Hi. My partner and I have recently gotten two Maine Coon kittens with the intention to breed them when they are old enough, they are registered Active with TICA. We’ve done all the research into breeding and everything we need and wrote down costs and necessities like insurance that will cover pregnancy complications, all necessary health checks and everything else regarding the wellbeing of the Queen and kittens. This will be our first time breeding and is our first time having Pedigree cats, before now we’ve only ever had moggies and have fostered some cats with their kittens but never had a room fully dedicated to that. Anyway, we plan on using our spare bedroom as this breeding room/the room for Mum and kittens and so far we’ve taken the carpet out so the floor can be easily cleaned and stripped wallpaper to just have paint on the walls again for cleanliness. We won’t be breeding them for at least another 7 months so we have plenty of time to get everything we need but I’m just wondering what we need in the room for Mum and the kittens if anyone could help with recommendations on how to make it perfect for their needs.
OliviaCats03
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Yeah they’re not related of course! Both from different breeders and not related at all, the female is 7 months old while the male is 3 months old, we got them at different times just so they wouldn’t both be reaching sexual maturity at the same time. We have written down all of the necessary health tests and also have the history of genetic testing for the parents of both our cats too
When Mum is in season/heat either her or our male will be locked in the spare room until she’s actually at an age/size where we are happy to let her get pregnant. I’ve always loved Maine Coons but never been lucky enough to own one they are gorgeous!
I raised my kittens in the living room so they grew up with normal household stuff around them. I am in a quiet house though as I live on my own. I used a cardboard box with fleece for kittening, and put up a low barrier round the kittening box when they were first walking. Later they got a large plastic dog bed
I always had a kitten room (my spare room) without anything the kittens could hurt themselves on. I had a wooden box with vetbed on the base and a curtain on the front on the floor beside my bed and I slept in the room for their first few weeks. I did have a very large cushion in front of the box to stop them venturing too far until they were old enough (comfy for me too when I was with them!)
I had a 2ft high wooden board across the door so the mother could come and go at the beginning but obviously that had to go when they started being more active and the door had to be shut.
Then when I allowed them out of the kitten room I was always able to supervise to make sure they were safe because they can get into all sorts of trouble.
However all this presupposes the sire is not present. I agree it is not really feasible to have the boy around the girl and anyway, stud pee is terrible even if he uses the tray. There is no guarantee that will be the case. (I did once have a boy who was infatuated with one of my girls and thought all her kittens were his even when he had been neutered but he was the exception rather than the rule.)
About to post the above when I saw your last post. Most studs are kept outside. They need more than one queen to keep them happy so breeders usually have visiting queens which are not feasible in the house.
Edited to say I did a couple of times but on those occasions I had a room for the boy and the visiting queens and it was only for a few visits before I neutered them. They were never meant to be full time studs.
I had a 2ft high wooden board across the door so the mother could come and go at the beginning but obviously that had to go when they started being more active and the door had to be shut.
Then when I allowed them out of the kitten room I was always able to supervise to make sure they were safe because they can get into all sorts of trouble.
However all this presupposes the sire is not present. I agree it is not really feasible to have the boy around the girl and anyway, stud pee is terrible even if he uses the tray. There is no guarantee that will be the case. (I did once have a boy who was infatuated with one of my girls and thought all her kittens were his even when he had been neutered but he was the exception rather than the rule.)
About to post the above when I saw your last post. Most studs are kept outside. They need more than one queen to keep them happy so breeders usually have visiting queens which are not feasible in the house.
Edited to say I did a couple of times but on those occasions I had a room for the boy and the visiting queens and it was only for a few visits before I neutered them. They were never meant to be full time studs.
cats are induced ovulators, the act of mating stimulates ovulation.
being in heat just makes them more receptive to the male.
and the females who advertise themselves. Or females getting titchy in heat when they’re previously gotten along.
Breeding cats aren’t as easily kept as neuters are. Why a good, experienced mentor is needed.
also not unheard of ‘familiarity breeds contempt’ in regards to a couple living together then never producing kittens.
If you keep your stud cat in the house there is a very high chance of him spraying anywhere and everywhere. Once they start itsnot something you can stop or control them doing and it stinks and its not a smell you can mask and your house won't be a n8ce place to live in for you or family , some girls also spray when in season. Some studs can also become aggressive if they are frustrated wanting to mate and with an unreceptive girl not on call could end up with nasty fights causing damage to both of them. It's not easy keeping a stud.
You've been given some pretty good advice above from people who have been breeding cats for a long time. As a someone with my own experience of many years breeding pedigree cats I can foresee trouble down the line here.
Firstly, when you decide to start breeding any animal, be it cats, dog, horse, fish, you need to stop thinking of them in purely 'pet' terms. I'm not saying they aren't pets, because they most certainly are, but the way you manage and house them will differ significantly from how you'd manage and house a pet only animal. As stated above, you simply cannot keep an entire adult male cat in your house, because he will destroy it. The queen will probably give it a good go too, but the studs really, really stink.
As far as I am aware only one UK insurer will cover for breeding, and that's Agria. However .... unless they've recently changed their policy the first litter is not covered so you must make sure that you have put aside the considerable sum you will need to find should things go wrong, check with your vets what their out of hours charges are, plus what their charges are for caesarean, emergency spay and also treatment of pyometra, which I can guarantee you will come across at some point in your breeding career. If you haven't done so, you need to insure the cats now, not once she's pregnant as that's simply too late.
You need to get both cats genetically tested for blood type, Maine Coon HCM, Pyruvate kinase deficiency (PK Def) and Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) as an absolute bare minimum. Despite having your MCs DNA tested you should also have HCM scans performed on a regular basis (some breeders will scan yearly, others biannually). While these tests are not a cast iron clad guarantee that the cats a disease free at least you will be doing everything in your power to ty and breed healthy animals.
I agree that you urgently need an experienced and reliable mentor to guide you because while breeding pedigree cats can be good fun, it isn't all sunbeams and rainbows and I for one am very glad I had a good mentor during my formative years as a breeder.
Firstly, when you decide to start breeding any animal, be it cats, dog, horse, fish, you need to stop thinking of them in purely 'pet' terms. I'm not saying they aren't pets, because they most certainly are, but the way you manage and house them will differ significantly from how you'd manage and house a pet only animal. As stated above, you simply cannot keep an entire adult male cat in your house, because he will destroy it. The queen will probably give it a good go too, but the studs really, really stink.
As far as I am aware only one UK insurer will cover for breeding, and that's Agria. However .... unless they've recently changed their policy the first litter is not covered so you must make sure that you have put aside the considerable sum you will need to find should things go wrong, check with your vets what their out of hours charges are, plus what their charges are for caesarean, emergency spay and also treatment of pyometra, which I can guarantee you will come across at some point in your breeding career. If you haven't done so, you need to insure the cats now, not once she's pregnant as that's simply too late.
You need to get both cats genetically tested for blood type, Maine Coon HCM, Pyruvate kinase deficiency (PK Def) and Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) as an absolute bare minimum. Despite having your MCs DNA tested you should also have HCM scans performed on a regular basis (some breeders will scan yearly, others biannually). While these tests are not a cast iron clad guarantee that the cats a disease free at least you will be doing everything in your power to ty and breed healthy animals.
I agree that you urgently need an experienced and reliable mentor to guide you because while breeding pedigree cats can be good fun, it isn't all sunbeams and rainbows and I for one am very glad I had a good mentor during my formative years as a breeder.
I read the ManyPets article on pregnancy:
"If you have a pet insurance policy with us, we can help cover complications relating to your pet's first pregnancy after 6 months has passed from your policy start date. This cover is available on our Regular, Pre-existing, MoneyBack, Complete and Fixed for Life policies.
<snip>
Please note that we will not be able to provide a policy for your pet if they are used for breeding."
"If you have a pet insurance policy with us, we can help cover complications relating to your pet's first pregnancy after 6 months has passed from your policy start date. This cover is available on our Regular, Pre-existing, MoneyBack, Complete and Fixed for Life policies.
<snip>
Please note that we will not be able to provide a policy for your pet if they are used for breeding."
I am not a breeder. I couldn’t do it. I have Maine coons as pets and love them so so much. They are just amazing. I always thought I fancied breeding but knew that because I love my animals so very much and they become part of my family that I would find the process incredibly hard.
Keeping a stud cat outside and not as a “pet” indoors would be so stressful and upsetting. I think you do have to view the animal differently during the process.
Keeping a queen and her having to go through the painful mating/s (it is extremely painful for the girls) then risk things not going to plan with the pregnancy. And worse potentially losing her as a result of something I initiated I simply couldn’t live with.
Cats don’t need to be mothers or indeed fathers. It is our choice to make them so not theirs.
Then of course the risk of losing kittens and making sure you don’t get too attached when you finally have to give them away. I knew that I would never find owners who would provide the sort of home I would want. They would just never be good enough.
We have so many kittens needing rescue and people irresponsibly breeding for profit or for a hobby/fun just doesn’t sit well with me.
The ONLY moral reason to become a breeder in my eyes is to want to continue striving for a healthy pedigree cat line. And provide healthy animals for those who wish to experience the joy of (in this case) Maine coon ownership.
I agree that you need to be somewhat emotionally unattached to do this properly. It’s why I couldn’t do it.
Please consider keeping both your new MCs as neutered pets indoors which would be a lot less stressful and much more fun for them both,
Keeping a stud cat outside and not as a “pet” indoors would be so stressful and upsetting. I think you do have to view the animal differently during the process.
Keeping a queen and her having to go through the painful mating/s (it is extremely painful for the girls) then risk things not going to plan with the pregnancy. And worse potentially losing her as a result of something I initiated I simply couldn’t live with.
Cats don’t need to be mothers or indeed fathers. It is our choice to make them so not theirs.
Then of course the risk of losing kittens and making sure you don’t get too attached when you finally have to give them away. I knew that I would never find owners who would provide the sort of home I would want. They would just never be good enough.
We have so many kittens needing rescue and people irresponsibly breeding for profit or for a hobby/fun just doesn’t sit well with me.
The ONLY moral reason to become a breeder in my eyes is to want to continue striving for a healthy pedigree cat line. And provide healthy animals for those who wish to experience the joy of (in this case) Maine coon ownership.
I agree that you need to be somewhat emotionally unattached to do this properly. It’s why I couldn’t do it.
Please consider keeping both your new MCs as neutered pets indoors which would be a lot less stressful and much more fun for them both,
we breed to preserve and maintain breeds, having 1-2 pet litters from your ‘pets only’ serves no purpose at all. Unless perhaps money from selling kittens
We are all hobby breeders, and hobby show goers.
Many also more involved as volunteer committee or club members as we care about the cat fancy as a whole not just a litter of cute kittens.
I would suspect neither of the 2 breeders who so willingly handed over breeder rights have no intention of mentoring.
All the more reason to attend shows and network, to find that person who’ll answer the phone at 2am with your first litter.
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