Opinions And Insight: Maine Coon Breeders

[mcguy]

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?

Hey I am no expert in MC looks, I just know what I find attractive and I know from looking at many MCs what most MCs in US look like (plus I have read the various breed standards). I looked at Congocoons again (photos have changed) and I looked at Spellbounds for the first time. I would say they have a similar sort of look, with slightly taller ears and broader muzzles (particularly on the males). In fact, though, many of the Congocoons cats look perfectly "normal" to me and there are certainly some very attractive cats there; just a few that stand out as unusual looking. Several of the Spellbounds cats have some of the broadest muzzles I have ever seen in MCs. I don't find this attractive, but this is a purely personal thing unless you want to show your cat perhaps. Here is a link to some guides to the MC standards with photos that I have found helpful in seeing what a MC is "supposed" to look like: Maine Coon Seminar. I note that the CFA standard for example says: “Length and width of the muzzle should be proportionate to the rest of the head and present a pleasant, balanced appearance.” With a number of the Spellbounds cats, when I look at them all I see is muzzle. That is not "pleasant and balanced" looking in my opinion. But maybe you are not looking for pleasant and balanced in your MC.

As for prices...in US most good breeders are charging around $800 (w/o any shipping). I know some of the better known breeders charge more like $1000-$1300. There are also a few that charge $2000 and up ($2500 is the highest I have heard of).

[BasedBumi]

^^

Ok, do me a favor if you will and tell me what you think about the breeder below.

Maine Coon Kittens index

[candes]

Wowza, the prices! Ok, I know I got a bit of a favor, but mine was $700 and flown to my city with the passengers. My original local breeder whose litter was one shy for my third male pick, charges $550 without delivery.

Anyways, if your prefer the unusual MC than I say go for it. The problem is that it looks like you will have to get them from a breeding factory. And how is the temperment of them (which is normally sweet). Since one thing is off, so could other things. Besides the fact that they won't be handled and interacted with as much. The human interaction is the reason to go with a small time breeder.

If you want the exotic look, perhaps a Bengel woul be nice? Have you looked at them? A bit too active for my family, but sooo beautiful.

[mcguy]

Wowza, the prices! Ok, I know I got a bit of a favor, but mine was $700 and flown to my city with the passengers. My original local breeder whose litter was one shy for my third male pick, charges $550 without delivery.

I don't consider $700 vs. $800 a big difference--that is within the reasonable range. Many breeders also give discounts for repeat customers as well. $550 though is quite cheap. Last time we looked, the only people selling around that price were not terribly serious breeders (e.g., did no health testing, many litters, etc.) $800 may sound like a lot to many people, but consider that these breeders are doing things like having an echocardiogram done by a vet cardiologist each year for each breeding cat and then not having more than one or at most two litters per year from the females. So several hundred dollars for the echo, plus vet visits during pregnancy and for the babies, the babies first shots, etc. Sometimes they end up with only two or even just one kitten from a breeding. No, they aren't making money off this at $800/kitten and the only way breeders can be selling for around $500 is by doing no health testing or having an unhealthy number of litters per year from each female. Besides, over the cat's lifetime, a $200-$300 difference in initial price is going to amount to very little. If you cannot afford that difference for a cat with better health testing, then you probably shouldn't buy a pure breed cat, as good quality food isn't cheap and vet bills can be quite staggering. We spend more than $100/month just on food for our four MCs, for example.

[BasedBumi]

Hey NC, I think I may have found my solid blue stateside. The cats of the cattery have the more standard look, they're shown, and the cats located in Kentucky.

Do you mind scanning over it and telling me what you think?

Maine Coons Of Ven

[candes]

I don't consider $700 vs. $800 a big difference--that is within the reasonable range. If you cannot afford that difference for a cat with better health testing, then you probably shouldn't buy a pure breed cat, as good quality food isn't cheap and vet bills can be quite staggering. We spend more than $100/month just on food for our four MCs, for example.

$700 included my kitty being delivered to my local airport as a passenger, not cargo.
This woman cares so much about the kitties, that she flys them to their new homes personally. I met her at the airport.

And don't assume that price has anything to do with testing. And it was not polite to suggest this. And my breeder is also treasurer of the Great Lakes Great Maines organization. GLGM is a cat club devoted to the health and welfare of Maine Coon Cats. And belongs to all the clubs, coucils, associations etc...

We HCM and SMA screen. Our males and females are heart screened at one year of age and each year thereafter. Kittens are guaranteed Felv/Fiv negative and are guaranteed to be free of bacterial diseases and free of parasites. The kittens will go home with two sets of immunizations for Feline Rhinotrachetis-Calici-Panleukopenia. The kittens will be wormed and certified healthy by a veterinarian.etc...

Our cattery does not cage our cats. They are our pets as well as breeding cats. Kittens are raised underfoot with love from our entire family.

Is a small home cattery, consisting of four breeding females and two breeding males

[BasedBumi]

I know you all prefer the more American look(that's what I call it because cats from overseas differ greatly in my opinion), but the wild look of the catteries from overseas looks magnificent in my opinion. They very closely resemble Bob Cats.

[mcguy]

Hey NC, I think I may have found my solid blue stateside. The cats of the cattery have the more standard look, they're shown, and the cats located in Kentucky.

Do you mind scanning over it and telling me what you think?

Maine Coons Of Ven

Looks pretty reasonable from quick look. At least mentions some health testing. I see there is a solid blue kitten from 8/15. Probably worth a phone call (I would call since a number is given).

If you want to see photos of our four (which I think are all cute MCs), here are a number photos: Picasa Web Albums - normancarver - Cats 2010. Check out the photos of Bella on her birthday, outside and by the lake. Breeder liked them a lot as Bella looks so "feral."

[mcguy]

And don't assume that price has anything to do with testing. And it was not polite to suggest this..

I have talked with a pretty large number of breeders over the last several years as we have bought four MCs and there definitely was a connection between price and health testing. I never found a single lower cost cat (<$700) where the breeder was doing echos. Not one! Some claimed to do the HCM gene testing but many had never even heard of that. So unfortunately this is what my experience talking to probably 20 breeders tells me one should expect from $500 vs. $800 breeders. Of course just because people are charging a lot more doesn't necessarily mean they are doing testing either, because most of the high priced breeders are able to charge that price because of their winning lines that are in big demand. I think its great that you found somebody actually doing health testing and selling for <$800, but I think that is going to be very unlikely for most people. My point about the money was that if somebody says they would pay $500 for a kitten but not $700, in the long run that $200 difference is going to be nothing compared to the lifetime expense of the cat. So if you are actually getting something for your money (like yearly echos of the parents) then I don't find the extra cost unreasonable. Buying a kitten should not be like shopping for an appliance on the Internet, where you just search for whoever has it for the absolute cheapest price and buy. I frankly do not see how your breeder can afford to sell kittens for $700 if she is spending several hundred on air fare to deliver each one. So after air fare and other travel costs she made only maybe $400 on the kitten, and it had to have two vet visits and shots, and the mom had probably some vet visits during pregnancy, and the mom had an echo done this year ($200-300 minimum), and food for the kitten for 3 mos and food for the mom, and of course she has had to pay for the inevitable large vet bills for some medical problem with her breeding cats, etc. You got quite a deal, I would say! I know that our main breeder, who charges $800 for her kittens, is losing money on the kittens. Heck, she paid for an echo for one of our MCs when a vet misdiagnosed it as having HCM because she was worried about continuing to breed the mom. She paid for a necropsy to be done on another one of the cats she had bred that had died suddenly at a young age to again rule out HCM. I can pretty much guarantee that people selling kittens for $500 are not taking steps like this to ensure the health of their breeding lines.

[BasedBumi]

Looks pretty reasonable from quick look. At least mentions some health testing. I see there is a solid blue kitten from 8/15. Probably worth a phone call (I would call since a number is given).

If you want to see photos of our four (which I think are all cute MCs), here are a number photos: Picasa Web Albums - normancarver - Cats 2010. Check out the photos of Bella on her birthday, outside and by the lake. Breeder liked them a lot as Bella looks so "feral."

Your cats are gorgeous, some of the best I've seen. Do you breed your own, or did you get them from a cattery?