Is Your Maine Coon pedigreed ora mutt kitty

[cooncatbob]

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.

[pralinehalo]

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

[catslave]

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

[Gaara]

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

[arthurwhitewhisker]

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 !

[jopetportraits]

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

[Stacey]

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!

[Charlibob]

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.

[jckkerrison]

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....!

[Daisyboo]

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!!!!