Maine Coon Cat Update: The Year of Puffs

It was a year ago yesterday that we lost our awesome cat, Ocho. We believe he was a Maine Coon although having found him as a stray, we were never sure. He had all the typical traits of the Maine Coon: the fur coat with extra layers, the lion like ruff, his behavior more that of the family dog than expected of a cat, greeting us in the driveway when we returned home, his desire to hang with us, and his fondness for water; all reinforced the belief that we had found someone special to share our home.

That day last year two things happened. We had a pellet stove installed and my husband found our cat dead by the side of the road, after two days of looking for him. That day we experienced our first loss as a family. We sat together on the couch that night, feeling the heat blast from the new stove and unable to feel the glow. We all cried.

Over the weeks that followed, through the holidays, it was clear that something was missing in our home. Feline life was needed.

Knowing that I wanted another Maine Coon Cat, I began the research to find a breeder. My daughter and I went to meet a litter of seven kittens bred by Coldstream Cattery in Enfield, Maine. We went in search of a brown tabby male, like our Ocho. We found a gorgeous litter of kittens, six weeks old when we met them, and though we had gone for one kitten . . . we ended up getting two.

Apparently Bella thought her brother needed a bath.

After Christmas we brought them home.

The house was again alive with paws and fur and tails.

Bella and Buzzer are here. 

Bella & Buzzer snooze

I wrote about our first few weeks in this blog post from last year. Today I felt an update was needed. The kittens just had their first birthday. Things we’ve learned about these two Maine Coon Cats:

1.                  2 cats from the same litter can have 2 very distinct personalities.

2.                  3 cats of the same breed can have 3 very distinct personalities.

3.                  1 sweet little silver tabby girl cat can grow into a loudmouth, pushy, demanding, hyper focused, in your face kind of cat.

Bella "the Bell" is a silver tabby - here about 12 weeks old

4.                  That same sweet little silver tabby girl cat can also purr very loudly, be empathetic and attentive, and desperately need to be with her people.

5.                  1 shy boy cat can grow into a shy adult male cat who is a bit skittish and hesitant, must be bribed to purr, and defaults to his sister when its time to eat.

Buzzer "Buzzy Boy" beginning to claim his place in the house.

6.                  That shy boy can also make regular routine of jumping on your shoulders and laying there when he’s feeling the love, curls himself into a bowl on top of the refrigerator to nap, and plays fetch with a rubber ball, returning it like a puppy. 

Bella in the bowl; Buzz stretching out.

So we love our little kittens. We still miss Ocho and won’t forget him. I still sometimes look to see if he’s trotting into the driveway when I get home. Bella and Buzz are different from him and from each other. I guess it’s a study in nature vs. nurture of sorts.

Here are some photos of our year together:

My daughter with her new friends.

Bella's favorite toy is a sparkly puff ball and she loves to hide them and find them.

Like babies, sometimes the box is more fun.

A nice spot in the sunny bay window. It includes a great view of the birdfeeders.

One of Buzz's favorite spots is the top of the file cabinet in my office.

Bella prefers the window box for an afternoon nap.

I hope you've enjoyed the Coon Cat update. I'll post more photos now and then.

Candid Maine Coon Cats

I’m deep into the bookkeeping part of the year, when I get everything together for the taxes, and when my creative side is put on hold, acting like a restless child waiting its turn. 

The Boy "Buzzer"

It’s also cold.  Winter in Maine, even this year with very little snow and some mild days, is drab, gray, and seemingly endless.  And with the cold, drab, grayness (especially the cold) my outdoor exposure is made up of a house to car to office to car to house routine.  No lingering near the lilies in the driveway.  No taking the long way.  This is the worst time of year for me.  January.  February.  At least March has some promise – the first day of spring, moving the clocks ahead.

Because so many of my best photographs have been the result of having my camera with me and being at the right place at one of those times and taking a few shots usually outdoors, I haven’t photographed much lately. 

What have I photographed?

Kittens.

Maine Coon kittens.

We got kittens.  Two.  A male and a female.  The male’s name is Buzzer and the female’s name is Bella.  This is what has been in my viewfinder for the past month or so. 

My daughter and the kittens.

One of these days I’m going to set up a set with some props and get them to act cute for the camera so I can take some shots to sell to the greeting card people.  For now, this is it. 

Keeping me company while I work.

A little background on the Maine Coon:  there is only speculation about the Maine Coon’s origins.  Some say that somewhere back a couple of hundred years ago a cat mated with a raccoon (highly unlikely if you ask me) and on down the generations and here we are. 

Hard to tell where one ends and the other begins.

Another story says that Marie Antoinette was preparing to flee France and had her prized possessions loaded onto a ship, including 6 of her Persian cats.  The ship set sail without Marie (you might know what held her up) and landed in Wiscasset Maine.  Cats bound out of their confines and into the arms of the local feline population and here we are.  I like that story best. 

We really don't need to buy cat toys.  Boxes work just fine.

Whatever the true history of the Maine Coon cat, it seems that several personality traits are constant.  One is their gregarious nature.  They want to be with their people, hanging out on the couch, near my desk, on our bed.  They’re like dogs in cat’s bodies.  They’re not the kind of cats that scurry away in fear when people come around.  No, they want to “help”. 

Searched all over before finding them here on New Year's Eve.

They’re also very vocal, “chirpy” even, and communicate with each other and with us pretty darn well.  Maine Coons are the biggest breed of cats, with the record for the longest cat held by “Stewie” a Maine Coon measuring out at 48.5 inches from tip of the nose to end of tail back in August of 2010.

Just so sweet.

We got them from Coldstream Cattery in Enfield, Maine.   Marie, the breeder, had two litters available at that time.  My daughter and I went to see them, not sure if we were going to get one, but knew if we did it was going to be a surprise for my husband and it had to be a male.  We were set on a brown tabby male and there were quiet a few to choose from, but so hard to do when they're so young.  Something we didn't expect was to fall for one of the two silver females.  Both were so alert and absolutely beautiful.  One our second visit, we decided on one of the brown males, mostly because he just kept coming back around us and didn't seem afraid.  The fact that he was completely adorable made it even easier.  When we met Marie to pick up the kittens just after Christmas, they had already been vet checked and had their first shots.  Our vet recently confirmed their health and complimented on their appearance. 

Blanketed in kittens.

Bella is a silver tabby and Buzzer is a brown tabby.  Our kittens are true to their breed, in temperament and personality.  Bella doesn't like to be picked up but does like to ride around on your shoulders.  She's the more vocal of the two; very chirpy and meows very loudly whenever I get near their food bowl, clearly asking for more (though there's usually plenty of food.)  She favors my husband, having found the perfect spot on his lap from her first days here.  Her preferred place on our bed is right up near his head on the pillows.  Bella purrs easily, instapurr we call it.

Bella, the gray tabby Maine Coon kitten, snoozing on the couch.

Buzzer was nameless for some time while we debated and tested names.  With my daughter just having finished the Twilight series, she named Bella.  I did not allow the male to be Edward or Jacob.  Not happening.  I gave the naming rights to the boy to my husband.  The cat we lost (and still miss) was named Ocho.  We tried out a lot of different names that were similar to that but in the end, he went with Buzzer, trying to find something that went with Bella (a bell and a buzzer . . . yeah, I'm not that good with it either).  My daughter and I liked "Taco" like Taco & Bella.

Buzz in the best spot in the house; back of the couch in front of the fire.  Smart cat.

 So, Buzz is sweet.  He comes trotting out when I get home, tail up, purring and happy to see me.  He virtually jumps us and is in our faces rubbing his face against us and then just flops with an audible thud.  He's very lovey.  We like that in a cat. 

Sleeping near the window in my office.

Together they've brought new life to the house.  It was way too quiet without a cat around.  With all of these cute kitty photo opps, I say it's no wonder I haven't looked beyond.  Well, okay, that's a lame excuse for not photographing more in the winter.  Or writing more blog posts . . .

Buzz, in my "in" box.