Maine Coons are both wild-looking with a wild lineage to match, so it is totally reasonable for first-time owners to ask are Maine Coon cats good indoor cats.
This query is of particular importance to individuals wanting to keep an indoor cat since this breed’s mysterious origins and large size are often a cause for concern amongst those buying a cat for the first time.
Maine Coon cats make ideal indoor cats provided there is sufficient entertainment and plenty of places to climb. Their laid-back personality helps them adapt to life as an indoor cat, provided their needs are catered to. Many people keep their Maine Coons indoors to protect them from outside dangers and comply with breeder contracts.
If you are a cat fanatic wondering if you could give a perfect home to a Maine Coon, there are a few things you need to understand about this particular pedigree breed first, before making the decision to keep a Maine Coon indoors.
This post will discuss everything you need to know about keeping Maine Coon cats indoors to help you decide whether it is the right option for you.
Are Maine Coon Cats Good Indoor Cats?
The Maine Coon cat breed continues to be one of the most beloved cat breeds in the world.
These cats are significantly large and have a distinctive physical appearance, which makes it easy to differentiate them from other cat breeds.
Purebred Maine Coon cats have a beautiful shaggy coat of fur and usually, come with a premium price tag to match. Read my guide on how much Maine Coon kittens cost.
As a breed, Maine Coon cats have a mysterious origin. However, this does not by any way impede their ever-growing popularity. Instead, in recent years, pedigree Maine Coon cats have actually seen a spike in popularity and are now the second most popular cat breed, only beaten by the Siberian.
One of the factors contributing to their popularity is the fact that they are easy-going and amenable to a range of living environments.
Notably, while the Maine Coon cat breed historically evolved in the wilderness and can thrive outdoors, many owners prefer to keep their Maine Coon cats indoors, particularly in the United States.
This is mainly due to the fact that they are a very coveted breed and have been known to get stolen when left to wander outside alone.
Whilst this is less of an issue in the United Kingdom, owners there should still remain vigilant.
In answer to the question, therefore, it is fair to say that provided an owner gives their Maine Coon cat considerable enrichment and space, these large cats will make wonderful indoor cats.
Most Maine Coons are have reasonably laid-back personalities, are highly sociable, and are great with kids and other household pets. This makes them ideally suited to living indoors.
This breed is also very intelligent, meaning you can train your cat to stay indoors, should you wish.
Alternatively, you can chicken wire or fence off your garden boundary, or install a catio to allow your feline to experience the outside world more safely.
Reasons To Keep Your Maine Coon Cat Indoors
If you are contemplating whether or not to keep your Maine Coon cat indoors, here are some important reasons why Maine Coons are often kept inside.
1. Criminals Stealing Them For Resale
Maine Coon cats are very expensive. See the latest Maine Coon kitten and cat prices here.
With the average price of a purebred Maine Coon kitten ranging anywhere from $800 to upwards of $2,500, it should not be a surprise many Maine Coon cats get stolen each year.
As such, letting your Maine Coon cat outside alone is risking criminals stealing it away.
Sometimes it does not even need to be a criminal. Any cat fanatic can encounter your beautiful cat and decide to take it home with them without you knowing.
To avoid losing your Maine Coon, keep the cat indoors.
2. Complying With Breeder Contracts
As a pedigree cat, your Maine Coon will likely come with contracts from the breeder.
In most cases, breeder contracts require newly acquired Maine Coons to be kept indoors 100% time.
3. Lower Risk Of Injury
The outside world is incredibly dangerous for your Maine Coon cat.
When your Maine Coon gets outside, it may encounter predators or even get poisoned.
4. Lower Risk Of Disappearing
Besides the risk of criminals stealing your Maine Coon for resale, a Maine Coon might actually just wander off and get lost, if allowed to roam freely outside.
In the outside world, rescuers might mistake your precious cat for a stray and adopt or euthanize it.
5. Lower Risk Of Illness
Although Maine Coons evolved as wildcats, it is common knowledge that outdoor cats are at much higher risk of contracting illnesses from other felines, or from eating sick prey.
Keeping your Maine Coon indoors is a great way to keep your cat from contracting diseases and parasites.
Can Maine Coons Go Outside?
There are many risks of letting your cats outside. Thus, keeping Maine Coon cats indoors is a great way to ensure their safety. Thankfully, providing enrichment to indoor cats is incredibly easy.
However, the decision is ultimately up to each individual owner unless you have signed a breeder contract stating that you will keep your Maine Coon indoors 100% of the time.
Maine Coon cats also have personalities that make them fit in most households.
For first-time owners asking are Maine Coon cats indoors cats, here are some of the traits that make the Maine Coon cat breed perfect for keeping inside:
1. Highly Sociable
Maine Coon cats are naturally easy-going and easily get along with family members, and even strangers.
Unlike many cat breeds, they are not wary of humans.
2. Great With Kids And Other Pets
Commonly known as gentle giants, the Maine Coon cat is known for its gentle temperament.
They quickly get along with other household pets and, with their laid-back natures, they are patient and loving towards children.
3. They Are Not Clingy
While Maine Coon cats love interacting with their humans, they are not known for being clingy.
They are independent and will often find something to do whenever their owners are busy.
4. They Are Very Intelligent
These impressive cats are known to have above-average intelligence, meaning they are pretty easy to train relative to most other cat breeds.
With positive reinforcement, you can train your Maine Coon cat to stay off the table and other surfaces that may be risky.
Providing them with plenty of toys and other accessories like cat trees can also help keep them from where you do not want them to go.
5. They Are Energetic
With their muscular, broad-chested bodies, Maine Coon are also very energetic and get bored quickly, especially when there is a lack of sufficient space for them to play.
For this reason, before bringing a Maine Coon cat home, make sure you have a fair amount of space in your home where the cat can roam, and run. This is vital since it will keep their attention from breakables and your furniture, which they can ruin while looking for a way to dispense their energy.
If you are interested to understand how destructive these large cats are, make sure you read this article.
Do You Have Room For A Maine Coon?
Maine Coon cats are known for being extremely energetic and playful, a behavioral trait that lasts throughout their entire life.
For this reason, they need plenty of space to:
- Run
- Chase
- Leap
If you are planning to keep your Maine Coon cat indoors, it is extremely important to consider the amount of space you have.
For those of you desperately seeking to own a Maine Coon cat, but living in an apartment, please read this article I wrote about whether Maine Coon cats can live in an apartment, happily.
1. Bring The Wilderness Into Your Home
Before bringing a Maine Coon kitten or cat home, make sure that you can bring the wilderness into your home too!
Thankfully, there are many things you can do to make your house a perfect home for a Maine Coon, ensuring the well-being of your cat is protected, without cat products taking over your house.
Firstly, you need to have a reasonable amount of space and plenty of opportunities to engage your Maine Coon’s brains and their naturally curious tendencies, whilst also keeping the feline away from breakables and your expensive furniture.
2. Cat Towers
Besides being remarkably playful, Maine Coons are excellent climbers and like scratching, even when their nails are trimmed.
If your cat exclusively stays indoors, you will need to buy or build a cat tree to give the feline endless amounts of fun.
These are my favorite extra-large cat trees, ideally suited to the Maine Coon cat breed.
3. Scratching Posts
Further, you will have to get a scratching post or glue a thick rug to the wall.
This will provide your Maine Coon with something to scratch on whenever they feel like doing so.
I purchased this extra-large scratching post from Amazon, and it has been a total godsend.
Yes, it definitely didn’t come cheap. However, it has been worth every penny because it enables ‘Pippin’ our male Maine Coon cat to stretch up high and keep his claws trimmed.
The post is also really heavy, and unlike the smaller posts we have previously owned, our Maine Coon hasn’t been able to knock this post over.
As for scratching, it is advisable that you train your Maine Coon kitten from a young age so that it can stick to its designated scratching areas; otherwise, it may scratch your expensive furniture.
Learn more about how destructive this large cat breed can be.
4. Best Maine Coon Cat Toys
Besides investing in a cat tree and a scratching post, you should also provide your cat with plenty of toys and puzzles to satisfy your clever Maine Coons hunting instincts, and playful natures.
With Maine Coons, you cannot go wrong with dynamic and unpredictable toys, like these.
For exciting challenges, you can load hollow toys with your Maine Coon’s favorite treat and let the cat work for the treat.
5. Fresh Air And Sunshine
Maine Coon cats need fresh air and sunshine for the sake of their health.
They also enjoy seeing birds through the windows.
For the sake of keeping your indoor Maine Coon happy, you will need to get her some window seats which give them a way of watching the nature and birds around them.
You should also leave a window open, of course, with a cat net covering the exit to facilitate the circulation of fresh air.
6. Space
Although Maine Coon cats are not aggressive, they like to have a space that feels like their own.
This means that they will not enjoy it if you live in a cramped apartment.
The best rule of thumb is to ensure you have enough space for your large cat, before purchasing or adopting one.
Can I Leave My Maine Coon Alone?
If you have just purchased a Maine Coon cat and usually spend a lot of time working, you are likely to be asking yourself:
How long can you leave a Maine Coon alone? Or, Do Maine Coons have separation anxiety?
Well, while Maine Coon cats are not known to be clingy, they thrive on social interactions.
If you work for long hours or spend too much of your time away from home, this means a Maine Coon might not be the right family cat for you.
However, if you crave owning a Maine Coon and fear that your Maine Coon might spend a lot of time on their own, then consider buying another cat or a dog to keep your Maine Coon company.
Keeping Your Indoor Cat Happy
Maine Coons can be perfectly happy indoor cats.
That said, the trick to keeping your cat happy indoors is by caring for it properly. Here’s what you need to do.
After all, your indoor Maine Coon cat depends on you to get everything it needs.
If you are struggling to keep your Maine Coon entertained, here are some of the things you can do to keep your cat happy:
- Give Your Maine Coon Lots Of Space Indoors: Your Maine Coon needs a lot of space to run, explore and to move around in. As such, ensuring the cat has plenty of space will go a long way towards keeping them happy.
- Buy A Cat Tree And Scratching Post: Maine Coons have impressive climbing skills and will always appreciate it when they have a place to climb. These are my favorite extra-large cat trees.
- Hang Cat Toys Around The House: Like most cat breeds, Maine Coons are fascinated by shapes and colors. Hanging colorful toys at a reasonable height can help lift their moods.
- Interactive Toys: Maine Coons are known to have dependable hunting skills. Providing them with interactive toys will help them satisfy their hunting instincts and keep them happy. These are my all time favorite cat toys.
Maine Coon cats are very playful, so you should provide them with lots of opportunities to play. This is important as it will help keep them happy and healthy.
Should Maine Coons Go Outside?
Choosing to keep a Maine Coon as an indoor or outdoor cat is a highly emotive subject often debated by feline owners.
Ultimately the decision comes down to each individual owner to decide, and is dependent upon where the owner lives, and their individual lifestyle choices.
For example, if you live in a built up city then letting a Maine Coon roam freely outside is not advisable. By comparison, if you live removtely with limited risks of traffic hitting your cat, or passers by stealing your cat, then allowing a Maine Coon cat outside is a possibility.
In fact, when contemplating whether or not to keep your Maine Coon indoors, or not, you need to consider do Maine Coon like to go outside?
This can be a very confusing question to answer when you consider that some people say that keeping cats with a lineage so wild inside is cruel.
While the outside world provides enrichment and gives your cat more freedom, it exposes your cat to a lot of risks.
Your Maine Coon cat will be at risk of encountering:
- Predators
- Catching Diseases
- Ingesting Poisoned Prey
- Disappearing Into The Hands Of Criminals
In America, coyotes pose a serious risk as they are known to prey on Maine Coons.
Will Maine Coons Run Away?
If your Maine Coon is always indoors, then the chances of them running away are very high, especially when it gets a chance to do so; however, not all Maine Coon cats will run away.
Most cat owners with unneutered Maine Coon males have at least once experienced the stress of their cat fleeing away, while female Maine Coons rarely run away from home.
Although male Maine Coons are fond of fleeing their homes, they sometimes do so just because they want to follow you.
They might also flee your home during mating seasons if they smell a female cat nearby. So make sure you neuter your Maine Coon at this age.
Here are some more tips to help you ensure your Maine Coon is calm indoors and does not run away as soon as the door is open. Consider these tips and any others you can think of to prevent your cat from running away from home:
1. Neuter Your Male Cat Or Rear Both Male And Female Cats
One reason why cats run away is to go and find a mate. If you are not keen for this to happen then make sure you neuter your male cat to lower their desire to mate.
If your male Maine Coon is not neutered, and you do not mind your cat breeding, then buy a female Maine Coon who can also live in your home too. Your male Maine Coon will then automatically find a ready female cat within the home whenever it feels the need to mate.
Owning both a male and female cat will automatically prevent your male Maine Coon from going out in search of a mate.
2. Handle Female Maine Coons Carefully During Pregnancy
Many cats flee their homes during their late stages of pregnancy.
Although some cats may become very cool, others will want to seek more peaceful places and build nests as they prepare to give birth.
Giving your cat more alone time during pregnancy may encourage it not to leave home because it will still feel comfortable at home.
In addition, you may prepare special beddings for your cat and let it get used to staying near the beddings. By doing so, your cat will feel safe and comfortable to deliver from the readily prepared beddings.
3. Reduce Their Hunting Instincts
Cats are natural hunters, and they will want to go out to hunt, whenever they get the chance.
Try lowering your cats hunting instincts so that your Maine Coon reduces its urge to hunt, by feeding them a raw meat diet or buying your cat interactive hunting toys.
4. Give Your Feline More Attention
There are a lot of life aspects that demand your attention, and you may not be able to give attention out to everyone, and animal, in equal measures. However, if you wish to keep your feline at home, you should make a point of giving it more attention.
This is because some cats just flee away in search of attention whenever they feel neglected by their owners.
5. Give Your Maine Coon Cat Good Care
All cats require good care and pampering.
If you deny your cat the care, you may fail to notice when it develops complications like sickness or injury.
Cats that feel unattended when sick may opt to run away and find help elsewhere. Whereas cats that are well treated whenever they fall sick will not run away easily.
6. Keep The Doors And Windows Shut
Most cats will run away through the windows or doors.
To ensure that your cat will remain indoors, it is advisable to keep all doors and windows closed so your Maine Coon will not be able to find any escape spaces.
If you live with several people, remind them to always the lock doors and windows.
How Long Do Indoor Maine Coon Cats Live?
Maine Coon cats live for an average 12.5 years, reaching up to 15 years.
However, indoor Maine Coons can live up to two decades, unlike other outdoor cats that often only attain a maximum of one decade.
Indoor Maine Coons live more years because they are under someone’s care, and are not threatened by external risks.
The owners of indoor Maine Coons will invest more resources in the health and diet of these calm but expensive pets, and this gives them a better chance of living longer.
However, not all healthy Maine Coons will get to the age of two decades; some may get to the age of just 12 years while others will attain a maximum of 17 years.
Depending on health conditions, care given, and diet, an indoor Maine Coons will live more years than the averagely known lifespan of 12 – 15 years.
Whether your cat gets to age twenty or not, the truth is that indoor cats live longer than outdoor cats.
Are Maine Coons Good With Other Cats?
If you are a cat breeder or cat owner who wishes to add a Maine Coon to your family of other cat breeds, then you may be wondering, are Maine Coons cats aggressive to other cats?
Maine Coons are known to be highly sociable cats with a laid-back temperament, and thus they are very suitable to living with other cats.
In fact, Maine Coons appear to enjoy being in the company of other domestic animals. They are therefore rated as one of the most friendly and social cat breeds that can mingle with any other cat breed or animal (except rodents).
Maine Coons are not normally aggressive and will not be the first to step forward for a catfight.
Although they are known to be very talkative, Maine Coons will hardly hiss at their owners or other cats. Instead, it seems like this cat breed enjoys befriending every other creature available rather than starting a fight.
Male Maine Coons will quickly interact with either a new person or new cat in the home compared to the female Maine Coon who is more prone to acting ‘cat-like’ and aloof.
However, this does not mean that female Maine Coons are more aggressive than their male counterparts. The female is aggressive, yes, but this is simply because it takes more time to adapt and accept new environments and freely interact within a new setting.
Conclusion
With Maine Coon being a wild-looking cat breed, many first-time owners wonder are Maine Coon cats good indoor cats.
These large cats have a laid-back temperament, meaning they can fit into just about any setting, therefore you should not be worried with keeping a Maine Coon cat indoors.
Related questions
Do Maine Coons Like Dogs?
Maine Coons are highly sociable and usually get along with other household pets, including dogs and other felines.
How Big Do Maine Coon Cats Get?
The Maine Coon is the largest domesticated cat breed in the world and can weigh anywhere between 8 and 25 lbs.