A step-by-step guide, from the first decision to choosing a cattery
Cats live 15–18 years. That's a long commitment: regular feeding, grooming, vaccinations, flea and worm treatments, vet check-ups. For a Maine Coon, add a yearly heart scan.
A kitten is like another child in the family: it needs not just food but a cat house, a scratching post, a carrier and toys.
Make sure nobody is allergic to cats. Giving back a kitten that has already bonded with the family is hard on everyone, and hardest on the kitten.
Breeds differ in temperament and lifestyle. Go to a few cat shows and listen to the judges in the rings.
Think about your working hours and lifestyle.
Before buying a pedigree kitten, think about a shelter. Huge numbers of animals need help, and their gratitude knows no bounds. Shelter animals are usually already vaccinated and neutered.
Good cats are never cheap. Buying a kitten from a cattery gives you a guarantee of quality.
Street pet markets, people selling by the metro, ads on dubious websites. A cat without documents and a pedigree is not a pedigree cat, whatever the seller says.
A cattery with a real address where the cats live. Not just a name, but a place you can visit.
The hardest part is choosing a cattery you trust. Once you have, recognising your kitten is easy.
Visit the cattery in person. Meet the breeding cats and see how they live. The right kitten will climb into your arms by itself.
"Once you've chosen the cattery you'd like a kitten from, recognising yours is easy: it will come to you by itself."
Before you bring a kitten home, think hard about whether you can look after a cat. Cats live 15–18 years on average. That's a long time, and you are taking responsibility for the animal for all of it. Throughout those years it will be a member of your family, and you will be the one responsible for it. Choosing a Maine Coon means feeding it, grooming it, keeping its vaccinations up to date, treating it for fleas and worms, taking it to the vet when needed and getting the necessary check-ups done. A Maine Coon needs a heart scan every year. All of that costs money.
Be honest about your budget. A kitten in the family is like another child, and it costs money. Having a Maine Coon kitten means more than feeding it: it needs a proper home (a cat tree, a carrier, mats, beds, toys…)
Choosing a kitten is a big decision.
If you've made the decision, start by choosing a breed. Go to a few cat shows. Watch the rings. Listen to the judges describe the Maine Coon and other breeds. It will help a lot with choosing a kitten.
Different cat breeds need different care, feeding and grooming. They also have different temperaments.
British Shorthairs usually keep to themselves. They are calm and self-sufficient.
Maine Coons are the opposite: they need as much contact with their owner as possible. They are companions and find it hard to be left alone for long.
When choosing a breed, take your working hours and lifestyle into account.
Think about your family's health. Is anyone allergic? If you choose a kitten and then discover an allergy, you'll cause a lot of sadness, for yourself and for the kitten, who may already have got used to you and come to love you. And then it's given back. It will hardly understand what it did wrong… It used the litter box, the flowerpots are all intact, it never swung on the curtains, climbed on tables or broke vases… It's still a baby, and for it this is a trauma. Probably for you too.
The decision is made, nobody's allergic, the budget is there…
Or maybe take a kitten from a shelter? Huge numbers of animals need help. Their gratitude will know no bounds…
Shelter animals are usually already vaccinated and neutered.
Think about this question too, and answer it for yourself.
If you do want a pedigree cat, understand that it will cost a certain amount. There are no miracles, and good cats aren't cheap. Buying from a cattery gives you a certain guarantee of quality. Don't buy cats without documents, at street pet markets, from people by the metro or through ads on dubious websites. A cat without documents and a pedigree is not a pedigree cat, whatever the sellers tell you.
The best decision is to buy a kitten from a cattery. Not just any seller who calls themselves a cattery, but a real cattery in the literal sense: a specific address where the cats live. You need to choose the right Maine Coon cattery.
When you're choosing a kitten, the hardest part is choosing the cattery. Once you've chosen the cattery you'd like your kitten from, recognising your kitten is easy.
It will climb into your arms by itself.
Have a look at the kittens available at Home in Raksi