Help finding good breeders

Hi everyone,

Firstly I'd like to say I have seen the lists of breeders but would still appreciate help :)

I live in Tyne and Wear and unfortunately there aren't many MC breeders around here that I am aware of. That is why I'd like your help. I would really appreciate your personal recommendations. In an ideal world I'd be able to visit lots of different breeders but because of where I live I don't have to travelling time or expense so I'd like to try and narrow my choices down to maybe 5 who I can research more fully as I don't want to fall into a trap of getting a kitten who is fully registered etc but who's breeder isn't exactly "ethical" and who only breeds for money.
I don't want to know of breeders who you *wouldn't* go through as that could just open a whole can of worms, but of breeders who you have personally dealt with and who you know breed happy and healthy cats. Thanks in advance.

Have you looked at the breeder list on the Maine Coon Cat Club website? It is divided into areas of the country so might help you to select breeders close to you.

I know its a bit of a trek from where you are, but we got Casey our Silver Maine Coon from Jan Lake of Silvalake Maine Coons, she is based Wolverhampton. She was fantastic from the start, we were looking for a Silver male kitten, she sent us pics of him but also of a red one as well, just to tempt us lol.

We arranged to go down to Wolverhampton to meet with her (we live in Lincoln) and we met everybody, all the kittens available, all the queens, the studs, the parents of Casey the lot, we were there for hours. Over the last year we have never lost contact with Jan, we regularly email photos and any questions we've had have always been answered. She even helped me with a course I was on this year whereby I was doing a talk on Maine Coons. We are off there again in a couple of weeks time to meet our new boy "Billy Blue" a red one and looking forward to meeting the full family all over again. You are not allowed to visit with your new kitten until they've had their first vaccinations and you can't take your chosen kitten home until they are 16 weeks, Jan emails you regular updates and photos and when you take your new baby home you leave with a full registration card detailing the history/pedigree of ancestors and the cats registration documents and a kitten pack. She has a website, its well worth a look - good luck with your search!

Thanks so much for that, it is exactly what I'm after :) I don't mind travelling to find the right breeder, it's just that there are SO many to choose from that I don't have the money to visit them all, as much as I'd love to do and I'd hate to end up with a breeder who was in it for the wrong reasons as it's so easy to register a pedigree name but it doesn't mean you have the ethics. I will go and have a look at the website now. X

Can I also suggest Elmcoon in Barnsley - excellent!

hi Donna - I'm also in Tyne and Wear! I got mine in Stoke on Trent so a bit far but wanted to send you a :hello: ;-)

Hi :)

Nice to know there are other Maine Coon enthusiasts in the area :)

My cat will be indoors as I'd hate to lose him like I did with some of my other moggies (hit and run) as I've heard MC have particularly bad Road sense.

Hi,
i replied to the other thread about Elmcoon, but have a look at Fellisafe cat fencing too - our two have free, safe access to the garden and no other cats can get in. It's made Sidney's life a lot fuller and he's easier to live with if he's worn out chasing leaves! (Or chasing Ava...)

Hello, I've registered after lurking for many months! I've got 4 coonies and I second what Weasel has said about Elmcoon. I recognise little Ava - she's adorable. :)

She might be adorable but she is farting like a curry-hound!