Stray Maine Coon cat arrived full of matted fur -- UPDATED PICS!

[chickenannie]

I think Miss Stray Coon is getting tired of me always trying to pull out her matts. She seems less willing now than at first. She likes being petted but is tired of all the pulling at her hair. She desperately wants to come out of the sunroom (meow, meow, mmeeeoowww) but I don't want her running around the house until she's de-ticked and de-whatever else. Considering that she still seems to have thousands of matts (well maybe hundreds) on her belly and tail and hindquarters and one major one under her ear that I just cant remove or cut out it's too close to skin, I'm just waiting on hearing back from the vet at this point. I've decided she's got to get shaved, shots, check for spaying etc.
thanks for all the great advice! I'll try to put a pic up once I stop at the camera shop.

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

She needs to be shaved. Its the only way. It will NOT mess up her fur, it will just grow back.

 

[lizardz]

You were asking about the temperment of Maine Coons, and while I can't speak for all, we did have a stray Maine Coon find us and he was the most loveable, sweet, gentle kitty ever. He would snuggle for hours and slept with me every night. The only down side was that he weighed about 25 lbs. and liked to sleep on my chest. I would wake up having dreams of drowning, and drowning I was - in a sea of heavy cat and cat hair! Unfortunately, he got out of the house one day and was hit by a car - I cried for weeks. Some day I will have another Maine Coon. Good luck with getting yours de-matted and all. I'm sure she will make a wonderful friend.
Liz

 

[Blondie]

Here's a picture of my Maine Coon, taking a nap. She is very snuggly, very vocal and very sweet:

 

[chickenannie]

Awww, she's so cute... AND clean!

 

[southernsibe]

Maine Coon cats are wonderful in my opinion. I've had them my entire life and adore them. They have a very unique temperament, and think for themselves. As everyone has said, having her shaved is something that will help her, not hurt her. If you are still trying to work on the mats yourself, you may want to try one of two things. A pair of bandage scissors give a certain level of protection so you don't accidentally snip her skin. Also, child safety scissors work if you do this, take a mat and cut the end off, if it is say, a three inch mat, cut off one inch. Just doing this will release some of the hair and you can work more of it off with your fingers. Make sure you give her plenty of rubs in between the pulling and manipulating of the mats. That way it is still associated as a somewhat pleasurable thing.
Good Luck!!!!
Rachel

 

[NoelTate]

Congrats on your cat! A Maine Coon (probably a mix) was thrown out at the school where I worked several years ago. He went home with me to find a new home, and he found one-with me lol. He was a great cat! They have so much personality. He was very gentle-let me groom him, take care of any first aid he needed, I could do anything to that cat. I shaved him every summer. He was ugly as sin when I did it, but he acted like he loved it. He did shed very badly all over the house. He also clawed up my wall, carpet, and finally clawed the blood out of one of my chihuahuas. He moved outside after that. Unfortunately, he fought other toms even though he was neutered, and he finally got an infection after one fight and died at the vet in spite of antibiotics

He really had a wonderful personality, though. Had I known what I do now, I would have gotten over my opposition to declawing, had that done, and kept him in the house.

 

[chickenannie]

Hmmm... Yeah, I've noticed my stray Maine Coon (it's a "he" by the way) likes very much to claw. I will have to try the scratching log once he's out of sunroom. He is VERY UNinterested in the outdoors, unlike any cat I've ever met. If I leave the door open, he never goes outside. He's the type if he was outside, he would just sit on someone's doorstep crying until he was let in (which is what he did!). I finally found a stray pet group that will spay, give shots, and groom him to ready him for adoption next week (hooray!). I told them I'll probably adopt him. I know he'll be much happier next week after he's all cleaned up. He would be easy to adopt out though because he's such a big purring cutie all the time!

 

[NoelTate]

Have you heard him sing yet? Maine Coons make this trilling noise that is like singing. It's very neat! Mine used to sit in the windows watching squirrels, and his tail would twitch while he trilled.

 

[CritterHill]

Oh have fun with him! We had one for a few years, but he liked to nap in the middle of our very quiet road. First day of hunting season he got squished by a speeding hunter

Brutus was great. He would follow us through the woods when we took hikes. When he got tired, he would sit and meow until we put him in our backpack with his head sticking out to be carried the rest of the way.

I have had cats my whole life and he was by far the most awesome cat we ever had. He would sleep snuggled up to me in bed every night like a big teddy bear.

He's been gone over a year and I am still sad.