New Kitty (Maine Coon) coming in December!!!!!!!!!

[Feliz]

That’s going to be a long wait for you Mukluk - but it’ll be worth it.

[QUOTE=mvp;8363551]
kind of stretch him out between elbows and stifles. He was quite long, longer than you thought… a lot like salt water taffy would be.[/QUOTE]

This is a good point. The Big Fluff has hidden lengths.

He looks big, but you don’t realise how looooooong he is at first. He can almost look onto the kitchen bench and can easily reach quite a long way with his paws. When he is stretched out he goes the entire length of my legs or most of the way across a queensize bed.
http://s979.photobucket.com/user/annaellisnz/media/Cats/WP_20150521_0091_zpsc5iaegng.jpg.html
http://s979.photobucket.com/user/annaellisnz/media/Cats/WP_20150601_0121_zpsywkymtll.jpg.html?o=14

Occasionally I forget and try to pick him up with one hand under his chest. This ‘quick scoop’ move works perfectly well for the Small Fry, when I want to shut a cupboard door as he’s trying to climb in or similar. However, it fails miserably with the Big Fluff. He’s really heavy and he just seems to get longer and longer and no matter how high I think I’ve lifted him his back paws are still on the ground.

Awkward . . .

[thatmoody]

[QUOTE=mvp;8362210]
Really?

Are those big Dog Cats just lying around up there in Maine? If you went to a shelter would you find lots of “extra” Maine Coon cats?[/QUOTE]

Actually yes - they are the standard “barn cat” up there. Manx too, there are a zillion manx cats in Maine for some reason. I think that the breed has become more rareified as they’ve become popular in other places, but I distinctly remember going to various relatives houses in my youth and they all had these big-ole cats lounging around.

[thatmoody]

Oh, and btw, the legend about Marie Antoinette (who supposedly gave Captain Clough her cats)? My stepmother is a Clough :P. I am a Winslow, though - there are a bunch of family names up there, and we’re all related to everyone

[asb_own_me]

[QUOTE=mvp;8363551]

I was at a cat show once and saw a judge handle a cat… kind of stretch him out between elbows and stifles. He was quite long, longer than you thought… a lot like salt water taffy would be.[/QUOTE]

The salt water taffy analogy is right on. Toby was sooooooo loooooooong.

[DoubleClick]

I would just like to point out that there have not been nearly enough Maine Coon pictures in this thread. Just sayin’…

[Puglet]

Maine Coons are awesome kitties! A friend of mine is a breeder in CO who showed her brown tabby and white boy to a national win a few years ago. He made my 17lb British Shorthair look small. Brits are my breed of choice, but my husband loves the look of a Maine Coon. We very well may end up with one someday

[mvp]

[QUOTE=Feliz;8363609]

This is a good point. The Big Fluff has hidden lengths.

He looks big, but you don’t realise how looooooong he is at first. He can almost look onto the kitchen bench and can easily reach quite a long way with his paws. When he is stretched out he goes the entire length of my legs or most of the way across a queensize bed.
http://s979.photobucket.com/user/annaellisnz/media/Cats/WP_20150521_0091_zpsc5iaegng.jpg.html
http://s979.photobucket.com/user/annaellisnz/media/Cats/WP_20150601_0121_zpsywkymtll.jpg.html?o=14

Occasionally I forget and try to pick him up with one hand under his chest. This ‘quick scoop’ move works perfectly well for the Small Fry, when I want to shut a cupboard door as he’s trying to climb in or similar. However, it fails miserably with the Big Fluff. He’s really heavy and he just seems to get longer and longer and no matter how high I think I’ve lifted him his back paws are still on the ground.

Awkward . . .[/QUOTE]

Big Fluff-- the deceptively long black cat referenced here-- is an excellent study in the whole Longer Than You Think phenomenon in cats. Also, and looking at that first picture, note the excellent use of a good Scaling Device, Feliz’s legs. For further specificity, Feliz, how tall are you?

I’m not saying that a cat’s length should be measured in inches and feet. I mean, that’s telling, but not as satisfying as a visual thing. Think of those swordfish trophy pictures where the beast is hung up from a crane vertically. You could have had the fish on the dock. But that’s not as good Fish Looking Very Tall Against The Sky. I wish there were a sky-background crane for long cats.

And for comparison, look at the picture of Big Fluff just sitting there. Nothing to write home about, huh? He’s keeping his grandeur under the radar.

[mvp]

[QUOTE=Puglet;8365593]
my 17lb British Shorthair[/QUOTE]

Apologies for the rude hijack, but I really want to see this cat. Big and short hair. That’s my kind of cat. Oh, and the round head and those candid, big, direct eyes of the British Shorthair. They have some really good features.

[asb_own_me]

[QUOTE=Puglet;8365593]
Maine Coons are awesome kitties! A friend of mine is a breeder in CO who showed her brown tabby and white boy to a national win a few years ago. He made my 17lb British Shorthair look small. Brits are my breed of choice, but my husband loves the look of a Maine Coon. We very well may end up with one someday :)[/QUOTE]

I’d love a PM with your friend’s contact info

[Puglet]

[QUOTE=mvp;8366286]
Apologies for the rude hijack, but I really want to see this cat. Big and short hair. That’s my kind of cat. Oh, and the round head and those candid, big, direct eyes of the British Shorthair. They have some really good features.[/QUOTE]

Brits are all kinds of kitty goodness! I absolutely love the breed. Big, round, soft, and squishy. NO ONE rocks a neckface like a Brit. Here he is, in all of his Brit glory:

https://instagram.com/thehouseofmeow/

Well, with a few friends thrown in

And asb_own_me, PM sent!

[mvp]

[QUOTE=thatmoody;8363618]
Actually yes - they are the standard “barn cat” up there. Manx too, there are a zillion manx cats in Maine for some reason. I think that the breed has become more rareified as they’ve become popular in other places, but I distinctly remember going to various relatives houses in my youth and they all had these big-ole cats lounging around.[/QUOTE]

Mmm… manx cats. The very first cat of my life was a manx. Are they Large in addition to being tailless? (I wouldn’t know as I was unusually small at the time, so I had no sense of Cat Proportion.) I’d like to see some pictures of manx cats, too.

And what a state!— with the average house or barn having a built-in Large Slacker Cat. I’d never leave.

[rockymouse]

We had a Maine Coon barn cat. He was reasonably friendly but didn’t seek a ton of affection. He was a great big ol’ thing and a great hunter - kept my husband’s wood shop clear of vermin. My husband once walked in on the Maine Coon and the other barn cat tag-team hunting a rattlesnake by his table saw. My husband waded into the fray, hooked the snake onto a hoe and flung the thing outside. The MC looked up at him in horror, as if to say “Why the hell’d you do that?”

[mvp]

[QUOTE=Feliz;8363609]

Occasionally I forget and try to pick him up with one hand under his chest. This ‘quick scoop’ move works perfectly well for the Small Fry, when I want to shut a cupboard door as he’s trying to climb in or similar. However, it fails miserably with the Big Fluff. He’s really heavy and he just seems to get longer and longer and no matter how high I think I’ve lifted him his back paws are still on the ground.

Awkward . . .[/QUOTE]

Yeah, this kind of cat is such an illusion! He’s like picking up a huge hunk of pizza dough or a slinky with added weight. The heaviness and longness keeps falling out of your grip.

[mvp]

[QUOTE=rockymouse;8367901]
We had a Maine Coon barn cat. He was reasonably friendly but didn’t seek a ton of affection. He was a great big ol’ thing and a great hunter - kept my husband’s wood shop clear of vermin. My husband once walked in on the Maine Coon and the other barn cat tag-team hunting a rattlesnake by his table saw. My husband waded into the fray, hooked the snake onto a hoe and flung the thing outside. The MC looked up at him in horror, as if to say “Why the hell’d you do that?”[/QUOTE]

The cat was asking a reasonable question. Why did your husband have to end the game? I’m sure the cats would have let him “play through” or otherwise take his turn at the snake… when it was his turn. You don’t get to screw up a good, drawn out hunt. I don’t think that’s playing by the rules that cats know.

[thatmoody]

I love the pizza analogy :). The manx cats I’ve seen up there are “normal” size, although my grandmother’s were huge, probably because she fed them like linebackers. I remember her putting them out on little leashes (this was not the farm grandma) so they could play in the yard. You’d go over there and all these cats would be staked out around the yard (cool areas, plenty of shade and water) but it was just weird :). People up there are interesting.

[mvp]

[QUOTE=thatmoody;8369140]
I love the pizza analogy :). The manx cats I’ve seen up there are “normal” size, although my grandmother’s were huge, probably because she fed them like linebackers. I remember her putting them out on little leashes (this was not the farm grandma) so they could play in the yard. You’d go over there and all these cats would be staked out around the yard (cool areas, plenty of shade and water) but it was just weird :). People up there are interesting.[/QUOTE]

That’s a ridiculous paradise for me. I enjoy picturing it.

Can you imagine how happy I’d be (liking to pet random cats as I do)…just walking in the neighborhood… and Lo! I come upon a lush garden of Big Cats Tied To The Ground so that I can pet 'em! All right there! Not leaving (because they can’t)… like a mine field… except not bombs. Not buried bombs at all, but, at intervals, big, squishy cats.

[Blondie22]

[QUOTE=Feliz;8363609]
That’s going to be a long wait for you Mukluk - but it’ll be worth it.

This is a good point. The Big Fluff has hidden lengths.

He looks big, but you don’t realise how looooooong he is at first. He can almost look onto the kitchen bench and can easily reach quite a long way with his paws. When he is stretched out he goes the entire length of my legs or most of the way across a queensize bed.
http://s979.photobucket.com/user/annaellisnz/media/Cats/WP_20150521_0091_zpsc5iaegng.jpg.html
http://s979.photobucket.com/user/annaellisnz/media/Cats/WP_20150601_0121_zpsywkymtll.jpg.html?o=14

Occasionally I forget and try to pick him up with one hand under his chest. This ‘quick scoop’ move works perfectly well for the Small Fry, when I want to shut a cupboard door as he’s trying to climb in or similar. However, it fails miserably with the Big Fluff. He’s really heavy and he just seems to get longer and longer and no matter how high I think I’ve lifted him his back paws are still on the ground.

Awkward . . .[/QUOTE]

How much does The Big Fluff weigh? He looks very similar to my kitty, except mine doesn’t have the same ears…but same colour, same ruff around the neck, same face. Mine is 15lbs-ish. Maybe 16lbs now…he’s been really cute so there have been extra treats…

[Feliz]

Oooooh, The Puff is gorgeous. What does he weigh?

For clarity I’m 5’6. The Big Fluff is 15 pounds, so not enormously heavy but still quite a cat (and it’s all muscle/body, he’s not fat). He has enormous paws.

Hmm, maybe a weekend project is to get some photos of the enormous paws with everyday objects for reference . . .

[Puglet]

[QUOTE=Feliz;8370500]
Oooooh, The Puff is gorgeous. What does he weigh?

For clarity I’m 5’6. The Big Fluff is 15 pounds, so not enormously heavy but still quite a cat (and it’s all muscle/body, he’s not fat). He has enormous paws.

Hmm, maybe a weekend project is to get some photos of the enormous paws with everyday objects for reference . . .[/QUOTE]

My Puff?

I think he is currently about 17lbs. I haven’t weighed him recently. I’ve slimmed him down a bit recently in preparation for a cat show in a few weeks. Brits are like fat ponies who gain weight on air. He was up to 19.8 lbs at one point! He too has massive paws…and shoulders…and head.

I love the Big Fluff! What a good looking kitty. Oh, and those pillowcases!

[Feliz]

Yes, your Puff

The Big Fluff is very handsome and he knows it.