Potential buyers of our Maine Coon kittens very often ask us the same questions.
We decided to answer the most common of them. We will gradually add and update this information.
Is it possible to have a Maine Coon if there are small children in the family.
Maine Coons are surprisingly good-natured and sociable cats. They are friendly to everyone - cats and dogs, sometimes rodents and birds. And, of course, to a human. Many Maine Coons are fond of small children, they can walk behind them with a tail, as if protecting the child. We know many examples when a child grew up along with a Maine Coon from birth.
We have small children in our family, and Maine Coon kittens learn to communicate with them in the cattery. However, there is a BUT! The child himself should know how to communicate with the kitten. It is important for parents to explain to the baby how to treat the kitten correctly, what can and cannot be done. And it is better to show it yourself, on your example: this is how we take a kitten, this is how we put it on the floor, we do not drag the kitten by the tail and do not beat it. Learning from the example of the parents' attitude to the kitten, your baby will understand what is good and what is bad in relation to the Maine Coon kitten. If you are ready to teach and show your child an example, there will be no problems in the relationship between the Maine Coon and your baby.
What documents do you give together with the Maine Coon kitten?
The main document confirming that you are buying a real Maine Coon is a pedigree issued by the club of one of the feline systems. You can read more about this here. The presence of a pedigree indicates that the breeder complies with the rules of breeding, and the kitten is registered in the club. In addition to the pedigree, each kitten from our cattery has an international veterinary certificate (veterinary passport). It notes what vaccines the kitten was vaccinated with, what was treated for parasites, its name, gender, age, color and owner's data. Upon request, the kitten can be tested for the carrier of hereditary diseases or viral and other infections.
When selling each Maine Coon kitten, we conclude a purchase and sale agreement, which specifies all the data of our cattery, the terms of sale of the kitten, as well as the rights and obligations of both the Buyer and the Seller.
Kittens breed and pet - what does this mean?
Many of you have seen that this or that kitten can be sold as a pet or in a breed. But many of you don't know what that means. Pet (Pet) and Breed (Breed) are classes of kittens, if you want, the level of their quality. Each of the cat breeds has its own standard-a set of characteristics that describe a particular breed. The standard describes the proportions and structure of the head and body, the structure and quality of the wool, and many other characteristics. Maine Coons also have their own standard. In brief, the standard is what the perfect Maine Coon should look like. Breeders strive to get such kittens that would meet the Maine Coon breed standard as much as possible. If the kitten does not have external anatomical defects, such as a tail crease, overshot or undershot, etc., and meets the breed standard, such a kitten is assigned a Breed class. It means that it is possible to use this kitten in breeding and get offspring from it. For a Pet class kitten, its participation in breeding is excluded. This may be due to minor deviations from the standard, for example, the kitten has small ears or the breeder simply does not want anybody to reproduce his cats' gens. Here we must remember that the division between Breed and Pet class is very subjective and conditional and depends a lot on the breeder's view of the breed.
For some reason, many people believe that a pet class means a defective kitten, or, even worse, a disabled one. Of course, this is true at all. Sometimes the difference between a kitten of a breed and a pet class is simply not visible to a potential buyer, so subjective are the factors that affect the definition of a kitten's class.
At what age are your Maine Coon kittens ready to move to a new home?
Maine Coon kittens of our cattery grow with us up to 3 months of age. This is due to both the period of adaptation and socialization of the kitten, and the schedule of vaccinations. By this time, a kitten is completely ready for an adult and independent life away from mother's cat and brothers and sisters. He knows how to eat solid food, use a tray and a scratching post. He has learned the rules of communication with cats and humans. Also, by 12 weeks, the vaccination of the kitten against dangerous viral diseases is completed.
