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Hi
New to this forum.
I am going to see 2 Maine Coons this evening with a view to adopting them. They are brother and sister both 6 years old and being sadly rehomed due to severe allergic reactions which have got worse recently.
Is there anything I should look for when I go to see them?
[QUOTE=Zeldamum;34236]Hi
New to this forum.
I am going to see 2 Maine Coons this evening with a view to adopting them. They are brother and sister both 6 years old and being sadly rehomed due to severe allergic reactions which have got worse recently.
Hi Zeldamum,if you do decide to adopt how wonderfull that you will take them both together, I always think it is very sad when furry friends get split up....... I think commonsense will take over when you meet {try hard not to let it be heart} hopefully you will meet a pair of healthy outgoing cats,if they look thin,eyes dull or weepy then it is a no no from the start,you want to know if either of them have / had any problems where they have had to go to vets & outcome, if you are at all worried in any way ask permission to be able to phone their vets & have a chat,to do that this owner will have to phone them & tell them your name & explain that it is ok to pass on any infornation, boosters up to date & proof by seeing their vaccination cards,if they are ID chipped then paperwork for change of ownership,hopefully also they have the pedigree papers,now that is one thing that would make me wonder a bit as most good breeders get you to sign a paper to say that you won't sell/pass on to anyone else without having notified them first, breeders who ask this will then try to rehome either direct from the now owner or try to arrange to get the furries back & do it themselves so just check on that bit,if they haven't signed anything like that then no worries but if they have make sure breeder has been notified...... if there is nothing glaringly wrong then let heart take over give them lots of cuddles,it is surprising how quickly a MC will remember someone who gives out cuddles & if you do decide they are for you hopefully they will be able to take lots of the bits & pieces they know to their new home with them.
We rehomed a retired breeding queen & I have to say she was hard work to start with but everything we put in was repaid in bucketloads further down the line & she also gave us our love for this breed but more ofetn than not once they have settled you have a friend for life very quickly & being the two of them is a great start,good luck & hope to read you have two new additions to your household,photos of them both please.....xxx
hi Zeldamum, just wanted to say welcome to the forum and to the big MC lover's family - I hope it all goes well for you and those 2 furries! please do post pics when you get them!
Thank you for the replies
I have seen the cats, the current owner gave me a brief history. I have had a chat with the vets and apart from some skin problems and a leg op which resulted in a leg being amputated they are in good health, vaccinations up to date and micro chipped. She is not keen on contacting the breeder as the breeder would put them into an outdoor pen and one cat hates being kept in. He likes the freedom to roam, which I can understand. I will ask her to contact the breeder though to let them know the cats have been rehomed and also that the breeder is welcome to come and see the cats in their new home.
I suspect the skins problems maybe due to lack of grooming/flea allergy/food allergy, I won't know until I have them with me. They were flea dropped whilst I was there so I know that may not be the cause, so I will start with regular grooming every other day to see if that helps before making any dietary changes.
I pick them up tomorrow all being well.
Thats wonderful news bless them,nice new home & someone who obviously is happy to try & sort out what hopefully is only a minor problem.... ?
Do you know what flea product was used on them,some don't seem to be so effective now as they used to be, my little Pansy was allergic to flea bites & very often had sores especially round her neck & back at the base of her tail but sinse changing products she has been fine & an added bonus was none of them mind having that particular one applied,only downside to it is it doesn't protect against ticks but mine are confined to a big pen & back garden so don't have to worry about that.
So pleased you have insisted that the breeder is at least informed ......xxx
They are currently using Stronghold. I personally use Advantage and have only had to apply it twice this year! Which is most unusual as I normally had to apply Stronghold every month without fail. Only saw 2 fleas all summer. The rough skin is at the neck and the back close to the tail which makes me thinks its flea related.
I haven't told them to contact the breeder yet as I will be seeing the current owners tonight. I have no idea if they will, but at least if I have asked them to I will have done my best.
They are currently being fed Royal Canin Maine Coon dried cat food. Is this the best food for them? Mine domestic moggies get a mixture of food, some very high quality some not so good. After a week of being quarantined in my bathroom they will have access to all the cat food as I leave dried food down all the time and feed wet food last thing at night.
Jacki, do you know if it's possible that may be the kitties are allergic to the flee product rather than the flees themselves? neck and tail, isn't that where you also put the product?
The flea drops were only put on the neck where a collar would normally be. I did notice on the fist cat (I held them) the current owner put most of the drops on the cats fur. So when he did the second one I made sure I separated the fur to leave a lovely clear line of skin for him, but he still only put it on one small area. i usually spread the drops as much as possible to get as much as possible on to the skin.
No Alekto you put any of those products between shoulder blades the idea being that the cat can't get to that area to lick at it,the neck & rump though are the two most common spots for fleas to infest & that is why any animal that is allergic to flea bites seem to get those horrible scabby lumos there.....xQuote:
Originally Posted by Alekto
Well we picked them up yesterday.
One was purring all the way home and this morning both are purring whenever they see us.Attachment 7235
I think the boy spent the night sleeping in the bathroom sink, this is how I found him this morning. I took him out, my daughter went in the bathroom a little while later to find him back in the sink.
he looks lush! doesn't look like he has skin problems at all.... :-)
Its mainly the female who does and it is limited to her back. Roughly half way down her back to the base of her tail. He only has a couple of rough feeling patches in a similar area.
Could also be stress related , if there were health problems in the household & distress at having to part with the furries they are sensitive enough to pick up on it so will be interesting to see once they settle down if it disappears,lets hope so.......Quote:
Originally Posted by Zeldamum
Lovely photo of him in the sink & one of my favourite colours too,picture of girl now please.....xxx
Attachment 7236
Not a very good picture of the girl I am afraid, but I don't want to stress them out too much at the moment.
The skin problem could be stress as you say, only time will tell. I wont be changing their food in the short term until they have fully settled in which could take a month or more.
The ginger boy we were told didn't like too many cuddles, but he seems to have really taken to my daughter can climbs on her lap and snoozes quite happily. The girl is purring alot (could be trying to de-stress herself) hasn't wanted as many cuddles. Very early days yet.
We have started scent transfer now so hopefully we can let them out of the bathroom by the middle of next week without too many problems. Having 5 other cats we need to be careful.
the girl looks so much like my Neevie it's spooky! :-) good luck with all that, hope they settle OK soon - by the way what are their names?
Their colouring is very similar Alekto.
They are called Cloud and Floyd
Me thinks Cloud & Floyd have fallen on their paws & if as you say the boy has taken to your daughter like that it makes you think they were maybe loved but not accepted into their previous home.... don't be offended girls are more independant than boys & do not accept cuddles quite so quickly but bet it will come,please keep us updated,makes me want to cry.... makes me think even more that skin is stress related......xxxx
I think they were very much loved, but because their owner became very allergic to them she couldn't spend time with them. He husband had to see to the cats and they had to be kept in a separate room. The owner had been hospitalized due to severe asthma attacks which got worse over the last year or so.
I now have to be patient and not rush them meeting my own 5 cats and end up stressing them all out more than necessary.
I think you might be very surprised how quickly they would accept the others, MC's are mostly very sociable..... our first one was an adult & had never seen a dog but she came in we let her out of the basket & by that evening she was curled up with them both,was also warned that she didn't accept other cats & that is why they needed to rehome as she was an ex breeeding queen well she went on to accept five others & was the nan & mentor.....Quote:
Originally Posted by Zeldamum
It is a shame about the owner being allergic strange thing is most people who are allergic to cats are fine with MC's because of their coat texture,the son of my friend opposite could barely walk past a cat without having trouble but lived with three MC's, this is all tying in more & more with the other being sress related,they are such sociable animals & to be shut out of the way of mum would freak them out so it is great that they can now be loved again as they deserve......xxx
I agree I think the MC's will accept my resident cats very well, but its the other way round I am worried about.
One was hissing at the bathroom door last night and that's without being able to see the MC's.
Going to swap beds around later so hopefully the resident cats will get used to the MC's smell quicker.
The longer you keep them apart I find the more likely the resident ones will get more upset,they know there are others in the house & are wondering why they can't see them, the one time I tried keeping two babes apart from the others there was more upset than when I just let them get together & sort themselves out,yep if you are a breeder it has to be done that way in case of cross infection but as long as you are around to make sure things don't get out of hand the sooner the better , have a good water sprayer close by as a good squirt can very often give you the time to sort things out if it goes to far OTT or if you have one or two residents that you know are more likely to accept introduce them first rather than all full on....... have to admit though it is the worst part of bringing more furry family in but will all be worth it......xxxx
The kittens are starting to accept the MC's ok, little hissing but then it turns to growling which is a sign to separate them. My older resident cats have started fighting which is not good.
I let the MC's out of the bathroom for a roam around yesterday whilst the other cats were out of the way in the kitchen and one decided to hide in the loft! So going to have to find time to block up the loft so he can't get up there, not easy when the access is via a spiral staircase. The female MC just walked around the upstairs and then went back in the bathroom to sleep.
Groomed them on Saturday, they loved it and their fur was so soft afterwards.
