Hi, if you're buying a Maine coon kitten, is there any way to know that it'll grow up as a beautiful cat? I mean with long ruff, big body, etc. If its parents are of good quality, would it guarantee that he'd turn out well?
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Help buying maine coon kitten
- Thread starter dan138zig
- Start Date
Pedigree papers from a reputable breeder is the only way to be sure.
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- #3
No, you have to rely on the breeder's knowledge of dominant and recessive genetics. That is why BYB have so many failures that end up in the shelters or dead on the streets.
The only things in life that are certain are death and taxes. Even if you buy a promising kitten from the very best breeder it might not turn out looking as you wish, so my advice is to get and adult rescue instead - then you know what it's going to look like. Remember also there is a difference between winter & summer coats.
lt's the same question l asked myself when buying my last cat.
What l did was select a couple of breeders online who were close enough to drive to visit. l checked their breeding cats, their online pedigrees, and any pictures of their past kittens. l also joined their Facebook pages and looked at pictures posted of adult cats (sent in by their current owners) to see how the offspring of certain pairings would grow up.
l had a definite image of the cat l was looking for and made a deposit for the next mating of a certain pair of cats. While nothing is foolproof, l got exactly what l was looking for.
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- #7
OK, so I visited one of the certified maine coon catteries in my town. My questions:
1. They have 5 available kittens and 2 of them have furs that are recognizably longer than their siblings. Is it safe to say that these two will probably have longer coat also than their siblings as adults?
2. Does longer muzzle mean a "better" maine coon or is it just a matter of taste?
3. The parents of these kittens were born locally, only the parents of the parents (do I make sense) were imported. So essentially these kittens have one generation gap from the imported ones. Now I didn't have a problem with this, until someone told me that imported ones or at least their litter are of better quality than the locally-bred ones. Is there any truth to this? I mean, what difference does it make if a maine coon is bred in maine as compared to another country? The price is indeed more expensive though.
4. How to determine whether a maine coon is breed quality or not? What should I look for? What will happen if I breed pet quality maine coon? Is it even allowed?
5. Is there any way to determine a kitten's future temperament or is it always a gamble? FYI their dad is a lap cat. He climbed on my lap and purred right on the spot!
Thanks!
1. They have 5 available kittens and 2 of them have furs that are recognizably longer than their siblings. Is it safe to say that these two will probably have longer coat also than their siblings as adults?
2. Does longer muzzle mean a "better" maine coon or is it just a matter of taste?
3. The parents of these kittens were born locally, only the parents of the parents (do I make sense) were imported. So essentially these kittens have one generation gap from the imported ones. Now I didn't have a problem with this, until someone told me that imported ones or at least their litter are of better quality than the locally-bred ones. Is there any truth to this? I mean, what difference does it make if a maine coon is bred in maine as compared to another country? The price is indeed more expensive though.
4. How to determine whether a maine coon is breed quality or not? What should I look for? What will happen if I breed pet quality maine coon? Is it even allowed?
5. Is there any way to determine a kitten's future temperament or is it always a gamble? FYI their dad is a lap cat. He climbed on my lap and purred right on the spot!
Thanks!
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- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #8
If you want to breed the cat you buy be up-front with the breeder, and prepare to be told no. Anyone breeding pedigree cats should be involved in the show scene, and the usual place to start is with a show neuter.
Maine Coons are prone to HCM and breeding pet-quality kittens can increase the changes of their kittens having this.
BTW how about putting what country you are in on your profile? And telling us where the imports were imported from?
Maine Coons are prone to HCM and breeding pet-quality kittens can increase the changes of their kittens having this.
BTW how about putting what country you are in on your profile? And telling us where the imports were imported from?
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- #10
Well, I guess in my country the rule is not implemented tightly because if you buy a pedigree cat here you are rarely asked whether you want to breed and the cat is rarely neutered. The imports came from various countries, I don't remember all but one of them is Netherlands.
The psyche of the father is quite important for the psyche of the kittens. More than one thinks. Ask also, how he was as a stud. Know what to do but also friendly with the female?
Locally or imported. This is most important for serious breeders, who do count their descendants will also be used in breeding programmes. For pet breeders, whose kittens will typically be neutered as soon practically possible, not so important. And it seems you do want to be a serious breeder. Locally breed got sooner or later to be more or less inbreed, if not the breed is very big with a big gene pool, and good use of studs "across the field".
So the easiest way to start afresh is by importing.
This is the most important aspect of imports.
Another one is of course, if you want to change the type somewhat, so you import good representants of the new type.
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- #12
Inbreeding here is if they had too many ancestors in common. One several generation ago is fine, but not much more. Ie, the same cats shouldnt apperar on the pedigrees of them both, more than perhaps once. There are exact tabels and percentages, afficionados knows them. 
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- #14
