The Maine Coon cat is totally adorable, loving, loyal, and large! Oftentimes considered the Gentle Giant of felines or even the ‘Dog of the Cat world’. This breed of cat loves their humans, they love to follow their humans
This may become annoying at times, however, we put up with it since it comes from this large and loveable feline.
You may believe that the Maine Coon does this out of a need, sometimes that may be true.
Most often though it is done because this loveable and furry friend just wants to be with you.
Twelve Reasons
There are 12 listed reasons why your Maine Coon cat may be following you everywhere. These include:
- Hunger
- Thirst
- Lonely
- Wants Attention
- Feeling Sick
- Wants Company
- Feels safe
- Curiosity
- Learned behaviour
- Sixth Sense
- Wants a treat
- Separation Anxiety
Now, we need to admit that although it can be aggravating having a cat underfoot all the time, it is actually a very endearing trait of the Maine Coon cat. Most of us do believe that this is one way that the Maine Coon shows the human how much it loves you. Many of us have also seen that no matter where we fall asleep, our Maine Coon is right there, next to us or on top of us.
Beware, however, they may be the largest breed of feline, but somehow, they make it very easy to almost step on them when they are laying down. They may also lie down in the oddest places, such as behind the chair that you are sitting in, such as your office chair on rollers. Or they may lie down and sleep in the doorway making you take a larger step to leave the room.
As the owner, you spend enough time with your Maine Coon to understand normal life patterns, even the odd ones. At the same time, this also gives you the best knowledge of when there is something wrong with your Maine Coon.
This means that if their odd behaviour suddenly stops, or your calm cat suddenly has to be nose first into everything. Your vet will explain that a bond between human and animal makes it hard for the human to not know when something is off, or something bad could be happening. This change in behaviour may be your Maine Coon trying to warn or tell you something. As silly as it may sound, listen to your Maine Coon, actually listen to all animals, they have a very good instinct about things.
Most of the above-listed twelve reasons are self-explanatory to us as the owners, however, there are a couple that may need to be explained more completely. A curious Maine Coon just wants to know what you are doing, so he will get up and follow you to find out.
The Learned behaviour involves the fact that they sleep when you do, they eat when we eat, in other words, they adapt their behaviour to ours. There are many cats, and dogs too, that suffer from Separation Anxiety. This means that they are terrified of being alone and separated from you. Your Maine Coon may decide the only way he or she feels safe is when they are around you. The sixth sense is simply, the high sense of intuitiveness that cats have, your Maine Coon just senses that something is not right, that something may be about to happen.
This sixth sense is not something that one should laugh at. Some of us have experienced situations where if we are sick the Maine Coon will come to sit with us and not demand attention. They just sit patiently waiting for you to feel better. Most often, this may seem like a coincidence, however, at the time you will likely notice that the behavior is completely different from normal.
Seek Advice
If there is no reason for the change in your Maine Coon, you may need to speak with the Veterinarian to see if he or she can determine the sudden desire they have to follow you everywhere. If the reason is not easily answered by one of the above, it is possible that your Maine Coon is not feeling well.
The Maine Coon is considered to be one of the most inquisitive cats in the world. They seem to want to insert themselves into all that you are doing, everywhere you go and so forth. I have learned that if I go into a room and push the door so that it is almost closed, my Maine Coon just cannot resist pushing that door open to find out what is going on.
This can be slightly embarrassing if I am changing clothes and the house is busy.
Many times, I find that I send a kid to find out what the cat wants, just in case it is just food or water he needs. You know, kids should do those types of chores. If the cat refuses to give a sign, then I just accept the fact that the Maine Coon is a tag along, a second shadow.
Favorite Person
It may be simply that your Maine Coon is following you because you are their person. The favorite in the family. You may be the one that feeds them, waters them, grooms them, and cleans the cat box. They know this and that shows them that you love them, so therefore they will do what they can to show you that they love you.
This may be the only way they can imagine that they can show you some of the same affection. As far as being the favorite person, that will likely never change. The Maine Coon made the choice when it first arrived in your home, and it will remain that way forever.
The Maine Coon does tend to choose a certain person based on personality that they sense from each human. It also is partially who does for them when they need something done.
Stopping the Following
It may be possible to get the cat to stop following you, not very likely though. Cats can be very nimble and quick. In other words, if you are heading out the door and the cat starts to follow you, he or she will likely make it through the door opening before you realize it.
Drawing attention to the fact that the cat managed to get through the door is not going to stop him from trying again. As a matter of fact, he will try even harder the next time. Raising a fuss because your Maine Coon is following you down the sidewalk is not going to end the situation either. If the truth was told, the fuss is just going to make the Maine Coon think that you liked him or her following you.
Since there is likely no way of stopping the Maine Coon from following you outside, since this is their behaviour indoors, the safest action you can take is to put a leash on them. This should prevent them from getting ahead of you or into danger. If you have a lead that is retractable, this is going to help a little bit more than no lead or leash. The retractable lead means that you can easily shorten the amount of distance between the two of you.
Even if the Maine Coon follows right behind you it is safer to have the leash on just in case another animal shows up and scares your furry friend. That leash will prevent him or her from running into the busy street to get away or from climbing up the tree so far that you can not reach him or her.
Basically, with the leash, all you can do is go with the flow. The Maine Coon is going to find a way to be part of your adventure one way or the other so just use the safest ways you can to protect him or her. For future advice, it may be best, especially if you live on busy streets, to put the Maine Coon into a kennel before you leave the house to go walking. This will keep him or her inside and safer than any other effort you try.
Some advice for indoors that may help you get out the door without being followed. Place a cat tree near a window, this will allow your Maine Coon to relax and watch what is going on outside. This is most helpful if you can place this cat tree in a room away from the door you exit from. The Maine Coon will be in front of the window, watching what is happening on the other side of the house, allowing you to get out without them.
Conclusion
However, there is no advice we can give that will stop the Maine Coon from following their favourite person through the entire house. The Maine Coon loves attention and just has a super strong desire to be with you all the time.
Be patient, maybe the furry little friend will realize that you are not doing anything too exciting as you walk through the house. Try to occupy the cat with new cat toys, cat puzzles or even catnip toys. This may help if the following is truly bothering you and does not feel like it is just your adorable cat showing how much he or she loves you.
