVING A MAINE COON TODAY, HE IS A 2 YEAR OLD MALE. > > HOW CAN I MAKE SURE HE SETTLES IN MY HOME.

Give him time and gentleness. He'll settle in at his own pace.

> HOW DO I ENTERTAIN HIM.

Toys and attention. Lots of attention. And understand that he'll want a whole bunch of attention when you come home. You might also consider adopting a second cat to keep him company.

> I ALSO WORK FULL TIME, SO HOW LONG SHOULD I KEEP HIM INDOORS.

Forever.

> DOES HE NEED A SCRATTING POST, ETC.

Definitely.

> IF YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE TO GIVE ME I WOULD BE GRATEFUL.

Visit my website (listed in my sig. file below). There you will find a bunch of advice on caring for your Maine Coon and making him happy.

-- Anonymous, October 02, 1998

We adopted 7-month old MC sisters a week ago from a cat show. They were there for experience and for sale but not for show. They are both very timid. They are both in a room with food, water and litter box but hide every time we set foot in the room. One of them we have hardly seen other than a streak as she takes off into a hiding spot and I don't want to disturb her and scare her more. Will they move out of this phase or are they too old to come around? The breeder advised us to close them in an area and wait until they come to us. How long is reasonable to wait? We do open the door into the rec room and they will come through and watch us in the evening, and play a little with toys I have put out, but they stay well away from us. Part of the room they are in had openings to the rafters and that is where they hid at first. We closed off the rafters to them as we did not think it was too safe(nails sticking out, dust and the height to jump down) and maybe they think they have lost there safe place as we could not get close to them. Does anyone have an answer for our dilemma or should we return them to the breeder before we become too attached to them?

-- Anonymous, April 04, 1999

We, too, recently acquired two MC kittens who responded as yours have. It's been almost six weeks and they are slowly learning to trust us. Cats simply don't like change, period!. Until they can feel safe, allow them to have a hiding place. Don't take it away; in fact, create one (a closet for instance). Make certain they have plenty of toys in their safe place and definitely a scratching post.

One sign of trust: When you see them lounging, instead of assuming the "flight" position, e.g., crouching on their front paws, this is a sign that they're beginning to feel secure and are letting down their guard. After all, you look like monsters to them.

My 11 month old MC hates me to stare at her (cats see this as a threat), so I'm getting good at looking at her out of the sides of my eyes.

I hope that our consistency of routine, love and affection will bring them around.

-- Anonymous, May 06, 1999