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Bert’s lucky day

Peemacgee
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Old English's are lovely dogs but Maine Coons don't have smelly wet beards and Old English sheepdogs are renowned for having shitty arses as well.
Many were the days in my youth being surrounded by a cloud of flies when we took my mates Old English out for countryside walks.
(to be fair -its no picnic when your Maine Coon gets the squits either - if you think brushing them is a challenge......luckily they're not that averse to water )
 
gbesq
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Peemacgee Peemacgee
Old English's are lovely dogs but Maine Coons don't have smelly wet beards and Old English sheepdogs are renowned for having shitty arses as well.
Many were the days in my youth being surrounded by a cloud of flies when we took my mates Old English out for countryside walks.
(to be fair -its no picnic when your Maine Coon gets the squits either - if you think brushing them is a challenge......luckily they're not that averse to water )
Agreed. You get used to wet lap syndrome with the OES. A little trimming in the right area and regular baths will do a lot to minimize the latter issue. They more than make up for those inconveniences with their intense loyalty to family and gentle, protective instincts with children. There are plenty of dog breeds that I would never permit to be near children unsupervised, but the OES isn’t one of them. Gentle giants with clownish personalities.
 
BlackTalon
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Peemacgee Peemacgee
Old English's are lovely dogs but Maine Coons don't have smelly wet beards and Old English sheepdogs are renowned for having shitty arses as well.
Many were the days in my youth being surrounded by a cloud of flies when we took my mates Old English out for countryside walks.
(to be fair -its no picnic when your Maine Coon gets the squits either - if you think brushing them is a challenge......luckily they're not that averse to water )
Max gets a smelly beard all the time -- he constantly dips it into the wet cat food. ::facepalm1::

The 'other end' can occasionally be problematic as well, but he's much better now than his first 2 years. And he gets periodic manscaping via my wife, which helps.
 
ErichPryde
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cakey007 cakey007
Awesome!
I have a funny feeling we may end up with at least one! My son was very taken with Bert as well.

They're spectacular with kids. Incredibly patient, even with small (and sometimes grabby) hands.

Kalameet (top) is a smoke blue Maine Coon, she's the largest of our three. She does bedtime routine with the kids every night and spends time with both of them, and then typically finds my wife and I to hang out.
 
ErichPryde
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BlackTalon BlackTalon
Oddly enough our Maine Coon sheds less than the shorter haired cats we had when I was a kid. We were prepared for the worst, but it's been a non-issue. The dreadlocks comment above though -- we're fighting that on a daily basis, particularly on Max's chest. And no, he absolutely does not like being brushed. Doing it when he was a kitten was no better. The brush is his mortal enemy.

This may not help, but we have two who don't like to be brushed most of the time but really love this brush:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B09C5SZZMZ?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

They hate every other brush we have or have tried.

Regarding dreadlocks (essentially the fur "felting") How likely it is to do this depends upon how fine the hairs are. We have two Maine Coons that do this pretty regularly if they aren't brushed, one has very fine white fur and the other fine gray fur. Our last Maine Coon has slightly less fine hair and doesn't tend to mat very often. The blue Smoke's hair is so fine that I can rub it together in my fingers, and just that amount of pressure/heat can cause it to felt. 😵‍💫😎 it's lovely and Incredibly soft though!
 
BlackTalon
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Max's chest fur can be 100% fine, and then we let him outside and a few hours later it's like he's wearing a Bob Marley t-shirt.
 
ErichPryde
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BlackTalon BlackTalon
Max's chest fur can be 100% fine, and then we let him outside and a few hours later it's like he's wearing a Bob Marley t-shirt.
Sounds about right!
Peemacgee Peemacgee
Old English's are lovely dogs but Maine Coons don't have smelly wet beards and Old English sheepdogs are renowned for having shitty arses as well.
Many were the days in my youth being surrounded by a cloud of flies when we took my mates Old English out for countryside walks.
(to be fair -its no picnic when your Maine Coon gets the squits either - if you think brushing them is a challenge......luckily they're not that averse to water )

I do have one that hates to bathe! She's incredibly strong and one time she clawed into my back so hard it left bruises (in addition to deep punctures). The other two like water just fine though.
 
ghce
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ErichPryde ErichPryde
Sounds about right!


I do have one that hates to bathe! She's incredibly strong and one time she clawed into my back so hard it left bruises (in addition to deep punctures). The other two like water just fine though.

Our first Maine Coon would lie outside in a puddle in the rain! The current edition whilst not quite as extreme still isn't bothered in the slightest by the rain or puddles of water.
Very odd cats Maine Coons, it just about impossible to make them angry or scratch you though I did get both hands scratched up last week when I put ours in a cage to take to the vet for claw trimming, totally unintentional on her part as she couldn't withdraw her claws due to their length and she was just trying to jump away.
Got to be the most kid friendly animal on the planet.
 
cakey007
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It’s fascinating reading more about the realities of them, the grooming isn’t so much an issue or the hair wafting round as we have a Pomeranian that seems to malt a lot , never gets matted up unlike another we had which would often get matted if not kept brushed.

My son find the idea of the cat being bigger than the dogs hilarious -Pomeranian and miniature daschund.
It will need some more talk whether one would be a good fit , or just get one when my wife goes away this week
 
cakey007
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ghce ghce
Our first Maine Coon would lie outside in a puddle in the rain! The current edition whilst not quite as extreme still isn't bothered in the slightest by the rain or puddles of water.
Very odd cats Maine Coons, it just about impossible to make them angry or scratch you though I did get both hands scratched up last week when I put ours in a cage to take to the vet for claw trimming, totally unintentional on her part as she couldn't withdraw her claws due to their length and she was just trying to jump away.
Got to be the most kid friendly animal on the planet.

The more kind people on here share their experiences of their own really make them seem like super animals - certainly Bert gave us that view
 
ghce
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cakey007 cakey007
It’s fascinating reading more about the realities of them, the grooming isn’t so much an issue or the hair wafting round as we have a Pomeranian that seems to malt a lot , never gets matted up unlike another we had which would often get matted if not kept brushed.

My son find the idea of the cat being bigger than the dogs hilarious -Pomeranian and miniature daschund.
It will need some more talk whether one would be a good fit , or just get one when my wife goes away this week

The males tend to be about double the weight and size of the females.
Our first male was about 10.5 KG some are bigger. Females tend to be 6 KG as was ours when we first got her ( now only about 4 due to age ).
Another quirky aspect I have noted with ours has been their feeding habits, our have had to be invited to eat their food at meal times otherwise they just politely stare at you or the food but won't eat until told, weird compared to other cats and dogs.
 
ErichPryde
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All three of ours are female. Our largest, Kalameet, weighs 21lb/9.5kg. She's not overweight, but she is absolutely massive for a lady coon and easily out-volumes many small-medium sized dog breeds. The other two are 16lb/~7kg and 13lb/~6kg. Even the smallest is still larger than most cats.


ghce ghce
Very odd cats Maine Coons, it just about impossible to make them angry

One time I laughed at Kalameet because she messed up a jump, and then kept giggling with mirth. She came right up to me with wide, angry eyes and slapped me, without claws. 😵‍💫 That's the only time I can remember her getting angry and I deserved it. :whipped: She's batted the kids when they've gotten rough but she's not ever scratched them either. Aspen has scratched the kids (mostly the smallest), but only AFTER warning them multiple times and as far as scratches go, very minor "warning" scratches.

They're very assertive and curious, and typically have to be doing whatever they are doing.

View attachment 1780464 View attachment 1780465
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Edited:
 
BlackTalon
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Max will fight against getting bathed to the death -- he'll claw and pull at anything in an effort to keep from hitting the water. But 2 minutes later he'll run out the door and immediately belly flop in a puddle.
 
ghce
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My last one loved liked going on long walks as we lived in a rural setting, would happily adventure through bush and grassland alike, he was always up for adventure.
 
Pastorbottle
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Peemacgee Peemacgee
We would collect their fur and put into a springy-ball bird feeder.
Our local birds had the best lined nests in the county.

At my old workshop the local magpie mother would come in and gather the discarded small bits of mig welding wire from about 6 - 8" long
she'd take then to weave her nest, must've been one hell of a nest being woven out of 0.9mm steel wire!
It must've worked well as she always raised her brood
 
Peemacgee
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Pastorbottle Pastorbottle
At my old workshop the local magpie mother would come in and gather the discarded small bits of mig welding wire from about 6 - 8" long
she'd take then to weave her nest, must've been one hell of a nest being woven out of 0.9mm steel wire!
It must've worked well as she always raised her brood

Magpies here are known for their love of shiny things.

They build very harsh looking ‘twiggy’ nests and often decorate them with bright stuff they’ve picked up.

I think the leftover wire must have seemed irresistible to a magpie.
 
Turpinrr
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JimInOz JimInOz
Dyson, the Rolex of vacuum cleaners.
So many marketing promises, so many disappointments.

We've had 3 and they were crap, especially battery life on the hand helds.

Now using an LG and it beats the Dyinyourarseson hands down.
I agree on the Dyson criticism 👎
 
Turpinrr
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ErichPryde ErichPryde
Sounds about right!


I do have one that hates to bathe! She's incredibly strong and one time she clawed into my back so hard it left bruises (in addition to deep punctures). The other two like water just fine though.
I drained the sump on one of my cars year ago and used a cat litter tray.
One of our cats, George, decided to use the litter tray and ended up full of oil.
I got him upstairs for a bath but he put up a hell of a fight and his poor little heart was hammering away😡
He was like a greased piglet but I eventually cleaned him up
Edited:
 
Larry S
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ghce ghce
And another fun anti Einstein reality fact about Main Coons is that if you brush them for 5 minutes you will have a pile of fur bigger than the cat itself, if you wait another 5 minutes and brush them again for 5 minutes you will again have a pile of fur bigger than the cat itself, you could probably do this all day until you have a room full of fur and the cat will still look the same.
Fur you say? Try owning a Shiba Inu. Last year I invested in the large Fur Me pet vacuum. Nala will tolerate it as long as the treats flow and I work quickly. The thing is a godsend in the winter. Very effective and quiet once one is passed the short learning curve. Warmer weather I slip the Furminator tool in my pocket when we walk.
 
gbesq
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Larry S Larry S
Fur you say? Try owning a Shiba Inu. Last year I invested in the large Fur Me pet vacuum. Nala will tolerate it as long as the treats flow and I work quickly. The thing is a godsend in the winter. Very effective and quiet once one is passed the short learning curve. Warmer weather I slip the Furminator tool in my pocket when we walk.
Shiba Inu? I think that I own some of that along with Bitcoin and Ethereum.
 
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