The Right Queen Of My Catstle. . .

[posiepurrs]

It's great that you are excited about your breeding program, but I would highly recommend that you slow down and not start thinking about your second female before you get your first one As a breeder you will face a constant temptation to add exciting new cats to your breeding program, but you must resist the temptation or you will be rapidly overwhelmed!!!!!

Show your male and your first female, and watch how they develop. Handle other peoples' cats, watch other peoples' cats develop, talk to other people and learn as much as you can. See what you get in your first litter. Whether or not you keep anything for yourself out of your first litter, watch your first kittens develop, at least to young adulthood, and see how they turn out. After that, you will have a bit more information about your first male and female, and clues about what they can produce. That in turn will give you clues about what you might need to add to your breeding program with your second female.

As you said, there are lots of beautiful Maine Coons out there. There will still be lots of beautiful Maine Coons out there after your first litter grows up

Wise words!

 

[MistyDawn]

I agree with you for the most part. There are exceptions. I will be seeing my new kitten for the first time the day I pick her up from the breeder. However, this is a breeder I've known for years and have seen many of her cats at shows, including the sire of my kitten.

Before I got my first aby I had seen him at show and then went to visit the cattery before I took him home.

Yeah, Alaska's breeder, I'm close with. I haven't known her for an extremely long time, but I know her well enough for her to trust me. I trust her. So if I see a cat that suits what I'm going for come from her, I'll prioritize buying from her (if they're the same sex as Leska or unrelated, of course). The breeder that bred my first queen is someone she knows, so I'm networking in this circle and forming ties, planting my roots. This will help in the future.

It's great that you are excited about your breeding program, but I would highly recommend that you slow down and not start thinking about your second female before you get your first one As a breeder you will face a constant temptation to add exciting new cats to your breeding program, but you must resist the temptation or you will be rapidly overwhelmed!!!!!

Show your male and your first female, and watch how they develop. Handle other peoples' cats, watch other peoples' cats develop, talk to other people and learn as much as you can. See what you get in your first litter. Whether or not you keep anything for yourself out of your first litter, watch your first kittens develop, at least to young adulthood, and see how they turn out. After that, you will have a bit more information about your first male and female, and clues about what they can produce. That in turn will give you clues about what you might need to add to your breeding program with your second female.

As you said, there are lots of beautiful Maine Coons out there. There will still be lots of beautiful Maine Coons out there after your first litter grows up

Very wise. Thank you for the sound advice. I plan on moving to a bigger home which will make a better facility for both rescue and breeding (getting a two story 3 or 4 bedroom house with a basement -- it's gonna make life so much easier!) and since I need to be open for some rescue kittens, I don't even want to breed Ophelia for the first time here. I won't start actually breeding until we get the new house at the end of this year. We'd have it already but my husband has to have been a private contractor for two years for us to buy a home. Them's the breaks. So, don't worry, we have space already limiting us from further expansion, if we wanna keep adopting out babies. Even after we get our house, we are going to wait to buy another cat so we know what kind of features we need to be adding to our kittens. I know that what we're doing is almost like French braiding, except some strands are better than others and you don't need to braid them all lol. We're going to be careful and deliberate. I've already written our mission statement, and that is to perform art with alleles, combining science and art in a cascade of infinite wonder, hopefully to spread beautiful kittens with our genetic signature on them, like a signed painting, across the planet, from Ann Arbor, MI, USA, to Zhangjiagang, China.

 

[MistyDawn]

Oh, and I said I'd update you on how Alaska is shaping up. I'll take some full body pics tomorrow. I know he is showing third eyelid here, but it's only because these were taken napping in the truck on the road. I woke him up. If I didn't strategically wait for nap time to get the camera out, I'd never get a still photo, as he's usually climbing seats or us.

 

[Thestarcatcher]

Oh, and I said I'd update you on how Alaska is shaping up. I'll take some full body pics tomorrow. I know he is showing third eyelid here, but it's only because these were taken napping in the truck on the road. I woke him up. If I didn't strategically wait for nap time to get the camera out, I'd never get a still photo, as he's usually climbing seats or us.

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Just wanted to let you know I follow this thread religiously! I love Alaska and I love your optimism and breeding plans, it’s so inspiring! I’ve read every word! Lol

 

[MistyDawn]

Just wanted to let you know I follow this thread religiously! I love Alaska and I love your optimism and breeding plans, it’s so inspiring! I’ve read every word! Lol

Thank you! That means a lot to me. The reason for my optimism is that Alaska's parents, especially his father, are strong breeding cats, and both are the object of envy of many a European MC aficionado. He is the spitting image of Dad, but bigger and blue eyed, with a bigger and more well shaped muzzle. In short, I believe in him. I believe he's got what it takes. I bought him as a pet. This wasn't my plan. He grew more and more beautiful, and I realized he had something you don't see even in many European males, even ones straight from Russia. I'm very proud of him and can't wait to see what his first show brings. I doubt he will do much at his first show. I think he won't really catch a ton of attention til he hits two years.

More photos of him for your kind words.

 

[Thestarcatcher]

Thank you! That means a lot to me. The reason for my optimism is that Alaska's parents, especially his father, are strong breeding cats, and both are the object of envy of many a European MC aficionado. He is the spitting image of Dad, but bigger and blue eyed, with a bigger and more well shaped muzzle. In short, I believe in him. I believe he's got what it takes. I bought him as a pet. This wasn't my plan. He grew more and more beautiful, and I realized he had something you don't see even in many European males, even ones straight from Russia. I'm very proud of him and can't wait to see what his first show brings. I doubt he will do much at his first show. I think he won't really catch a ton of attention til he hits two years.

More photos of him for your kind words.

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He looks like a fierce snuggle bug! I love him! You will succeed I know it!

 

[MistyDawn]

Thank you! Your words of encouragement really mean a lot to me.

 

[MistyDawn]

Holy moley, could you imagine if I bought this cream queen and bred her to Alaska? Just compare the facial features. You would get some amazing kittens. Why couldn't I have been born rich? lol. She is lacking in the lynx tips department, but we could breed that back in.

 

[Thestarcatcher]

Holy moley, could you imagine if I bought this cream queen and bred her to Alaska? Just compare the facial features. You would get some amazing kittens. Why couldn't I have been born rich? lol. She is lacking in the lynx tips department, but we could breed that back in.

She is the true definition of LIONESS . What a gorgeous girl! I would say that the lack of lynx tips are worth the coloration, but then again I’m no breeder or involved in showing quite yet