Opinions And Insight: Maine Coon Breeders

[BasedBumi]

Hello everyone; I'm wanting to purchase a Maine Coon kitten, but I'm new to purebred cats and breeders so I'm unsure of what to look for or who to purchase from. I've done quite a bit of researching and looking around over the last few months and I think I've found a few breeders I'm interested in purchasing from.

Name: Mitzi Guess
Cattery: Congocoons (CFA)
Location: Alabama
Welcome to Congocoon Maine Coon Cat Cattery of Alabama

Name: Kristin Graff
Cattery: Spellbound (?)
Location: Norway
http://www.mainecoons.no/english/index.html

Can anyone more experienced than myself tell me what they think about whether or not the sites look legit, their thoughts about the quality of the cats, any question marks, or things of that nature? I'd be exceedingly grateful if someone who's dealt with one of the breeders could give a little insight.

Also, I wouldn't mind any recommendations of breeders I should look at. I would welcome it actually. =)

Thanks ahead of time.

[debbie560]

Hello everyone; I'm wanting to purchase a Maine Coon kitten, but I'm new to purebred cats and breeders so I'm unsure of what to look for or who to purchase from. I've done quite a bit of researching and looking around over the last few months and I think I've found a few breeders I'm interested in purchasing from.

Name: Mitzi Guess
Cattery: Congocoons (CFA)
Location: Alabama
Welcome to Congocoon Maine Coon Cat Cattery of Alabama

Name: Kristin Graff
Cattery: Spellbound (?)
Location: Norway
Spellbound Maine Coon Cats,Maine Coon breeder, kittens for sale

Can anyone more experienced than myself tell me what they think about whether or not the sites look legit, their thoughts about the quality of the cats, any question marks, or things of that nature? I'd be exceedingly grateful if someone who's dealt with one of the breeders could give a little insight.

Also, I wouldn't mind any recommendations of breeders I should look at. I would welcome it actually. =)

Thanks ahead of time.

Welcome first off where are you actually living?

[BasedBumi]

Welcome first off where are you actually living?

Oops, forgot to mention. I live in Dallas Texas.

[Louie-Louie]

Ive only had a quick look but cant find either site mentioning health tests etc they both have alooooooooooot of cats to & alot of them seem to have very narrow faces, fantastic ears though, me personally would'nt, but I prefer a small breeder with not many cats & Im not sure I would want to get a kitten from Norway if I lived in Texas, are there no breeders locally to you?

[mcguy]

The trouble and expense and potential danger (to kitten) of importing a MC from Norway seems extremely unnecessary when there so many MC breeders in the US. Normally only a breeder would import such a cat for some specific purpose (look, line, etc.). There are lots of sites that list MC breeders. E.g., the MCBFA lists 5 breeder members in Texas:
MCBFA Members

Looked at Congocoons a while back when somebody else mentioned it. Person is breeding for a specific and frankly nonstandard MC look. I personally don't like the look, but that is obviously up to you (as long as you do not intend to show). As already noted, didn't see much about health testing. With many breeders in the US doing heart and other health testing it is safest to stick with those breeders, although some long-established breeders know their lines well enough that it is very unlikely there will be problems (however you will have to take their word on that since you won't know all about their history).

As an example of health info, I looked at Nascat (Houston) from the MCBFA list and find this on their website:

My breeding program focuses on health. The pedigree and health history of each cat is chosen carefully and screened to promote, protect and preserve the Maine Coon breed. This is done with yearly echo-cardiograms on all breeding cats. All cats are DNA negative for the MyBPC3 HCM gene and negative for the SMA (Spinal Musculature Atrophy) gene.

The Nascat site is what I would consider very professional, with pedigree and health info for each of the breeding cats, e.g,: Nascat Maine Coons (a beautiful example of a female MC I might add--click on her Helmi Flick photo)

[BasedBumi]

Ive only had a quick look but cant find either site mentioning health tests etc they both have alooooooooooot of cats to & alot of them seem to have very narrow faces, fantastic ears though, me personally would'nt, but I prefer a small breeder with not many cats & Im not sure I would want to get a kitten from Norway if I lived in Texas, are there no breeders locally to you?

I've talked to the Spellbound breeder about testing, and this is was she sent me.

They are delivered fully vaccined, microchipped, dewormed and with 2 health certificates. Written contract, pedigree and transfer (to register in your country). I show my cats a few times each year, and I am very happy with their results. We test our cats for HCM (gene test) and are very serious about their health and well-beeing. All live as family members, so they are always close to us

And yes, there are a few local breeders. I stumbled upon the Spellbound cattery after looking for a solid blue male, the coat color I prefer above all. She and her husbands cattery have produced a few, plus I like the look of her cats, so I contacted them.

[BasedBumi]

The trouble and expense and potential danger (to kitten) of importing a MC from Norway seems extremely unnecessary when there so many MC breeders in the US. Normally only a breeder would import such a cat for some specific purpose (look, line, etc.). There are lots of sites that list MC breeders. E.g., the MCBFA lists 5 breeder members in Texas:
MCBFA Members

Looked at Congocoons a while back when somebody else mentioned it. Person is breeding for a specific and frankly nonstandard MC look. I personally don't like the look, but that is obviously up to you (as long as you do not intend to show). As already noted, didn't see much about health testing. With many breeders in the US doing heart and other health testing it is safest to stick with those breeders, although some long-established breeders know their lines well enough that it is very unlikely there will be problems (however you will have to take their word on that since you won't know all about their history).

As an example of health info, I looked at Nascat (Houston) from the MCBFA list and find this on their website:


The Nascat site is what I would consider very professional, with pedigree and health info for each of the breeding cats, e.g,: Nascat Maine Coons (a beautiful example of a female MC I might add--click on her Helmi Flick photo)

Is importing pets not a common practice? I know it's often done with dogs, especially with the bigger bully breeds, but I'm new to cat breeding as a whole.

But as I mentioned above, the look abroad wasn't intentional. I google searched "Blue Maine Coon", looked through google images, and a few of the Spellbound cats were featured. I looked through their cattery, fell in love with their cats, and contacted them.

I don't know if it's just me, but I prefer the "wild look" to the cleaner look. That's another reason I'm attracted to the above two breeders. I'll contact Nascat though.

[mcguy]

Is importing pets not a common practice? I know it's often done with dogs, especially with the bigger bully breeds, but I'm new to cat breeding as a whole.

I don't know if it's just me, but I prefer the "wild look" to the cleaner look. That's another reason I'm attracted to the above two breeders. I'll contact Nascat though.

I don't think it is common for non-breeders to import cats from Europe, no. Why would somebody do that if they could avoid the expense and hassle? There would obviously have to be something very particular and rare that one really wanted to have in order to do that.

Like I said, the Congocoons look vs. a standard MC is obviously a personal preference. I think those cats ears look ill proportioned and unattractive, and so do most breeders obviously, but they are quite unique.

There are also a few breeders in the US that breed with new foundation lines (i.e., cats with MC characteristics but that are not from registered lines). These cats also often do not look like a standard MC of today, having a less refined or more wild look. You might try to look up some of those breeders. Again, I think these cats are often rather unattractive compared to a standard MC, but they might appeal to you.

As for Nascat, I don't know anything about that breeder other than: (1) she is a breeder member of MCBFA which is a very reputable MC association and (2) her website is very professional and (3) she claims to do current best practice genetic testing and echocardiograms on her breeding cats. Also she is from Texas rather than half way around the world (I know Texas is big, but even so... )

[mcguy]

I stumbled upon the Spellbound cattery after looking for a solid blue male, the coat color I prefer above all.

OK--well that may be a difficult color to find, from what I have seen.

Incidentally, the MCBFA has a very nice page on MC colors:
Maine Coon Colors

[BasedBumi]

I don't think it is common for non-breeders to import cats from Europe, no. Why would somebody do that if they could avoid the expense and hassle? There would obviously have to be something very particular and rare that one really wanted to have in order to do that.

Like I said, the Congocoons look vs. a standard MC is obviously a personal preference. I think those cats ears look ill proportioned and unattractive, and so do most breeders obviously, but they are quite unique.

There are also a few breeders in the US that breed with new foundation lines (i.e., cats with MC characteristics but that are not from registered lines). These cats also often do not look like a standard MC of today, having a less refined or more wild look. You might try to look up some of those breeders. Again, I think these cats are often rather unattractive compared to a standard MC, but they might appeal to you.

As for Nascat, I don't know anything about that breeder other than: (1) she is a breeder member of MCBFA which is a very reputable MC association and (2) her website is very professional and (3) she claims to do current best practice genetic testing and echocardiograms on her breeding cats. Also she is from Texas rather than half way around the world (I know Texas is big, but even so... )

That's true, you make a valid point. And if I were to find a breeder stateside that had a solid blue kitten or were expecting one, I'd jump on it in a second. But up to this point I haven't been able to.

And I've been quoted prices, and it is up there a little bit. Stateside, I meet a breeder who's price after shipping was $1250. Her cats were $1000. It's about $600 more internationally. Pretty expensive.

And what about the look of the Spellbounds; is that unorthodox as well?