Thread: Wanting to buy a Maine Coon Kitten

Good luck tomorrow, must be exciting for you !

Thank you both!
Yes it was really exciting! But also very different from what I had expected. I am doing a lot of thinking right now...
Most of her cats were very shy, only most of the studs and two girls tried to approach me. One girl was hissing at me, hiding and tried to scratch me -seriously not only as a warning. This cat was ready for a fight OO. One boy was very greasy, I mean from head to toe. And she couldnt find any of the pedigrees.
I was interested in one girl who was really sweet and purred at me all the time as a mother for my first MC. But the breeder couldnt show me her pedigree. And one male didnt want to be touched by me but was coming to the cage and was interested. These two would be a wonderful combi for the colors I am interested in. She recently renovated her house, so that might be the reason why she couldnt find the pedigrees... But why were the cats so shy? That isnt really typical for a MC, is it? It also seemed like she is breeding them every time when they are in heat... But that is something I could have misunderstood... And she told me this year she had tree litters in one month/week?. Two at one day even. Two MC litters and one litter from the dogs she is also breeding.
She told me she doesnt test all the cats for the diseases of the breed and she doesnt test the kittens. She doesnt write a health garantee, although she does garantee to take the kitten back if she or he is ill due to a genetic defect within the first year.
She told me she will send me the pedigrees and pictures of the former litter from the boy and the girl I was interested in. I have an odd feeling. What do you guys think about this? She didnt send anything yet.
She was a very nice older woman. I personally really liked her, but there are a lot of question marks left here. She is certified though. And she did show, but she doesnt do that anymore. She knew about genetics and heidi ho and stuff that was good. She does not have a breeding goal or something though.
Maybe my picture of a breeder is wrong. I thought they have a specific goal and especially the breeders of MCs try to breed for temper, too.
I dont know what to think yet. I decided to wait, if she sends the pedigrees and pictures and then I will think about it again.
So tell me what do you all think?

I also still need to call the other breeder from Phoenix. She is actively showing her cats and seems to be very nice. She awaits a litter in September, too. I will try to call her tomorrow. Maybe I will reach her this time.

Whoa! Alarm bells ringing here. The cats should be approachable and 'couldn't find the pedigrees' sounds very suspicious. She's supposed to be a certified breeder of pedigree cats. Doesn't sound good.

If your not happy walk away now or you could be in for alot of heartbreak

I have to agree - I don't think that sounds like a good situation to get a kitten from.

All of my cats are typical MCs - very approachable and friendly even with people they have only just met. All of our kittens carry the same traits and are very friendly, in fact we often refuse to sell to homes where people are out at work in case the kittens don't get the attention they are used to.

I would keep away from this breeder and speak to the other one in Phoenix - it will be well worth the wait if you can get the perfect kitten

Louise

Thank you guys. Yes, I agree. My biggest concern was the temper of the cats... She found some pedigrees, though. But not these from the two cats. She didnt send anything yet.
I am not in a hurry at all, so I will keep looking. Lets cross fingers for the breeder in Phoenix.

I agree that this does not sound like a great breeder from what you have described, but I will also comment on temperament as I don't totally agree with some comments. It is my impression that most young kittens are usually very open to people if properly socialized by the breeder. Certainly three of the four we have gotten just immediately walked up to us and became our cats. However, one of our two males was different. Somebody that had gotten several other MCs from the breeder had him and was going to return him to the breeder as he was "too shy" and so forth. She was keeping her cats in a large kennel building (a house really) where she also raised poodles. When we went to visit, all the other cats came up to see us, but he went to hide (he was then around 16 weeks). We brought him home anyway to see what would happen and he would not come out of the carrier in the car and even did not come out once we got home. After a little while we actually had to pull him out of the carrier. This did not look at all good! However, my daughter started trying to play with him and over the course of half an hour or so he just completely changed and became a totally normal kitten. He is now a very wonderful cat, but he does remain our most sensitive cat and is easily spooked by noises. I have talked with the breeder who has his sister, and he says that she is similar. In part I think it is because he has exceptional hearing, as he hears another cat coming long before anyone else does. In terms of adult MCs being shy around unfamiliar people or not, I have to say that cats vary. Two of our four will often go right up to unfamiliar people that come over, but the other two will not and are likely to go off and hide. Different MCs have different temperaments and you should not expect all to be immediately friendly with strangers. On the other hand, I have never seen MCs behave in an aggressive fashion with strangers. It is one thing to be wary of somebody you don't know, but quite another to be aggressive. I would be concerned that the breeder is too busy to properly socialize her cats with humans.

You are right. Every cat is different. I just did not expect outgrown MCs to act shy or even that aggressive. I could oversee that maybe though, because I was just interested in the one cat that was very sweet in character. But the breeder still did not send me the predigrees nor did she send me pictures of the former litter. So I guess I can cross her of my list.
OMG it is Friday again already. I need to call the breeder from Phoenix finally. OO

I finally was able to reach Cindy, the other breeder from Phoenix. She was really nice and sound all wonderful to me! One litter is due every second, maybe there is one little show quality boy in it for me. I will try to visit her as soon as possible. To see her cattery. So far she sounds so much better than the breeder I recently visited (who -by the way- still did not send a pedigree or something).
I am excited!!!