I've always been a cat person and have grown up with cats as pets amongst other animals all my life. My first cat that I grew up with was called Kitty - a black stray cat that my parents rescued before I was born. When I was about 12 I got Lily. Lily was a beautiful short hair domestic tortoiseshell cat who must of had a bit of Siamese in her. She was very intelligent and a real people cat. She would constantly chat away with you with bubbly meows and was happy to give and receive affection all the time. She quickly became 'my cat' even though she was a family pet and lived for about 20 years, a long and happy life and has been missed since. About a year or so after we got Lily we got second cat called Mog who was another short hair domestic silver tabby that was from a cat rescue place. Moggy ended up becoming my brother's cat and has a completely different personality to Lily, quiet and timid. She is still around today.
Being away from Australia and without the companion of a furry friend I decided to get a cat in September last year. I had been looking at cats for ages just longing for one and went to look at a Maine Coon kitten that I instantly feel in love with. The kitten was named by the breeder Dark Angel which didn't have the ring to it that I felt suited her so she remained nameless for a few days and somehow took a liking to 'Tinks' which is what I ended up calling her and seems to suit her perfectly.
My Dad has made the mistake of calling my cat Tinkerbell a couple of times and Tinks was not named Tinks for short for that. I guess Tinks is more like 'tinkering around' which is an understatement of my cat's personality.
You see Maine Coons have a reputation of needing constant mental stimulation and are curious about everything in the world which is why a lot of people refer to them as 'naughty Maine Coons'. They are not so naughty but very mischievous and can be quite clumsy at times (well my cat certainly can be). I am not sure if it is all Maine Coons or just mine but Tinks is very intelligent but doesn't seem to have a sense of danger which is why she is kept inside majority of the time and outside under supervision (she would probably hunt down a lot of small animals and birds). I've noticed this as her favourite past time is jumping after her toy on a rod...not just regular jumping but full on Matrix style. She loves jumping for her toy and doing back flips and other impressive moves. The only thing is she never watches where she is going and I will never forget the time when I was living in Newcastle when I was playing with her in the kitchen and she landed in our big garbage bin! Thankfully we had just emptied it!
Some other cool things she does is follow me everywhere around the house almost like a little dog, she can do a couple of tricks when treats are involved, comes when you call her and can fetch (but hasn't figured out to retrieve but I've met other Maine Coon owners who have cats that can) and pants like a dog when she plays.
Maine Coons have very distinct features also such as lynx tipped ears, a very bushy tail that is meant to be able to wrap around them to keep them warm (a survival trait for cold climates), they also have tuffs of fur under their feet, again to keep them warm. Another bonus is although my cat has fairly long hair she rarely sheds fur and when it does come out it comes out in tuffs that can easily be picked up (yay no more cat fur on clothes).
Tinks is a bundle of energy and there is never a dull moment with her. I feel so lucky to have this amazing cat as my friend and companion.
