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McCoon is a Mewster! A mewster shares
many of the characteristics of a monster. However, instead of saying
boo, they say mew. They sometimes commit acts knows
as mewstrosities. Weighing in at 13.8 pounds, MeCoon is also known
at the Mega Mew.
I purchased MeCoon from Sandy Stirling,
a wonderful lady who owned the CooneyIsle cattery. For those of
you not familiar with the breed, the Maine Coon is 100% cat! They
are large cats with a long rectangular body, a long beautiful tail,
and sweet intelligent faces. While I have trouble taking good photos
of some of my cats, MeCoon is so photogenic that it is impossible
to snap a bad photo her.
One might think that a Mewster of MeCoon's
considerable size would be a bully. Actually, she's a bit of a fraidy
cat. She stays clear of most of the cats in the household. Aside
from the humans she lives with, her best friend is Panyan Pou. They
often sleep together and groom each other. Some of my friends say
their affinity toward each other is because they are the only normal
looking cats in the house.
I would certainly not refer to MeCoon
as normal. When MeCoon first came to live with me, I was concerned
because she did not seem to know how to drink water. She would put
her paw in the water dish, splashing the water around and creating
something akin to tidal waves. I wondered if she was used to drinking
milk instead of water, although I did not think that would be the
case since milk is not good for cats. I called Sandy Stirling, who
affirmed that she never gave her cats milk. She told me that Maine
Coons often drink by splashing the water with their paws. Satisfied
with this knowledge, I directed my energies toward devising a means
of providing an adequate supply of fresh water while keeping my
floors relatively dry. I tried big water dishes and several small
water dishes. I tried elevating the water dish. Still, there always
seemed to be more water on the floor than in the dish. I finally
settled on a combination of things. I have an inverted water bottle
which keeps a fresh supply of water in the dish. The dish sits in
a boot tray (a large rubberized mat with sides designed to keep
snow covered boots from melting off onto the floor). The boot tray
sits on a rug with a rubberized back. I empty accumulated water
from the boot tray on a daily basis using a turkey baster. Not the
ideal solution, but it kind of works.
MeCoon is not only a Mewster -- she's
a moocher! I do not know how she became such a beggar cat. I have
never fed my cats from the table, and do nothing to reinforce her
begging behavior. As a matter of fact, I never feed my cats people
food. If you listen to MeCoon, you'd probably think I never feed
my cats at all! On the rare occasion when they get turkey or chicken,
the meat is diced into small pieces and put into their cat bowls
with their regular cat food. You would think that after all these
years, it would have gotten through MeCoon's fuzzy little head that
begging is going to get her nothing but a firm scolding. Still,
she is the eternal optimist -- the Don Quixote of cats.
MeCoon is a sweet kitty who likes to
sleep with us (usually on my husband's head). She will climb onto
a waiting lap and try to purr. For a long time, MeCoon could not
purr at all. She would try. I could feel the rumbling, but no audible
purr came out. Now she sometimes manages to emit a MeCoon purr which
sounds like a cross between a wheeze and an engine badly in need
of a tune-up. She is sitting on my lap doing her MeCoon purr as
I type this.
MeCoon is 100% cat. She fancies herself
to be quite the hunter. She did manage to catch a goldfish from
my pond once. Fortunately, I rescued the fish in time and returned
it to the pond. She hides in the hostas near the pond and waits
for the birds that come to the pond to bathe and drink. Fortunately
for the birds, MeCoon soon ends up sound asleep. I have observed
birds parading 5 inches from her nose while she snoozes away. My
husband says her antics remind him of Sylvester.
MeCoon also loves to sunbathe in our
back yard when she's not fishing. She lies with her rather rotund
pink belly up in the air -- a very unlady-like pose. She gets offended
when we talk about her pink belly. Don't even think about trying
to touch her belly! My husband dubbed her Pinks because of the pink
belly and her little pink nose. MeCoon does not think this nickname
is dignified enough for a cat of her lineage and refuses to respond
to it.
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