Sunday, September 11, 2011

Traveling with Dakota

One of the oldest natural breeds in North America, the Maine Coon is generally regarded as a native of the state of Maine (in fact, the Maine Coon is the official Maine State Cat). Although the Yankee myth of 35-pound cats is just that, a myth (unless the cat is grossly overweight!), these are indeed tall, muscular, big-boned cats; males commonly reach 15 to 25 pounds, with females normally weighing about 12 to 15 pounds. Add to that two or three inches of winter coat, and people will swear that they're looking at one big cat.  Maine Coons develop slowly, and don't achieve their full size until they are three to five years old. Their dispositions remain kittenish throughout their lives; they are big, gentle, good-natured goofs. Even their voices set them apart from other cats; they have a distinctive, chirping trill which they use for everything from courting to caroling their people into playing with them. (Maine Coons love to play, and many will joyfully retrieve small items.) They rarely meow, and when they do, that soft, tiny voice doesn't fit their size! - The Maine Coon Facts


This is Dakota! He is my old Maine Coon cat! 


He is adored by many who met him! Even those who are highly allergic and don't like cats!  Maine Coons are known for their personalities! Matter of fact, my neighbor went out and bought two Maine Coon kittens because she specifically liked the Maine Coon personalities and their size!  Don't worry she is well aware that they can get up to 20 pounds!!! The size didn't bother her at all!  She had never seen a cat bread so smart, playful and one in which would allow her Children to put him in all sorts of positions! I am not kidding you can hang this cat upside down and he is perfectly fine with it! You can carry him around like a sack of potatoes and he adores it!  My kids have even taken him skiing across water over a bathtub flooded bathroom floor! He just prances around like it is no big deal!
 
However, he isn't perfect! He does not do well in a car! He meows the entire time! Did I say the entire time? I mean the ENTIRE time. HOURS! Did I say, "hours?"    Yes, I mean 6 hours, 8 hours, 12 hours! The entire time!!  He hates it!!! This is simply not normal because Maine Coons do not meow much at all.  So, I am sure this must be the reason why Beloved put Dakota in my car with me. (giggle)

The only thing that I found that he doesn't like even more than riding in a car is when I STUFFED this big boy into this green cat-bag so I can go shopping and not keep him in the hot car!  The poor old boy doesn't like shopping either! Imagine that?


When we pulled into our first camp spot for a few days, he was most annoyed by the less than royal treatment he had received all day! However, all was forgiven shortly when he discovered a quiet spot under one of the camp seats, a perch with a blanket to look out the window and the added bonus of kitty feather toys!


But, then I cooked chicken in the camper and the smell was just to much for him not to give me a little taste of what the other bread of cats do to their owners --- I mean slaves!

I am getting the feline silent treatment!

8 comments:

  1. That is the same kind of cat we have!!! We love him!

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  2. cute cat. sweet post.

    also love the week of ME....we should ALL do that...but i would be the first to back out......i am doing better at putting pics of myself on facebook though......

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  3. Wow, such a beautiful cat. We love cats. I have never heard of this type of cat but he certainly is adorable. Enjoy your day and God bless.

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  4. I worked for a number of years at a Garden Center that had three cats one of which was a MC....

    I had a cat for many years that weighed 21 pounds and was not a MC and I had to pay extra to get her flown out here when we moved from CA!! :-)

    I cannot imagine right now, having 6 kids and traveling with pets in the camper....Tim is all for having a dog in the camper....I grew up going camping with the family and you hired the neighborhood kids to come feed and look after the pets....I'm sure Tim will change my mind on this matter one day...lol....hopefully once we have a larger trailer instead of just the 27 footer!!!

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  5. Oh, my word - I sympathize with you and the meowing! But otherwise, the cat seems a lovely pet. (but, doesn't like shopping???) :O

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  6. I wanted to tell you how we use the oil lamps at church. On Christmas Eve when we do our candlelight service, all the electric lights are off and all the oil lamps are lit. When you come in the church door everything just seems to glow. It is, in my opinion, absolutely beautiful. Everyone seems to enjoy it so much. I will try to get pictures this year. Enjoy your day and God bless.

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  7. So adorable! They have such great personalities :-) I've never taken our cats on vacation before, but I know just going to the vets they cry the whole ride. :-)
    Have a great night!

    blessings,
    Jill

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