Breeding Maine Coons

The first question you should ask yourself is have you got the facilities and the time to breed these wonderful cats?
Understand these cats can have up to 12 kittens but a Queen has only 6 nipples to feed them. Have you god space for potentially a very large litter and the mother cat running around and understand the demand in the first few weeks of the kittens life. 

Then there is the stud, could you find a stud cat or want to own one? 

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Understand breeding can be very fulfilling, at times very joyous, and other times heart-breaking. (Quote from the Maine Coon Cat Club).

This is a good read and we will extract some information from this and share our own experience:

https://maine-coon-cat-club.com/breeding/about-our-club-3/

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Please read on as we will go indepth into these questions.

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Facilites for Breeding

If you have decided to breed Maine Coons this is the first step, do you have the space? Have you got safe secure area for your Queen to nest in, is one of the first steps. Thinking she can make do in a card board box with a blanket  would not cut it. Yes you will need blankets, heat pads, lights, we went as far as also putting in cameras with PTZ so if we had to step away we can monitor mother and babies. One way is to use a very large covered dog create, this would go in a low traffic, low noise part of your home.

It would need to be large enough to accomodate all the Queens and kittens needs bedding, food and water and heat and later a small litter tray.

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Once they start growing and exploring kittens will get into mischeif, chewing and climbing things they should not, so keeping them contained is hightly important. There are option to create indoor pens, however proper outdoor facilities would be the best option but these are not cheap.

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Think of all the other things you need for breeding, for example your food and litter will increase alot. Items you will need for the birth process, if you have a large litter then kitten milk powder is going to be essential.

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What to look for when picking a cat

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When choosing a Maine Coon for breeding, it's essential to consider several key factors Look for a cat with a strong pedigree and good health history to ensure the best genetic qualities. Assess the cat's, as a friendly and sociable nature is crucial for breeding success. Finally, make sure the cat meets breed standards in terms of physical traits, such as size, coat quality, and eye color, to maintain the integrity of the breed. Any breeder you go to should be open to testing.

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Should I get a Queen or a Stud first?

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First off a stud cat can be difficult to keep in your home, understand he will spray. You may find one whihc does not but this is very unusual. His spray will destroy your home, it will eat wood, peel paint and soak into concrete. Do you want your home to strongly smell of cat pee?

You would still want to spend time with him and have him in for visits and be socialable but be aware of the above.

You cannot let this cat roam your neighbour hood, he would need to go in an outdoor pen as mentioned above. The pen would need to be suitable all weather, heated in winter, cool in summer, have storm shields, sneeze barriers etc. He needs to be protected, no just from the weather but other cats, he is an investment you protect and nurtured.

Understand he will also need to see at least four Queens a year to be happy, can you mange this?

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Now for the Queen, like a stud some Queens can spray or pee somewhere so be mindful of this. Firstly if you have got a kitten she will need time to grow, with quality food given to her so she can reach her weight of around 6kg. She would need to be around 1 year old as outlined in the Maine Coon Cat club guidance however, if she has had 3 calls before 1 year of age she can go to stud slightly earlier. For those not experiece a cat on call I recoomend watching this and understand the noise:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYsH2TfJNPE
While you want to sleep she is wanting get the attention from a male suitor. However it does also continue through the day. Can you handle this is the question to ask?

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Hopefully this helps you make a decision is breeding right for you.

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Finding a Stud cat

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If you have your Queen  (or to be Queen) then you want to search for a Stud sooner rather than later. Don't wait until she is in call to start looking around. It's not a simple procress as your Queen will need to be fully tested before going to stud cat she should be tested for FeLV, FIV and perhaps FIP, JUST BEFORE she is mated. No-one want the stud or Queen to get an infection. Understand this is everytime she goes to stud. You will aslo need to understand the stud fee and any restrictions the stud may require for example you cats may only be sold as pet only.

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Be advised you may find an ideal stud but they can be at the other end of the country, are you happy to make this drive there and back a couple of times or more?

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​What happens during the birth

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So first things first 65 – 72 days with most delivering by day 67 make a note of the mating and plan accordingly. You may notice your Queen starting to look for somewhere quiet, so your pen should be setup and you need to be prepared for some long and sleepless nights. You should also have your vet on speed dial or notified in case there is an emergency, understand how long it would take to get to the vets.

 

Before continuing and this is the really bad part, the other thing to note is the mortality rate are you mentally and emotionally prepared for this. From the litter you have you need to understand that its around 80% survival rate. A worse case scenario, you loose the litter and your Queen as well...this is the heart breaking part. I have not seen this this talked about much so it here in the open now.

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So get thngs like sterile gloves, hand sanitzer, dry nights pads to lay your Queen on as things will be messy, you may need clamps for the cords, and sharp scissors. Hopefully though your roll is to be there to support her, she will give birth clean the kittens and bite the cords. The important part is the kittens get a good drink of the clostrum, understand the nipple the kittens find is the preference for the future. 

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Our advice is prepare for the worst and hope for the best, but first ask yourself are you ready for this?

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The first 24 Hours

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If things have gone well and you have not had to have the mad dash to the vets, then this is the first critical period and you are on watch. You ned to keep kitten handling to the minimum, but you may need to interject swap kittens around so they each are getting food. You will need to watch mum to ensure see does not crush any kittens by accident, and if she starts carrying a kitten off this is a sign the kitten is not healthy or she is not happy with her nest.

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You will need to ensure your kittens heat pad is keeping them warm ensure a blanket is over the pad as well as they cannot regulate there own body tempreature. ensure the heat pad is kitten specific and adjustable.

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Your new mum's deit needs to increase drastically, you want her to eat as much as possible. Some may disagree but I spoke with our vet and we mixed in kitten food with our Queens regualr food and gave her some kitten milk for the fats and calcium. 

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You need to be on 24 hour watch, if your Queen is not coping she may abandon the kittens. You may also need to be supply milk to the kittens read up on this prior to the birth so you are prepared. I recommend a sertile box, with feeding syringes, digital thermomenter, and ensure boiled and cooled water is used.

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The first 2 weeks

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This is now the critical phase you need to get through, and it will be exhausting  for both you and your Queen. Plan a system someone watches through the day and someone through the night. Have your feeding routines, understand kitten food demand will increase rapidly so you need to ensure you have plenty of supplies for both mum and the kitten if you are having to give milk. You don't want to be out of milk powder in the middle of the night, Have a supply ssytem in place, for us it was the case of when the first can of milk ran out and we open the second we ordered more. Same for mum's food and she ate alot, stock piling is good. The hormonal inbalance did effect her stomach so we had to be mindful of this.

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Scales and a notebook are important, you want to be weigh the kittens regualarly to ensure each is gaining weight, if not intervene and give them milk.

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If you get through this time with no fatalities you should be pleased, however remember the above mortality rate.

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After the first 2 weeks

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You will want regualr sleep now, however you still need to be vigilant again kittens are still vulnerable but stronger. Mum can still sit on them but they will make themselves know to her. They will be moving and crawling about eyes open, it is a time of joy and you should plan ahead for week 5 weaning. Through the weighing etc should have allowed interaction with the kittens and mum has allowed this as it will need to increase.

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Conclusion

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If you have read the above which gives real insight into what goes into breeding these and other cats and can handle the above and have the space and facilities to do so then we welcome you to the world of breeding Maine Coons, please ask us for advice. Our final thoughts though are you may  have to make some heart wrenching decisions that you would not wish on anyone and it will stay with you. The other side is you can have these beautiful fantastic kittens and cats that will provide you and the new owners with love, warmth and joy for a long time. Seeing the joy of the new owner picking and naming their kitten is heart warming.

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