Last I heard no earlier than 6 mos was still the recommendation, but I figure as long as he isn’t spraying we can go a bit longer. So far so good…
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Also, since this is your first Maine coon, they are never too young to get them used to grooming, especially the undercarriage (where all the floof is). Don’t use a slicker brush, instead get something called a Greyhound comb (metal comb, basically) and introduce short sessions every day. I usually do the belly when they are zonked out and if they want to play with the comb I’ll try to redirect with a toy while I work on the tummy.
Bathing is another thing to think about. I didn’t bother with my last two, but with Zevon, I made sure I socialized him to it early. He’s not a fan, although he really doesn’t mind being blow dried, so there’s that…
Maine coons with full “show cat” types of coats have two types of coat, the kinds you want and the cotton candy coat. The kind you want doesn’t mat easily and knots only seem to form at the end instead of the base and it’s just silky wonderful easy peasy. Then there’s the cotton candy coat. Dense, easily mats, knots form in a heartbeat, just a lot of work and you can’t skip too many days. It’s tough to say which one you will get as a kitten. Zazu has the good kind, I can go weeks without combing him and just doing a quick check every couple days when he’s blowing coat, but to me his coat looks the same as the other type, but I can feel the difference when I comb him. Zevon is the whole cotton candy machine, plus he’s the extra greasy variety (that he’s still all boy doesn’t help with the grease). I was gone for 10 days this winter and he was so bad on his back legs/tummy I almost undid all the good work I had put into training him to tolerate grooming. So I’m back to grooming 4x week and checking daily.
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Ahh I do need to buy him a different type of brush- thank you for the suggestion on the greyhound comb!! I also figure I should introduce scissors and/or clippers sooner rather than later too. I think keeping him bum area and the long hair between his toe beans trimmed would be more sanitary too.
I have gypsy horses hahaha so I know all about hair, and hair issues and clipping and braiding and mats, etc.
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I figure somewhere between the corgi and 3 out of 4 cats with longhair AND the endless hair removal on the Fjord, I’m a poster child for hair on me, not the original animal
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Wet food wet food wet food… (i know i already chimed in on your other thread, lol)
… and raw, if you can manage. Heck my cats even get feeder mice on occasion (they’re expensive, though, so only as a treat once a week or so). Mimic their natural diet as much as possible!!
@ottbee Honestly, your problem is an easily solvable one, but you’ll need to adjust your midset about it… free-feeding cats is simply not.a.good.idea. Not just for this type of reason (cats needing different things), but also because their digestive system is not designed for constant grazing like cows or horses. Carnivores are meant to eat large meals 1-2 times a day. If that’s not feasible, then 3 smaller meals is still ok. But you need to stop the grazing/free-feeding. And that will also solve your food theft problem.
I’ve got them all eating some wet food now! And much less of the dry RX food for the 2 adult boys. And I’ll keep transitioning more and more over to wet food and less and less dry.
I don’t know anything about raw diets… the breeder of the maine coon kitten has switched her adult cats over to raw. She said they look good, they eat it well and their poop is different- I don’t know much more than that though!
I am NOT intentionally grazing/free feeding - I said that is what the CAT does, not what I prefer. I feed each cat 2x per day in the amount recommended by their vet, and do not refill the food bowl in between. One cat eats his bowl of food when fed to him, the other cat would prefer to and has spent his entire lifetime coming and go from his food bowl.
I don’t know WHY I was so foolish as to ignore the obvious solution of learning to force a cat set in his ways to eat when I tell him to eat, but maybe you can teach me how to do that 
If you’re filling a bowl and walking away and letting the cat “pick” at it and not taking it away after 5 minutes, then you most certainly are free-feeding.
Most cats can adapt. Take the food away if not eaten immediately, or maybe try switching to/adding a food he/she is more inclined to chow down on more readily, or add some tuna juice or salmon oil for palatability. Take it away, don’t leave it out. They will get hungry enough to start eating more at meal time.
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Wow, you are so aggressive with the bad assumptions.
Yes, I take the food away after a reasonable period for eating has passed, and obviously leaving it out all day would be graze feeding. Good lord. (And furthermore, would allow the kitten to be eating enormously expensive RX food that is not prescribed to him.)
We feed an RX food and are under vet orders not to mix it.
I’ll pass on further advice from you lol.
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Your communication skills are lacking, i’m simply responding to the information you have provided. You said your cat “is a grazer on his food” and “nibbles on and off all day”. Now you’re saying that you DO take it away fairly soon after you give it “after a reasonable amount of time for eating has passed”.
Which is it?? I am literally QUOTING your words.
Feed them both at the same time, and as soon as your new cat is done, pick up both bowls and put them away. If your MC hasn’t finished, tough, they will learn to eat more at one sitting. Or perhaps you need to try different foods that might be more palatable to them.
You asked for advice, I tried giving you some, and you got your knickers in a knot because your info is conflicting/inconsistent. I made no assumptions - i went by what you posted.
I’ll offer no more advice to you, so no worries about taking any. Jeepers.
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Oh my kitten has his own food, but the vet said if they cross eat a little bit not to worry.
There is a feeder that is programmed to the cats microchip, that you can get.
So when the correct cat goes near the bowl, it will allow them to eat the specific food you put in it. And if another cat gets near it, the bowl won’t allow that cat to eat the food.
I have a microchip cat door in my house. The microchip cat door only allows the cats the have the programmed microchip through the door. No other animals and no other cats.
Urinary cat food is expensive, I had two of my six cats on it. But all the cats love the c/d by hills and I had a hard time keeping the other four from eating it. I gave up and mixed it with everyone’s food. Yes, more expensive, but my vet said it is not going to hurt the other cats to eat the c/d. Which is why I didn’t get a microchip door feeder.
Getting the microchip feeder will be easier on you and less stressful. I think it’s made by Merck you can get it on Amazon? Or ask your vet to get it from their Merck representative.
Last year I had one of my cats get very sick and would only eat wet food shredded ( not pate), well of course all the other cats wanted wet food too. So they all get a little wet food now 
. We have sucker written on our faces.
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I’ll ask my vet if it’s good by them that it’s at least not a medical problem if kitten gets the c/d too. The chipped cat door would solve so many problems for us in so many ways actually - I knew about the bowls but didn’t know about that. Thank you!
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Glad to help! It’s called Sureflap microchip pet flap.
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