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Coons are cool. I am partial the ragdolls, myself!

Shmert made me say that
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“It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” ― Thomas Sowell



You can't win an argument just by being right!
Ragdolls are very cute.



I've always wanted a maine coon.
They're awesome.. really intelligent and form a strong emotional bond with their owners and are a bit leery of strangers (hence, Bashful) I asked around the neighborhood and someone said they thought she belonged to a woman who lived a street over that died a couple years ago, with the rescue workers coming in and out she'd probably freaked and ran out the open door. (Which was probably why she haunted the alley behind the houses, one of those used to be her backyard)

She was incredibly clingy the first few weeks I had her, I felt horrible as she'd had to live leery of strangers without that counter of an owner to be attached to... And every time I'd sit down she would lay across my feet to sleep, one time she did it while I still had my slippers on and I slipped my feet out to go get a drink and less than a minute later she was wandering the house howling and it dawned on me she was worried about getting abandoned again...



You can't win an argument just by being right!
Nawwww sweet furry. That's so bitter sweet.



I've got a cat that looks just like that; will have to post a photo soon. Half Maine Coon, maybe? Hard to tell with some, but he sure seems to have the temperament that would suggest as much. What's yours like?
Loki is a big baby. He loves attention, especially since he lost his back leg. He's not picky either; he'll curl up on anyone's lap, even complete strangers'. He is skittish of loud/sudden noises due to his accident, but is otherwise playful if he wants to be, and likes playing fetch with candy wrappers.

I have no idea what type of cat he is though. Not many people around here care for specific cat breeds, so most cats are whatever the cat-equivalent of a mutt is.



Loki is a big baby. He loves attention, especially since he lost his back leg. He's not picky either; he'll curl up on anyone's lap, even complete strangers'. He is skittish of loud/sudden noises due to his accident, but is otherwise playful if he wants to be, and likes playing fetch with candy wrappers.

I have no idea what type of cat he is though. Not many people around here care for specific cat breeds, so most cats are whatever the cat-equivalent of a mutt is.
What kind of accident? How'd he lose the leg?

Also I'd imagine up North Maine Coons would be pretty plentiful, they're geared towards the snowy climates with the tufted paws and thick layered fur. they go back to being barn cats in the northern areas good at hunting and keepings barns pest free (hence why it was both rare and kind of surprising to find one hanging out in Florida) and I agree with Yoda, that has a lot of Maine Coon in it..if not purebred it's a very high percentage maine coon...

They have intelligent eyes, thick layered fur, very vocal and often mimic sounds, thick tufted fur on their feet, longer rectangular bodies than average cats, longer whiskers on the face and sometimes tufted ears, strong bonds with their owners, more affectionate than most cats, and skittish around strangers... (those seem to be the common traits, of course temperment will vary animal to animal..) but if he meets most criteria, there ya go.



What kind of accident? How'd he lose the leg?
Loki was allowed outdoors whenever he wanted (in the town I lived in there are no leash restrictions for cats, only dogs), and would never be out past dark. One evening he didn't come home. Late the next day, he was just barely able to jump over the fence in the backyard, and was clearly injured. The following morning we took him to the vet (which was a few towns over), who informed us that Loki must have been hit by a car.

His leg was practically shattered. We were told we could get it amputated, or see if a cast could set it. If we went with the cast option (which was more expensive), we would need to keep him very confined and inactive for months, or else it would have to be amputated anyway. Loki was barely a year old at the time (this was in 2012), and was very active, playful, and loved jumping around, so keeping him confined in a small box for so long seemed completely cruel. So we decided to go with the amputation because it would be easier, Loki wouldn't need to be restrained all the time (just careful of the stitches for a couple of weeks), and since he was still young he could probably quickly learn to get around fine on 3 legs.

We definitely went with the right option. He was completely fine, and has no mobility problems. He has a huge limp when he walks slow or wants treats, and likes to lean on you for support at inopportune times (like, when you're walking haha), but when he runs, you wouldn't know he was missing a leg at all.



I just saw your edit where you explained Maine Coon behaviour/traits.

Loki definitely has thick and possibly infinite layers of fur. You could spend all day brushing him and he'd still be shedding haha. I googled "tufted paws", and the images I get back just looks like normal cat paws to me, so maybe every cat here has tufted paws? Your other descriptions do seem to fit him.

One of the reasons why Loki is staying out with my mom instead of here in the city is because mom needs a cat in the house to keep mice away, and even with a missing leg Loki has caught a few shrews/mice (I can't tell the difference). He is very vocal/talkative too, especially around me. So it's possible he's at least partly Maine Coon, but I don't know anything about cat breeds, other than that practically all of them are super adorable.



I just saw your edit where you explained Maine Coon behaviour/traits.

Loki definitely has thick and possibly infinite layers of fur. You could spend all day brushing him and he'd still be shedding haha. I googled "tufted paws", and the images I get back just looks like normal cat paws to me, so maybe every cat here has tufted paws? Your other descriptions do seem to fit him.

One of the reasons why Loki is staying out with my mom instead of here in the city is because mom needs a cat in the house to keep mice away, and even with a missing leg Loki has caught a few shrews/mice (I can't tell the difference). He is very vocal/talkative too, especially around me. So it's possible he's at least partly Maine Coon, but I don't know anything about cat breeds, other than that practically all of them are super adorable.
Tufted paws is just longer fur that pad their feet.. (A cold climate evolution) if the fur growing out of their paws between the pads is longer than average, there you go.. They're really bred for cold climates.



You can't win an argument just by being right!
Poor Loki but I think you made the wise decision, Cos.



Tufted paws is just longer fur that pad their feet.. (A cold climate evolution) if the fur growing out of their paws between the pads is longer than average, there you go.. They're really bred for cold climates.
This isn't a great quality picture, but it's the only one I can find where you can see how much fur is on his foot. That's his back paw, right below his face. He really likes to stick that leg out haha.



That is the local average for cat paws, but I imagine it's higher than the actual average, since you can barely see the pads of his foot. So I'm going to assume that counts as beings tufted?



I have a cat that's just fluffy in general, and he has tufted paws, too.

I mention Maine Coons based as much on temperament as appearance. They're as close to dogs as cats sometimes. Marsellus (that's my cat, though he lives with my parents now) spends a lot of time outside and will hunt chipmunks and stuff. One time he was sitting in a planter and my Dad wanted him to move out of the way, but he wouldn't budge. So he took a glass of water and started pouring it on his side...and he just sat there and turned and looked at him.

And yeah, the appearance, too, because he looks a lot like this:




You can't win an argument just by being right!
That's MoFoo attitood.



I'm home now, so I was able to dig up a few pictures. First one is emblematic of the temperament stuff: just chilling out on top of a 100 lb. pit bull:






You can't win an argument just by being right!
Cat dominance over a Pitty. Love it.



This isn't a great quality picture, but it's the only one I can find where you can see how much fur is on his foot. That's his back paw, right below his face. He really likes to stick that leg out haha.



That is the local average for cat paws, but I imagine it's higher than the actual average, since you can barely see the pads of his foot. So I'm going to assume that counts as beings tufted?
It's hard to tell from the image, but if you can't even see the pads on his paws for the fur, that's definitely tufted paws... the whole purpose was so walking in the snow or cold ground they wouldn't be planting those bare pads on a cold surface, just a bit of insulation...



It's hard to tell from the image, but if you can't even see the pads on his paws for the fur, that's definitely tufted paws... the whole purpose was so walking in the snow or cold ground they wouldn't be planting those bare pads on a cold surface, just a bit of insulation...
In practice, for Fezzik, it means trying to change direction on wood floors and looking incredibly silly in the process.



You can't win an argument just by being right!
It helps that he's a real sweetheart of a dog most of the time. Seems like the big ones usually are.
i like pitties. Too much dog for me but so affectionate. They get a bad rep from a minority of idiot owners.