I've had two Maine Coons. Madeline was aunt to Phoenix. Madeline was the sweetest of cats. We only had her two years, got her at age 6. She died of a bone marrow disease. I still miss her. Madeline looked more like a Norwegian Forest Cat. I think she was already ill when I got her as she had decayed claws. They had black crud on them. We gave her antibiotics (previous owner said she couldn't take ab as they gave her diarrhea, not true.) I would soak her feet, then scrape off crud, then dab on hydrogen peroxide and rinse that off. I got the claws to almost heal--just had small holes in them. Madeline was so patient. When I first got Madeline, she held one paw off the floor and blood was dripping from it.
We got Phoenix at age 4 and she was 18 when we put her down. She was a beautiful cat. But just as a caution, I once had her hair cut by a new and bad groomer who cut off all her ruff, and it never grew as long ever again. Around age 15, Phoenix became deaf. At 17, blindness. She did fine with both. But her last year and a half she would not use litter box. She became so thin and frail, probably five pounds from a high of 21.
One timewhen she was fit and healthy, her coat became greasy and she wouldn't groom it. I think she got tired of grooming all that fur and became depressed. We got her hair cuta lion cut--and told her how cute she looked. As the hair grew back, she groomed it and always did after that.
Phoenix used to sit atop the refrigerator and LEAP down to the island when I was sitting there eating. Surprise!
I would love more MC cats, but we have 6 cats now. One was a drop off and he is great, is finally where he wants which is inside. Then there is a family of 4 (mom amd kittens) I caught that had been dumped. They live in garage in heated houses.