Our Charming Companion-Pet Kittens

Mardi Gras' boys

KITTENS AVAILABLE

YES! We do have one kitten available.

Charlie is a brown classic tabby and white female (pictured here on the right) who is the spitting image of her mother, Jamaica. Charlie loves to play with other kitties and she is curious and loves to be in the middle of trouble. Charlie is known for her fascination for small plastic cups which she loves to carry around in her mouth (and have them cover her face). It's hysterical to watch her play with them.

THE PARTICULARS....

Our price for pet kittens is $850 to $1,000. They go to their new homes at 3 months of age or older, having received vaccinations against feline upper respiratory illnesses (URI) at the ages of nine and 12 weeks. We want the kittens to be fully recovered from their last vaccination prior to letting them leave to ensure that they will be happy, healthy and ready to explore their new homes without any further vet visitations required, however we encourage their owners to consider one last URI vaccination at 16 weeks of age if they have other cats in their home to fully finish off this series. Annual to bi-annual vaccinations are advised. We neither recommend nor encourage the use of FeLV or FIP vaccine. Neither vaccine is necessary for indoor-only cats and the FIP vaccine has not been proven to be efficacious or preventative enough to warrant its usage. Rabies vaccinations are not required where we live. We recommend that cats in homes with small children be vaccinated for rabies for everyone's protection but rabies shots are one of the vaccines more likely to cause a vaccine-site sarcoma so its usage should be limited. Ask your vet to use a rabies vaccine with a reaction free adjuvant.

We provide a written health guarantee in our sales contracts and all Coonyham cats are negative for FeLV and FIV. Here is some basic cat care information that we give to all of our buyers. Please print this information if you are getting a kitten from us. :-) Also - we cannot permit kittens to leave our home without being inside a carrier - it's for their security.. Carrying a kitten to your car or using a flimsy box is not going to work. Pet owners need to invest in a plastic carrier like a vari-kennel or kennel-cab. Medium is the best size (around 21 inches long).

We want our kittens to have long, happy, healthy lives. Although we know that some indoor/outdoor cats can live long lives, most do not. We have received many heartbreaking phone calls from pet owners who have lost their beloved pet to some preventable accident or loss because their pet was allowed outside. This has not happened to any Coonyham kittens as we have never sold one of our kittens to be an indoor/outdoor cat nor have we sold to any homes who have an indoor/outdoor cat. We have invested too much love in our wonderful kittens to bear exposing them to an uncertain and risky environment.

Declawing is also not an option for one of our kittens. Please check out this site for more details on declawing, the actual proceedure, the way to trim a cat's nails, build a great cat tree from scratch and understand why cats scratch so you understand their needs and how important keeping their claws is to their overall health and well being.

If you have ever known the pain and grief of losing a very cherished companion, then you will understand why we are so careful to keep our kittens safe from all possible sources of harm. Once you learn just how special and wonderful Maine Coons are in person, then you will understand why we seek only the very best (i.e. safe and loving) homes for these special creatures. Our pet buyers come in all ages and types - but they all love cats :-)

OUR HOME AND OUR PHILOSOPHY

Our kittens are born in the master bedroom where they stay until they are usually 4-8 weeks of age. They spend a lot of time in bed (sleeping, playing, snuggling and pouncing) and are soon professional toe stalkers. When they are older and well socialized from this daily handling (and kissing), they get run of the house (two stories).

Every breeding that we do has the potential of producing top show kittens. You can see from the photos on our web site that we have very beautiful cats and they produce very beautiful kittens with outstanding show temperaments. :-) Temperament and good health is a high priority in our breeding decisions. Does that mean that all of our kittens are show quality? No - of course not. Some are pet quality. This means that some are not suitable for showing or breeding at all. Other kittens may be outstanding in physical type but may turn out to have a color or tail fault or perhaps we feel their temperaments are not suited to withstand show stresses (although they are loving and wonderful at home). This does not happen often as our kittens are usually both very loving and supremely self-confident - a statement which is supported by our show successes (you don't have to take our word for it). :-) We feel that temperament is approximately 50% genetically inheirited and 50% environmental - so we must be doing something right! :-)

We are extremely selective about which Coonyham kittens may be shown to represent our cattery. Therefore, on average, approximately half of our kittens are made available to pet home. With some litters, we may end up selling most or all of the kittens as pets whereas other litters may be completely reserved for show alter or show/breeding homes. In addition, some kittens start out very promising but by the time they are 3-4 months old, we may notice a minor fault that we feel will prevent that kitten from being shown successfully. So, if you see a kitten you like that is reserved as a show kitten, it just might become available when it is older. Feel free to contact us as a backup on a particular kitten - and who knows.... you may just get that kitten of your dreams. :-)

SHOW ALTERS
Many callers state that they "only want a pet". There is nothing wrong with that and we definitely have pet kittens from time to time. For those folks toying with the idea of possibly showing a Maine Coon, it is not as intimidating nor as expensive as one might fear. Personally, we love show alter homes and enjoy mentoring new exhibitors (but be prepared for lots of questions, advice and information). Show alters are show quality kittens who are not sold with breeding rights. Their prices range from pet price to $1,200 and may be altered prior to purchase, depending on their body firmness or we will recommend they be altered at eight months of age. These cats are considered by us to have the potential to be competitive in the show rings and may be shown by their owners for years because altered cats look great year round (free from seasonal or hormonal coat loss and weight loss) in the championship alter class. It is important to show kittens at least three to four times from the age of 4-8 months to ensure that they enjoy cat shows. The Championship Alter or Premier class is made up of friendly and supportive cat enthusiasts who own pedigreed altered cats. Show alters are beloved pets and companions first and foremost. They just happen to go to cat shows every so often! It is a fun hobby and can be addictive. We call it "getting hooked". For the most part, Maine Coon exhibitors are a friendly, supportive, fun-loving, group of people who will welcome you. Follow the golden rule and be a good sport and you'll have a great time! :-)

Warning: Maine Coons are VERY addictive! It is very hard to stop at owning just one. Many of our kittens buyers return for a second, third or even fourth cat and don't know how they lived without them. :-) Neither do we....

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Last modified October 31, 2007