We've Been Accepted On A Wait List With Our Preferred Mc Breeder!

[sivyaleah]

Finally, we heard back from our much preferred Maine Coon breeder and we are on their extremely long wait list for a kitten! Or, if we decide otherwise, possibly a retired adult - we'll see as the wait list is nearly 2 years out from now. Possibly less if we aren't being too specific in our desires but right now we are in no rush, as our older cat is in his declining years, in ill health and we are not even thinking about adding another cat to our house at this time with the condition he's in as it wouldn't be fair to his overall well being. His sister is more than enough for him at the moment.

We're extremely excited to say the least. I've been following this breeder for at least a year on social media and out of every other one I've found they topped the list for care, standards, appearance and honesty when things go wrong (which they sometimes sadly do). And, the breeder also happens to be a very talented photographer which sure helps market the cats lol.

Anyway, even though it's a long way in the distance I'd like to know when the time comes what we should be looking for/asking when we get to the point of actually picking out from a litter. We will be able to request a specific color once they announce which male/female they will be breeding and will be given the opportunity to pass on matings if the potential colorings from that mating aren't what we are looking for. At this time we don't really have color in mind - we are more interested in overall behavior and appearance regardless of color; so facial features for instance are higher on the list for us (sturdy strong muzzle, high pointed ears with good tufts, etc).

We will have to go to the breeder to p/u the cat - they absolutely do not ship which we think is a good thing. They want to meet us as much as we want to meet them so it sounds like it will be a road trip or long weekend via plane for us at that time. Again, gathering info for travling with a kitten would be useful along with anything we would need to know in advance to find out from the breeder that may not have been already passed along to us - although, their website and all other social media have been incredibly open and honest much more so than any other I've seen thus far.

Thanks in advance. Don't know how we are going to manage the next 2 years lol!

 

[GoldyCat]

Some of the questions to ask will depend on whether you plan to show the cat or keep him/her at home as a pet.

 

[lutece]

Generally with a breeder you trust, you'll want to tell them everything about what you are looking for in a kitten (whether you want to show the cat, what sort of temperament you prefer, what you are looking for in terms of appearance, etc.), and then let them help you select a kitten. They'll probably be able to evaluate their own young kittens better than you can. If they have several kittens that they feel meet your requirements, then you can choose from those.

I'll just add that even if you don't think you want to show your new kitten, you do sound like you may be the sort of buyer that might like to try showing, since you are thinking about specific features mentioned in the breed standard. Neutered / spayed cats can be shown in the class for altered cats (in CFA it's called Premiership). If you might possibly like to show your kitten, you will want to talk about that with the breeder in advance, so that they can help you select a kitten with both looks and temperament that would be suitable for shows.

As far as traveling with a kitten, if it's a long trip it might be easier to fly, but you can make it work either way.

 

[sivyaleah]

Some of the questions to ask will depend on whether you plan to show the cat or keep him/her at home as a pet.

Pet only

 

[sivyaleah]

Generally with a breeder you trust, you'll want to tell them everything about what you are looking for in a kitten (whether you want to show the cat, what sort of temperament you prefer, what you are looking for in terms of appearance, etc.), and then let them help you select a kitten. They'll probably be able to evaluate their own young kittens better than you can. If they have several kittens that they feel meet your requirements, then you can choose from those.

I'll just add that even if you don't think you want to show your new kitten, you do sound like you may be the sort of buyer that might like to try showing, since you are thinking about specific features mentioned in the breed standard. Neutered / spayed cats can be shown in the class for altered cats (in CFA it's called Premiership). If you might possibly like to show your kitten, you will want to talk about that with the breeder in advance, so that they can help you select a kitten with both looks and temperament that would be suitable for shows.

As far as traveling with a kitten, if it's a long trip it might be easier to fly, but you can make it work either way.

Thanks for this. Pretty sure we won't be interested in showing even as pet quality. We're too lazy lol. And getting up in years too; by the time we finally get the cat we'll be past 60. Flying and renting a car probably will make the most sense I guess. They are in the mid-west and we're in the northeast.

 

[GoldyCat]

Pet only

In that case you'll probably want to concentrate on personality more than conforming to the breed standard.

 

[British Girls]

Congratulations! I'm so happy for you! We will be waiting with you!

 

[sivyaleah]

FYI if anyone can point me to a good website which has a possible color predictor for kitten I'd appreciate it.

The breeder has asked us to input the preferred male/female parents and their entire lineage is listed on the website so I'm able to backtrack and see everything about them, and they will consider if those 2 adults match up for good breeding or not (i.e. for instance making sure there is no inbreeding or extremely low incidence there off).

For now, I put in their 2 all black male and female and their 2 of their all white male/females (one is odd eyed which we like). We can always change it as time gets closer which is good because suddenly last night my husband told me he *might* like another Tortie, which I'd be thrilled to have.

I was able on my own to play around with the site to add/remove various adults and can see those percentages myself - one mating resulted in a 25% possibility so I nixed that combination but the site doesn't have a way to effectively predict what color kittens might turn out from the mating. I know a tiny bit about genetics from reading things on this site but not enough.

 

[lutece]

What percentages are you talking about? Inbreeding coefficients?

Here's a basic cat color predictor (I don't guarantee it is completely accurate, as I haven't played around with it):
Cat Coat Calculator — Sparrow's Garden

But it's not so complicated to do this kind of thing in your head if you learn about the color genes that the breeder has in their lines. Here's a PDF slide show with a summary of feline color genetics:
http://www.bioinf.uni-leipzig.de/Leere/SS15/TheoB/CatCoatColor.pdf

Solid white cats can be tricky, since the dominant white gene can mask any other color, so it can be a bit of detective work to figure out what color those cats are "under" the white.

Feel free to post information on the possible parent cats here; there are plenty of people here who enjoy figuring these things out

 

[sivyaleah]

What percentages are you talking about? Inbreeding coefficients?

Here's a basic cat color predictor (I don't guarantee it is completely accurate, as I haven't played around with it):
Cat Coat Calculator — Sparrow's Garden

But it's not so complicated to do this kind of thing in your head if you learn about the color genes that the breeder has in their lines. Here's a PDF slide show with a summary of feline color genetics:
http://www.bioinf.uni-leipzig.de/Leere/SS15/TheoB/CatCoatColor.pdf

Solid white cats can be tricky, since the dominant white gene can mask any other color, so it can be a bit of detective work to figure out what color those cats are "under" the white.

Feel free to post information on the possible parent cats here; there are plenty of people here who enjoy figuring these things out

Yes, the white is the problem! I was looking back at their lineage and wow, so many types of other coat colors! From black, to various tabby colors, calicos, etc. So yes really tough to decipher the eventual results. I think, however, we might nix the white anyway because we've learned white fur is a real issue in our home as it stands out on everything LOL. We are both covered in it from Casper since he's bi-colored and with a large amount of white. All black seems to be our preference with tortie a very close second.

Thanks for those links - I'll take a look at them for sure.

 

[sivyaleah]

What percentages are you talking about? Inbreeding coefficients?

Here's a basic cat color predictor (I don't guarantee it is completely accurate, as I haven't played around with it):
Cat Coat Calculator — Sparrow's Garden

But it's not so complicated to do this kind of thing in your head if you learn about the color genes that the breeder has in their lines. Here's a PDF slide show with a summary of feline color genetics:
http://www.bioinf.uni-leipzig.de/Leere/SS15/TheoB/CatCoatColor.pdf

Solid white cats can be tricky, since the dominant white gene can mask any other color, so it can be a bit of detective work to figure out what color those cats are "under" the white.

Feel free to post information on the possible parent cats here; there are plenty of people here who enjoy figuring these things out

Oh and I forgot to add...I will post the possible parents when we narrow them down for sure! I'm just a bit hesitant at the moment to share too much unless I'm certain I'm allowed to although I guess it's all on their website so it shouldn't really matter. I know I'm being sent a link to their members only area - but so far haven't received it. That area I probably am not allowed to share.

 

[lutece]

For Maine Coons, if both parents are solid black (not black smoke) and not carrying dilute, you would expect a litter of solid black kittens.

If both of the solid black parents carry dilute (blue), the kittens could be black or blue.

 

[sivyaleah]

For Maine Coons, if both parents are solid black (not black smoke) and not carrying dilute, you would expect a litter of solid black kittens.

If both of the solid black parents carry dilute (blue), the kittens could be black or blue.

Thanks lutece Both are as solid black as I've ever seen. Mesmerizingly so.

 

[NewYork1303]

This is so weird to me. In dogs puppies for pet homes are chosen by temperament, not by color. And waiting 2 years for a puppy is fairly standard in a lot of breeds.

Congrats on getting on the list!

 

[sivyaleah]

This is so weird to me. In dogs puppies for pet homes are chosen by temperament, not by color. And waiting 2 years for a puppy is fairly standard in a lot of breeds.

Congrats on getting on the list!

I think it's harder to judge a kitten's personality than a puppy. Dogs tend to be so friendly and gregarious overall so when you see one that is more laid back or more aggressive it's way more noticeable - they seem to more personality driven than cats when young. Cats, at least it seems to me, are more even across the board in behavior when young. Some might be more reactive with their facial expressions, perhaps that's the way to gauge temperament with them? Perhaps that's why color tends to override personality when picking one out?

 

[lutece]

I think it's harder to judge a kitten's personality than a puppy. Dogs tend to be so friendly and gregarious overall so when you see one that is more laid back or more aggressive it's way more noticeable - they seem to more personality driven than cats when young. Cats, at least it seems to me, are more even across the board in behavior when young.

I would disagree... I find that kittens vary a lot in temperament. Every one is an individual, and I place kittens in homes accordingly. It can be tricky to predict adult temperament based on kitten behavior, unless you're familiar with the bloodlines involved and how they develop. But I think that also goes for dogs.

 

[sivyaleah]

I would disagree... I find that kittens vary a lot in temperament. Every one is an individual, and I place kittens in homes accordingly. It can be tricky to predict adult temperament based on kitten behavior, unless you're familiar with the bloodlines involved and how they develop. But I think that also goes for dogs.

I still have a lot to learn!