Adopting a Maine Coon in Glasgow: rescues, rules and costs

The live count near the top gathers any Maine Coon or Maine Coon cross posted by a cat rescue we list in Glasgow or within about 41 miles, linked to that rescue. It usually reads zero: big pedigree cats seldom pass through general rescues here, and we found no Maine Coon rescue anywhere in Scotland. Fluffy cats do turn up with these rescues, but they are nearly always domestic longhairs; see our Glasgow long-haired cats page. Pedigree clubs have their own safety net: the GCCF, which registers pedigree cats in the UK, says each club it affiliates has a welfare officer listing older or rescued cats that need homes.

It is rarely the cat's fault. The Maine Coon Cat Club gives an allergy in the household, emigration and the end of a marriage or partnership as typical reasons, and finds that most cats it posts have no known medical or behavioural problem. A few do, and some need a home with no children or other pets, which each post should say.

Ask what has already been done as well as what it costs. Before you agree anything with a club owner, ask when the cat was neutered and vaccinated, whether it has a chip, and when a vet last saw it. A rescue fee usually covers that work: Purrple Cat Rescue says its fees go towards vet care, microchipping, vaccinations and neutering, and Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home, further afield, adds a month of pet insurance.

From a breeder, a registered pedigree kitten costs £200 to well over £1,000 (Cats Protection), and you should ask just as many questions about its jabs and vet checks. Running costs don't care where the cat came from: PDSA puts the minimum at £79 a month, and a club cat in England adds the fuel to collect it.

Two inherited conditions run in the breed, says the GCCF, though it rates Maine Coons healthy overall. One is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), where a thickened heart wall moves less blood per beat and can end in heart failure; Maine Coons can be DNA tested for it, and breeding cats can also have their hearts scanned. The other, hip dysplasia, has no simple gene test, so breeders X-ray hips instead.

• Screening. International Cat Care counts the Maine Coon among the breeds more prone to HCM and describes screening as a heart ultrasound (echocardiogram) plus a genetic test from blood or a cheek swab. Ask whether this cat has had either.
• Hips and knees. PDSA lists hip dysplasia, which can cause lameness in the back legs, and patellar luxation, where the kneecap slips out of place.
• Coat and weight. PDSA says the coat needs daily attention to stop knots forming, and the GCCF notes a tendency to put on weight.

Think about space before anything else. It is the biggest breed the GCCF recognises, energetic, and not fully grown until about four; the GCCF suggests lots of room to play and a climbing frame sturdy enough to take its weight, which in a high-ceilinged tenement flat can mean a tall one. PDSA adds that Maine Coons are talkers and prefer racing about to sitting on laps.

If you rent, Cats Protection Glasgow asks for written permission from your council or landlord before you adopt. Find out whether a club cat has lived indoors or had a garden, since some listings ask for a secure garden or catio. In Scotland, the Scottish Government's code of practice for the welfare of cats sets out what every cat needs, from a suitable place to live to protection from injury and disease.

No rescue or breed club sells a Maine Coon: you apply for a particular cat, and if it's agreed you are the right home, a fee or donation covers its care. The Maine Coon Cat Club calls a kitten needing a new home very rare. Anything listed near Glasgow today is on our Glasgow Maine Coon page.

Buying instead? Cats Protection points to breeders registered with a body such as the GCCF and says to see the kitten with its mother at home, not on a video or social media post. Cats Protection also advises making sure a kitten's parents have had any necessary tests, and for Maine Coons the GCCF names a DNA test for HCM, so ask to see both parents' results. Treat any advert asking for money before you have seen the cat as a warning sign; Police Scotland's marketplace fraud advice says the same, and you can report a suspected scam to it.