Two New Members To My Family
by Robert
(Virginia)
So last night I picked up two purebred Maine Coons from a woman locally who could not care for them anymore. From what I’m told they are only a yr and a half old. But they are HUGE! They weigh 20+ lbs already.
They are very nervous which I’m sure is normal and refuse to get out from under my bed yet. From what I’ve read males should be around 20 lbs but thats when they reach full size around 4 yrs of age.
Should I put them on a diet right away? As soon as they come out from under the bed and I get some good pictures I will upload and share.
Robert
Hi Robert….. WOW, two Maine Coon cats and they are both under your bed!…Just joking.
It sounds completely normal to me for them to hide for a bit. < a href=https://pictures-of-cats.org/patience-and-the-cat.html">Patience is the byword as Phil said.
My Charlie hid under my desk and I can tell you that there is very little space indeed under my desk. But he went under it for the first week and then under a pillow on my bed for the next week.
I brought the food to him on the bed – his favorite food. This helped him to gradually settle in, knowing the place served up nice grub.
Which brings me to your question about putting them on a diet already. Personally, I would not. Not yet anyway but would welcome the views of others. Firstly you want to give them their favorite food for a while to make friends etc.
Secondly they may not necessarily be overweight but from what you say they might be! Maine Coon as you probably know are the biggest pure domestic cat (i.e. non-wildcat hybrid) and the largest cat registered at the CFA. They can certainly weight over 20 lbs without being overweight. I can’t see them but I guess you can tell very quickly if they are.
There will be time for a diet if they are overweight once they have settled in. Diets, though, should be handled gently with the long term in mind – meaning a planned and gradual reduction in weight.
I am jealous of you. I love Maine Coon cats. They are the world’s favorite probably.
Give ’em time to get used to the surroundings (6 months or more maybe) and please send me some pictures to add to this page. You can email me at:
mjbmeisteratgmail.com (substituting the at for a @
Best
