Is Your Maine Coon pedigreed ora mutt kitty

My late Samantha was a pedigree Maine Coon and just a joy in my life.
Now that she's gone I'd like to get another MCC but my 12 year old tiny terror would go bonkers.
Any way in my dreams I've been checking out the breeders sites and all the lovely papered kitty, the price has gone up since I got Samantha in 1995, I think I paid between $200 and $250, the breeder had her cats discounted because she had 4 older kittens, three 8months old and Samantha 6 months old.
Papered kittens are now $700-$800. I know for a life time of unconditional love they're money well spent.
But I've also been checking out the rescue shelters and there's so many Maine Coons and part Maine Coons of every age and description.
I'm wondering how many people have a pedigree cat and how many have non papered kitty.

I have a pedigree :) I did however have a (non-MC) rescue kitty when I was about 10.

Pedigree and rescue. Buddys previous owner handed over all his paperwork, vets records etc. I always get rescue animals (apart from my snakes), I'm a firm believer that rescue pets really do love you more x

My boy is a pedigree and the girl I'm getting next year is actually a GCCF Champion. She is GORGEOUS! lol

We have 3 pedigree coonies and two rescue moggies, until I got the coonies I always had rescues and if a coonie or part came up I would go for it in the future. With a rescue cat it depends on the age, if you get a kitten it will be the same as any kitten. If you get a slightly older cat it may take time to come round as it may have been through the mill. One of our rescue kittens was the only surviving kitten from a litter attacked by a fox, and the other was dumped.

If you are not worried about standard or showing etc or knowing the pedigree then a rescue is fine, you can tell if its a coonie !

My four are all pedigree but as arthurwhitewhisker has said if your not showing then you could give a rescue coonie a loving home.

Ours is a pedigree. We were just going to get a regular moggie initially as that's what I'd had at home but when we were looking they were all being sold for £100 etc (I think the owners were charging that to ensure a good home but still! I got my two at home for free and £5 respectively!). We thought about looking in a rescue centre too but then we stumbled across MCs and fell in love. I don't think you'd commonly find an MC in a rescue centre here in Glasgow as they're not as popular as they are in the US. Plus, we wanted a kitten.

I wouldn't rule out a non-pedigree MC if he/she had the same sort of character. The fact Teddy's a pedigree kitten was more important to us because we felt more confident buying from a reputable breeder.

I don't think it makes a huge difference if you're just looking for someone to love! The only difference it made for us was that we had a long wait and a lot of research to do!

My MC and Somali are both pedigree although my Somali is a rehome, she lived with her breeder for 10 years but was bullied out of her home by 2 of the breeders other cats.

If I'm honest I would never own a non pedigree cat, a rehome with papers like Tabitha is fine but not just a regular 'moggie' that might be a MC or other breed I like. I'm really not a fan of moggies (looks, coat etc.) and I like to have a good guide temperament wise, I know that every cat is different but different breeds definiitly do have different characteristics. MC's and Somalis both have very similar temperaments, both very dog like and both have long coats which are my 2 main reasons or choosing these breeds.

There are a few other breeds I love like Persians, ragdolls etc but there temperaments totally put me off.

Very often the way to go is keep in contact with breeders who through no fault of their own have kittens & adults returned because of a change in circumstances,rehoming but within the breed you are interested in,our local CP has had two MC's taken to them over the last few years,none from breeders that I know because they all provide a back up service for their owners but it was great that they phoned & asked advice about them as a breed knowing that I had the odd one or two....!

Sebastian has no papers but we had him from a registered breeder,he was the only one of the litter not registered as he was born with only one eye.I think she may have thought that no one would want to pay all that money and he not be perfect,We took one look at him and thought he was!!!!

Poif is not a pedigree MC. Her Dad was a beautiful red pedigree and her Mum was an MC cross with strong MC features. As far as I can tell Poif has all the trademarks of a full MC including a lot of fluff and a very silly mischievous personality. I was offered a pedigree kitten from the same breeder but I have to say the moment I saw Poif I knew she was the one for me. As I don't intend to breed or show I don't think it will be an issue at all.

Mine are all papered up, dontcha know? But really, I only went for pedigrees because, like others have said, it's one way to improve the chances of selecting a good breeder when you don't know who you are dealing with - but at the end of the day it should be your interaction with the kittens before you choose them that makes the final decision!

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Originally Posted by Peter Galbavy

Mine are all papered up, dontcha know? But really, I only went for pedigrees because, like others have said, it's one way to improve the chances of selecting a good breeder when you don't know who you are dealing with - but at the end of the day it should be your interaction with the kittens before you choose them that makes the final decision!

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Think you might have got that slightly wrong Peter it was Welly who interacted with us & it was Welly who let hubby know that he was coming to live with us,we were still allowed to have his brother but he made sure he was front of queue when we went to visit & he was straight in the basket when we went to collect,no way was he going to be left behind,still don't think I will ever be able to double a bill quite so quickly again as on that visit to the breeders....

Fair point. You got it the right way 'round...

Maisie is a pedigree but I was so lucky to get her from a breeder as she had finished showing her . All I paid was the cost of neutering. I would have problems paying €600 knowing of all the shelter cats awaiting a home. But of course I agree that having a MC is very special.

Mufasa came from a pedigree cat rescue without papers but he is obviously all maine coon. He was only just over a year old when we got him and basically the donation covered the cost of his vet bills, care and neutering. When we decided to have a cat I was torn between rescuing (which I had always done) or buying a pedigree Maine Coon. Finding a rescue maine coon of the correct age and without medical problems was very difficult here in the UK. It took me over a year and a half to find Mufasa and when I did he had just been adopted by another family - we were very dissappointed. Luckily for us (not him) the other family got him home and that evening decided not to keep him bringing him back to the rescue the very next day! It was meant to be, we immediately offered to give him a home and he came to us a week later. He is so beautiful and a very loving boy, we never intended to have anything but a pet so his lack of papers doesn't bother us at all, we are just so pleased to have him and to have given him a safe and secure home.

My Samantha had papers and was the most wonderful, gentle loving cat I've ever know, she was drop dead gorgeous too.
There are quite a few breeders in my area and I've bookmarked their websites.
But I've also discovered through "pet finders" how many pure and part Maine Coons are in shelters and rescues looking for a second chance at life.
As much as I'd like to my current situation doesn't allow me to get another cat right now, Little Chiquita my 12 year old former stray, who barely got along with Samantha wouldn't tolerate another cat and goes bonkers when she see a cat through the window.
Also I believe as much as I'd like another Maine Coon, it would be unfair to Chiquita as she deserves to be #1 cat after being #2 to Samantha for 11 years.

Chiquita may like the chance to shine as the Alpha cat. Have you considered fostering the odd rescue cat short term to see how she copes? As a former stray herself she may be more receptive to a cat in need. You could make it clear that if she doesn't like it the fostering ends.

You sound such a loving owner, who has so much room in his heart for a furball in need of love. I truely hope that Chiquita will allow your love to be shared.

I know she isn't a coonie but I am sure I am not alone in wanting to see some pictures of Chiquita :)

My 3 are all pedigree - Sarah is not registered in my state ( we have to do it in each state) as I am not showing her ( she poops and shakes if I go more than 10 minutes from the house in a carrier ). Both Zack and Boris are registered as they are being shown. I paid the same for both Sarah with her pet pedigree and Zack / Boris with their registered pedigree and all I had to do was pay to transfer the papers to South Australia.

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Originally Posted by catslave

Chiquita may like the chance to shine as the Alpha cat. Have you considered fostering the odd rescue cat short term to see how she copes? As a former stray herself she may be more receptive to a cat in need. You could make it clear that if she doesn't like it the fostering ends.

You sound such a loving owner, who has so much room in his heart for a furball in need of love. I truely hope that Chiquita will allow your love to be shared.

I know she isn't a coonie but I am sure I am not alone in wanting to see some pictures of Chiquita :)

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Here's little Chiquita, the tiny terror.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5027/...f337f5d24e.jpg
When she sees a cat in our yard through the window she would go feral, she'd puff up and start to yowl and since she could not get to the cat outside she'd attack Samantha with intent to commit grave bodily harm, now Samantha was twice her size but like many Maine Coons she's a big sissy girl and wanted no part of this crazy cat, since I don't tolerate fighting I'd have to give her a time out in the garage.
She doesn't miss Samantha but I don't hold that against her, she's been a treasure and glows under all the attention.
From my experience former stray don't have much sympathy towards their homeless brethren, Meme the cat who owned me before Samantha was rescued by the girls in the office where I work in the shop, Meme didn't get along with the office cat and escape into the warehouse and she guarded the warehouse fiercely against any of the other strays that hung around, she's sit at one of the warehouse doors and if any stray came too close she'd charge them and run them off.
I finally took her home where she spent the remainder of her life.
This is Meme, I think she was and British Shorthair.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1244/...3271e799e5.jpg she had the most precious squeaky Meow which is how she got her name.

Benji and Storm are both pedigrees, Sooty was a good ol' mog that was the runt of the litter and nobody wanted. I would without a seconds thought pay a couple of hundreds ££'s if Sooty could come back, he was a one of a kind!

I had a rescue MC (I think). He looked like one and had the personality described in books. He was dumped at the bottom of our road when he was 5 weeks old. He was wonderful. We just lost him a few weeks ago. Last week I saw a young cat (2 months) on the Shelter rescue page that they are calling a "Maine Coon" and she certainly looks like one. So I'm going to be picking her up on Tues. after her medical workup. I have no interest in pedigrees, just want more of that charming personality that I saw in the other one. It'll be interesting to see what she's like. But however she turns out, I won't be disappointed. I'll post pics once she gets past her scraggly stray phase.