The Maine Coon and the Ragdoll are both very popular cat breeds. They are probably both in the top five most popular. They are both large cats. The Maine Coon is, in general, the largest cat breed and the Ragdoll is a close second.
They are both bred to be affectionate and good companions to people. That’s a major purpose for the cat breeder. They focus on appearance and character.
And within each of these cat breeds, individual cats will have different characters. It is tricky to label an entire cat breed as having a certain character because we must take into account the variability between individual cats due to environmental influences and the quality of the breeder plus the character and personalities of the foundation cats i.e. the parents.
Having made those points, I’m going to refer to a book that I trust, written by a former cat show judge and breeder, Gloria Stephens. Her book is Legacy of the Cat. I’m going to quote her if I may.
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Maine Coon
On temperament Gloria Stephens says the following:
Relaxed and easy-going, the Maine Coons generally get along well with children and dogs, as well as other cats. They are people-oriented cats, but they are not over dependent. They do not constantly demand attention, preferring to “hang out” with their owners. They do not necessarily want to be held, but they do want to be close to the person they love… They are fairly quiet [and] are nothing but sweet cats.
Ragdoll
On temperament, Gloria Stephens says the following about the Ragdoll:
Ragdolls are calm, docile, quiet cats, they are easy to handle and even easier to love. They are a friendly, affectionate and intelligent breed of cat and they truly love human company. Ragdolls usually show little or no interest in the great outdoors and therefore are perfect for house, apartment and even RV living. It is indeed fortunate that they have such a sweet disposition, because male Ragdolls can reach twenty or more pounds.
Conclusion
You’ll agree that on those descriptions, the Ragdoll wins by a small margin and therefore I’ve decided that the Ragdoll is slightly more affectionate than the Maine Coon in general.
This does not mean that, for sure, if you purchased a Maine Coon cat and a Ragdoll cat as a companion that the Ragdoll would be more affectionate than the Maine Coon. It just means that in general they possibly or probably might be. 🙄
You can see that I am hedging my bets because you have to as a comparison on temperament is tricky but I realise that when people research cat breeds, they like to look up information about their temperament as it is very important; perhaps more important than appearance at the end of the day.
Disagree or have personal experiences of living with either breed? Please comment.
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