[Heather2mc]

My cats were both "shipped" from a different state. They were taken to the airport in a cat cage - put on a plane and I picked them up at the airport my end. Sarah came over with no problems but Zack had a fiasco of some sort and ended up cutting his mouth and was sick and stressed so a vet trip and some treatment later he was fine. I figured 1 1/2 hours on a plane would be better than 7 to 8 hours in a car. I would have been stuck if he had lost the plot on a long drive.

[Howlinbob]

Poor Zach! I feel sorry for them having to go through an ordeal like that, but I'm in the UK so we don't have these long distances to deal with. I was very lucky to find a breeder just 20 minutes' drive away, and even that was bad enough when we went to get Larry - he cried all the way home in the car, with me talking to him all the time and giving him my fingers to sniff. Our breeder shows her stud cat, but won't drive for more than 1 hour with him in case he gets too stressed out.

[Rum Tum Tugger`s Mommy]

Thank you all for your comments! *hugs*

Yes, to ship a cat means to put him or her in a plane and fly it over. A lot of breeders don`t ship their cats. I prefer breeders who don`t ship their cats. But Alabama is far away and I really love the look of the Congocoons. The breeder of Congocoons did not answer yet. If I end up buying from her, I will try to drive there myself and pick the cat up. Shipping is my last choice...

CCarver that was really totally helpful! Thank you so much!!!
Yes I am concerned with Congocoons a little, too, because they don`t seem to do shows... Suncoons seem to be perfect so far, since I even will be able to visit them. I will check out the link from Los Angeles, too. There would not be a problem to drive to Los Angeles, too. I will take a look, if I like the look of the LA cats. Thank you again!

Edit: I was looking at http://lapurrd.com, right now! Thanks for the link! Yes, they are beautiful! I filled out the contact form. I was hoping for some more information at the webpage, but I will ask the breeder in personal then. Thank you!

[NCarver]

We got one MC kitten that was shipped (via plane). Much more stressful for us waiting and worrying than it apparently was for the kitten. We got the carrier in the car, opened it, and out he popped as if nothing at all unusual had been going on. However, I would generally prefer not to put a kitten through that. There also is an added expense for shipping of course--though driving hundreds of miles isn't going to cost nothing, to say nothing of keeping a young kitten cooped up in a car for hours and hours.

It is true that LAPD does not have much info on their website. You can see on their "champs" page that they have a large number of I.W.S.G.C. (international winner, supreme grand champion) cats. No idea what the asking price of their kitten might be, nor how easy to get one. The woman that bred two of our MCs has gotten cats from LAPD and they now have one of hers. Since she is a very conscientious breeder, I know that LAPD must be very good. Our breeder's site is Maine Coon Cats of Chemicoons of Illinois* - This site requires Java but she is in Chicago now (plus no available kittens any time soon).

One potentially important thing I realize that I forgot to mention is that in the US, most top MC breeders will not sell you a kitten if you intend to allow it outside unsupervised! The sale contracts will spell this out and may even say that you can be made to forfeit ownership if you fail to follow the contract requirements. Certainly any health guarantee will be void if you lie and let the cat outside. So if you are buying a MC that you intend to be an outside cat, you may have a hard time finding a good breeder willing to sell to you.

[Rum Tum Tugger`s Mommy]

Thank you NCarver for the information about the breeder. I hope they will write back soon. I don`t care about the cost, as long as I get a healthy wonderful MC.

Thanks for telling me about the outdoor-rule. I read it too at many breeder sites. And I am totally fine with that. I don`t want my $1000 cat go outside and stolen by a neighbor or eaten by a coyote anyways. My other cats were first allowed to go into my yard when I was with them, but I stopped that as I learned about the rattlesnakes, coyotes and black widows in this area. OO Although there is a big wall around the whole yard at least black widows find their way into it anyways. I don`t need that kind of stress right now. LOL

edit: Wonderful breeder by the way. Thank you! I will contact her, too.

[Scrapdragon]

Gryfn was 'shipped' too... and he was the first kitten the breeder had shipped.
Even though we're in the same state, it's still a 7-8 hour drive whereas the flight was only 1.5 hours. That's a big difference.
And Gryfn came through fine... not a problem. and settled in really quickly.

[Rum Tum Tugger`s Mommy]

Thanky you Srapdragon.
Your reports make me feel better about letting my cat ship to me.

[Rum Tum Tugger`s Mommy]

Ok I have a question: I am waiting for a week now for the breeders to contact me again. The only! one out of four or so, whom I contacted, that wrote back two days later, didn`t contact me again since then. Although she wanted to talk over the phone with me and we wanted to make a "phone date"... Another breeder stated on her page she would contact back within 48 hours. Now four days later still no mail from her...
So is this normal? And how long shall I wait until I fill out the forms again and /or write them again?

[NCarver]

I would contact each again. Especially this time of year, though, people might be away for a week. Sometimes they just get busy too. I have had breeders contact me right away and I have had some that have never responded. Frankly, I always called if a phone number was provided, as my experience with most "regular people" is that they are not good about reading and responding to email.

[Rum Tum Tugger`s Mommy]

Ok thank you NCarver! I just didn`t want to annoy them or something. Some breeders I found only want you to contact them via their forms. I will contact them again via mail today. But I will call the others tomorrow, when the weekend is over.