When adopting a Maine Coon cat some people like to know whether there is a difference between females and males after they have been neutered and spayed. There is not a lot on this and people will obviously have to recognize that there are natural differences between individual cats irrespective of gender so it is difficult to generalize. That applies to all cats and all cat breeds.
However, Marilis Hornidge in The Yankee Cat (ISBN 0-88448-243-X) says that the Maine Coon cat has a personality that is particularly dependent upon the sex of the individual cat.
She says that females are “matriarchs in the making”. Matriarchs are women who are the head of a family or tribe. Apparently, females, although charming and affectionate, like to get their own way and they achieve this with quiet determination. Females are also excellent hunters. Whereas the Maine Coon boys behave like boys being rather innocent and boyish.
When I did a search for this online to see whether I could back up what Mirilis says I was able to find some rough correlation on forums.
For instance, on the Maine Coon cat forum, a caretaker of male and females of this breed firstly confirms that we can’t generalise because she has two females who behave quite differently. However, she does say that the boys are a bit more playful than the girls and more willing to be handled. She also states that the younger of the females is the one with the dominant personality – an alpha cat.
Another person on this website states that male Maine Coon tends to be more laid-back and behave in a slightly stupid way whereas the females are busier and perhaps more focused.
Another owner with first-hand experience says that male Maine Coons are friendly and outgoing as are females but not to the extent of males. It is said that they are slightly more reserved and therefore are more cautious around people. Male are also considered to be more ‘needy’ than females in terms of the amount of space they feel they require.
I hope this gives some insight into differences between the personalities of male and female Maine Coons.
These differences are quite possibly not limited to this cat breed and when talking about cat personalities we have to stress that this is really about individual cats rather than breeds of cat. However, there seems to be a personality difference between male and female Maine Coons.
P.S. This page was first published in 2015. It has been republished and amended slightly to bring it forward and make it more visible to search engines in 2018.
I have four female cats and they are all stinking divas. Wouldn’t have it any other way.
I have always preferred female animals. When I was still riding I only choose mares.
While someone what dismayed that Frog and Toad were originally diagnosed as being little boys I embraced that but I can’t deny I was more than delighted to find in the end we had two little girls.
Is there a difference in looks between males and females
Yes, there is a subtle difference in facial features.
My Maine Coon randy was male and I’ll say he was very smart, stared me right in the eyes all the time, talkative and determined to always have his way. With the lady veterinarians he was a killer charmer. Never seen any thing like him and they loved it! Though smallish (in the end he only weighed but 4.5 pounds… so sick) he dominated every cat he met. He never had to fight though… he had a very convincing look and body language. He stood tall and walked slowly. I think a cat that uses his eyes the way he did is likely to be quite intelligent, and I encourage my cats to look at me. I’m almost afraid to get another Maine Coon, I loved Buddy so much that my heart can’t take that kind of loss again. I know they’re all individuals, but there are subtle nuances to a breed that maybe we don’t realize we pick up on.
randy = random bred.
Michael, I agree with your comment about the cat in the photo. Or perhaps we’re becoming accustomed to seeing the large muzzled version being bred in Eastern Europe 😉
I don’t think we are becoming accustomed to square muzzles. Or I hope not. I don’t think this Maine Coon is that great in terms of breed standard or the photo is a bit misleading.
I agree, it’s not the finest example of an M.C. Minus the ear tufts it could be a regular moggie.
Agreed. I suppose what you have said tells us that there is not much difference between moggies and purebreds.
I’m sceptical when it comes to breed personality traits as cats are cats, whatever price we humans place on them.
However, my experience of female cats in general, is that they are often more territorial than males and enjoy the role of top cat. Perhaps females are hard wired to be that way because a good piece of territory is vital for the survival of their offspring. I agree that males tend to be more laid back and sociable, but because they only have to worry about themselves (lol).