when i lived in Maine, i owned a Maine coon cat named Zipper, also. he was very sociable and loving to all his critter friends...the dogs. he was a very big boy also. Zipper was very affectionate. we lived near a main road at the time, and he loved to go out and lay on the warm pavement, so i had to train him on a leash and had him on a clothesline so he could run and jump and play, but not near the road. when we moved out here to Washington state, he travelled very well with our Labrador, Tippy. sometimes we would tie Tip and Zip's leashes together and watch them take walks together, side by side. very cute! they seemed to enjoy it. when we moved to the farm here, there were no main roads, just a dirt one not travelled very much, so we let Zipper lose. he had a great time for 2 years, and then passed away getting hit by a car on the dirt road. we remember him well tho. he was very hairy. he had long hair out his ears and little tuffs of hair on between his toes. i think Maine Coon cats are wonderful pets!
