Maine Coon vs. Ragdolls

Ragdolls only come in pointed or pointed and white. Maine Coons come in all colors except pointed or the chocolate/lilac colors. IMO Raggys may be easier on the grooming side as they don't mat as much having silkier fur.

Given the choice (cause I won't own any long hair cat) I'd go with the Raggys cause its less grooming.

Maine Coons are my favorite breed, though, admittedly, I have never had experience with Ragdolls.

Maine Coons are lovable, sometimes goofy, very intelligent, beautiful cats. Their fur is very low-maintenance, despite being long. They seem to be healthy, large (but not fat) cats, IMHO. My Maine Coon mixes/1 former purebred is/were very loving, easy-going, intelligent and entertaining cats. Beautiful markings, too.

They also love to use those huge lion's paws to grab things--like my Leo, and the head of broccoli last week! He has a thing for fresh veggies, and runs into the kitchen when I'm cutting them. He stretches his looong body, and swipes at the counter. In this case, I was chopping the florets off the main stalk. I wouldn't give him any, so he actually swiped the stalk out of my hand!

To me, a Maine Coon is the perfect cat. Beautiful, sort of wild-looking, intelligent, people-oriented cats; fluffy, but not effeminate in personality--macho and strong, but yet have tiny voices. Playful, and get along with everyone, including other cats.

Both Maine Coons and Ragdolls have pretty much mat-free coats, and require very little grooming. A weekly combing is all it takes to keep it in top-notch shape. As far as coat goes, Raggies shed very little, aside from shedding season.
Ragdolls are slightly larger, males getting anywhere from 15-20lbs at maturity, while Coons reach 13-18. Of course cats are individuals, so some will be larger of smaller than that. I am not sure about Maine coons, as I don't have them, but Raggies (I have 2) reach maturity at 4 years old.
Raggies are low energy, sweet, mellow, cuddly, loving kind of cats... My female will play with my DLH, but my male is a total couch potato. My two are not lap cats, but they are the most loving cats I could possibly have. They do not sit on my lap, but they need to be within a couple of inches from me at all times. Bugsy, my male, has to sleep by my neck every night. If you are looking for a higher energy cat, Raggies are not for you... But if you are looking for companionship, a loving cat, who will absolutely love you through and through... then this is your breed hands down IMHO.
I don't think any cat has pros and cons, just some fit your personality/home/family/lifestyle better than others... For instance, if I put a bengal or a savannah here in my house with my 2 Raggies... can you just imagine what would happen?

Ragdoll page (TICA)
Maine Coon Page (TICA)

I say why don't you go to a shelter and adopt the kitty (or kitties) that chooses you? There are just so many kitties in need of good homes. And it's been my personal experience that those that are rescued are just the most loving and grateful cats you could ever imagine.

I'm a big fan of both as well, but decided on a shorthair as it seems to be pretty unanimous that they are less work from a grooming, poo-fur, and hairball management standpoint. My only other issue is that if you want to "shop" based on personality, you can't really do that w/ maines or rags as they hardly ever show up in shelters and most breeders want deposits so at best you have a selection just of the few kitties in the litter and usually pretty young so hard to tell what the general personality is like. On the plus side, w/ a good breeder you know the kittens weren't separated from their mothers too young and subject to scary stuff out on the streets as kittens and instead grew up "underfoot" smothered w/ affection from day one, heh.

Bicolor rags are my favorite pattern, and their fur is really soft and silky, whereas the Maine Coon has a more outdoor practical coat thats a bit more oily/waxy for protection from the elements. Rags will have quite a bit of white fur which definitely tends to show up on furnishing and clothes more IMO, as I always notice my kitties white belly fur, but not so much the darker parts.

Cool thing about both breeds is that despite being such big kitties, they seem to always have little tiny Mike Tyson voices hehehe!

I had been cautioned by experts to watch out for OVERLY large examples of their breed though, as apparently they can be prone to cardiovascular and hip issues.

Sounds like a win-win either way.

I've noticed a LOT of Maine Coon-type cats in shelters. I had a wonderful male who looked and acted as though he could have been purebred MC, but was just a farm cat, as far as anybody knew. He was the best cat ever. Of course, if you want to be sure of getting a shelter cat of a certain type, you have to get an adult. . .nobody really knows how a non-pedigreed kitten will turn out.

Ragdoll-type cats seem to be much rarer in shelters.

My RB Maine Coon (mix?) named Paws was a big cat and very sweet. A true gentleman. DH used to describe him as "humble" and it fit. When Paws was young, he would stand up like a bear and play with our dog. I still miss him very much today, as I miss all my RB kitties.

I know someone with a Ragdoll and she is stunning. (If you look at some of Carolina's pictures, you'll see how gorgeous her cats are.) Ragdolls are also sweet cats. They sort of go limp when you pick them up, or so I've heard. My friend's isn't much for being picked up, but that's probably just that cat's opinion. None of my DSHs want to be picked up, either.

I'd say it would come down to whichever look you wanted more than anything. Both will require grooming; Maine Coons have sort of a thick (I'm sleepy, can't think of what you call the undercoat...or is undercoat what you call it?) And their coat is coarser than a Ragdoll's.

I guess it depends on where you are. Here in Houston area, I had left my number w/ a bunch of shelters and kept calling around and checking on petfinder.com to no avail for a maine coon for quite a while. And thats saying a lot, as it was "kitten season" or so they said, and they were overflowing w/ kitties.

The few available were also often snatched up by special breed foster groups here where getting an appointment involves a million hoops and long interviews just to meet the kitties.

Yes, I would guess that the thick-coated Northern breeds would be more common in the Northern states, LOL. I don't think natural selection favors Maine Coon-types in Texas .

But they aren't Maine Coons and wouldn't be listed as such on petfinder. They're just big, longhaired (mostly) brown tabbies.

If you want a purebred of either (instead of the look a likes in the shelter) contact some of the breeders on this site.

Also consider adopting a retired show/breeding cat if you don't want to pay the price of a kitten - purebred MC and Raggys start at $600+ - but they come with spay/neuter, all shots, FELV tested and wormings - and a health guarantee too.

http://www.breedlist.com/breed.html

True, but my regular kitties were also spay/neutered, all shots, FELV tested, wormed, and given a health guarantee for $35 + a voluntary donation. The $1000+ I often see for the purebreds here are definitely tied up more in the cost of showing the king/queens to get the papers and likely a bit of profit IMO.

Yeah, but rescues are working under a non-profit charity model. If I have all that done for a random stray cat I pick up (which happens frequently), it costs around $200, and my vet has fairly low prices. So I'd have to charge at least that much to break even.

Although I do agree that a lot of the price of a purebred puppy/kitten is largely due to the costs involved in showing the breeding animals, and possibly health-testing the breeding stock (of course any decent dog breeder does lots of health testing, but I don't know what testing cats need, other than some breed-specific things like HCM for Maine Coons).

Maine Coons and Ragdolls are both beautiful cats, and big cats! I've met both. Both are very nice cats.

Get one of each. Kittens are best raised in pairs anyway.
I actually have one of these.

Seconded!

Imagine the play wrestling matches w/ those big kitties, the ground will rumble, pictures will fall off the walls.... food will disappear off shelves!

Be different!! Get a Norwegian Forest Cat instead! LOL!

Seriously though...given a choice between Maine coons and Raggies, I'd get a Norwegian!

OK OK I've shown both. I'd rather have a Coon then a Raggie. Nuff said.

Oh and to the person that said Maine coons don't do well in Texas? Wrong! Some of the best MCO breeders in the world are in Texas (CFA at least)...look it up!

I'd go with Ragdoll. Those blue eyes... Also the polydactyl issues bother me with Coons, which is another reason I'd prefer a Ragdoll. Both breeds have issues with HCM, which is why I'd go with a Birman instead of a Raggie..
how about a British Long- or Shorthair?

We're not being really helpful, are we?

Nope, not Ragdolls... Maine Coons do, but not Raggies...

Get one of everything!!!

Sometimes I go on petfinder, and look for certain kinds of cats, you can search on size, color, disabilities, breed type, and everything. I have a deaf white cat so sometimes I search the database to see how many others are out there that need a place...

And I adopted a 14 year old cat from a shelter, and she was the BEST kitty. No messes, no clawing, very sweet, no climbing. AND she lived with us for 6 years!!!

HCM has been found in Raggies, that's why good breeders are testing their cats.
http://www.showcatsonline.com/x/HCM-...entified.shtml
http://ragdollresearch.org/about.php
http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/deptsvcgl/Ragdolls.aspx

I expect that depends on the lines, some Raggies shed a lot and require daily grooming. Same for Coonies, according to breeders I know. I would speak to the breeder and see what kind of coats her cats tend to have.

I just recently had that exact same debate and I choose the ragdoll because of their dog like personalities. She is a huge cuddle bug. However, my next cat will be a main coon. One thing that I have learned is if you go with a purebreed cat, make sure you do a lot of research on the breeder. I paid $500 for my kitten and she was covered in fleas. We found them on her when we go home and the breeder refused to do anything about it. My husband is very angry about it. So just make sure that if you get the cat anywhere that is not the shelter related, have the cat checked out immediately after and do research on the breeder.

Breeders, certainly. I meant the free-breeding strays/ferals/farm cats. I don't think the climate in Texas favors such a thick-coated cat. Whereas here, up north, many of the free-breeding cats are Maine Coon type longhairs. Survival of the warmest, I guess.

Adding one link to what missymotus already posted, this is the place I use to test my kitties:
http://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/services/cat/HCM.php