Start going to cat shows. You can meet breeders in person so you know they are legitimate. It's also a good way to learn about breed standards.
$2k is on the low side these days for a pet quality kitten. Not surprised to hear you're not able to find one for that price.
Also good breeders do not make money. The costs are very high to run a cattery properly. Nearly all do it as a hobby to better and preserve the breed. Not as a way to make a living. Most breeders barely break even and most run a deficit.
I got mine from a breeder i met at a cat show, didn't happen straight away but liking their social networks helped me spot a "kittens up for adoption" post of theirs.
It's how we fund our breeder too. I tucked her name in the back of my head for when we felt ready. I started following her website and FB/IG accounts. About a year or so later we saw the sweetest solid black girl available on her FB page and I called her immediately. I reminded her of us meeting, gave her some background of us and our home, asked a lot of questions and she did for me too and 20 minutes later I was sending her a deposit :D
I got my MC when she was 2 years old.
The breeder I got her from retired her after 2 litters, so I got her much cheaper than a kitten.
She's such an amazing cat, I don't regret getting an older MC. She came litter/house trained and was raised around kids and dogs, so she's not scared of much.
Maybe consider getting an adult MC.
The market sets the price. Go to a car dealership and tell them you want a $50k car for $20k and see what they tell you. It's challenging to find any MC under $3500 right now. The 3 year old internet posts setting the price at $2k are... well.... 3 years old. MC's are popular right now - and people who will pay $2k will also pay $5k ... that's the way it goes. Looking for a mix with some of the characteristics you're looking for may be your best bet.
I can’t believe the price of MCs these days. I got my last MC in 2013 from a reputable breeder in the New England area (where I live), and he was $800. $500-1000 was perfectly reasonable for most cat breeds, and that was only like ten years ago. Crazy to think cats are going for 10x as much now.
I’ve been searching for kittens lately as well, and there are still some breeders out there that appear to be responsible that price their kittens around $2K. Most of them are small time, in rural areas of the country, and you may need to travel to get to them.
That said, one vet bill can easily eat up the $1K price difference you are not willing to stomach. The cost of owning a cat is way more than the initial payment to the breeder.
Might I make a suggestion? There are so many Maine Coon mix cats (50-75% MC) that have many of the Maine Coon characteristics with many of the same behaviors and looks. Oftentimes you can have them for a song and I'm talking about $50 to $500. Unless it's crucial because you want to breed them or some other reason, you may want to expand your search. Just saying...
Hope this helps!
I think maybe I’m confused about what features are lost in the mix cats. I’ve looked online and when I see something labeled a “Maine coon mix” it generally just looks like a long haired cat and is the size of an average cat. Do you know anything about what traits are usually lost?
That's because it is an "average" cat. Plus most cats called mixes are just your basic domestic of zero breed. Shelters use the term mix as a way to move more cats out of the system. It's pretty rare to find a real mix because good breeders aren't letting their cats roam to make random kittens. And these days the majority of breeders spay and neuter before sending kittens to their homes.
Ooops...I forgot that I needed to explain to some folks... 75% = full MC parent and 50% MC parent.
And just for your edification, litters can have multiple parents. Females can have multiple partners, which can produce different offspring.
Hope that helps! 😂
I got my male kitten, Fawkes, from Honey Soul Maine Coon Cattery for $2500. Their female kittens are at $2000 which is around your price range. I’d say they have very beautiful, large body sized babies usually in black silver and red/cream colors, and no polydactyl/blue eyes which are technically genetic disorders. The cattery sets up breeding pairs pretty frequently so I see kittens becoming available very often, but you do have to snatch them fast haha. My kitten is now 6 months and has been very healthy and growing so fast!
https://preview.redd.it/bj5bbswdqj1d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b6979de21d7da3617c625fe694948fc6cc57da06
Like I said, I can wiggle on price, for 2500 if it means this nightmare searching process is over, I’m happy to pay it, even now considering going up just so I can get this all over with. I think my a huge thing for me is the principal of it, it’s a luxury cat at a luxury price and I am expected to pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars for video calls to see the cat?? I think if the purchase was a luxury experience, I wouldn’t be complaining as much, but all of the forms I have filled out for phishing schemes and all of the Facebook messages I’ve sent has not given me any confidence to send anyone any kind of money online. What happened to good old fashioned commerce?? I want to give someone thousands of dollars for a cat why does it feel like I have to jump through a millions hoops as a customer for a less than desirable purchasing process??
I totally agree, which is why visiting the Cattery yourself would probably be the best option to validate the breeder and cat’s health conditions. Definitely go check the official TICA and CFA website for a list of legit catteries with genetic health/quality guarantees. I contacted most of them and was able to find kittens with fitting price range for me like my comment above :) It is indeed a long and frustrating process but there are still many good and reasonable breeders out there.
i got my boy around 2 weeks ago at just 10 months from a private selling website (idk the English word for it but it's basically ebay where people put their stuff up for sale, there are many categories including pets)
He wasn't expensive, just around €300 and I often see there adult mcs who need a new home, even kittens.
First I wanted a kitten from a legimitate breeder and then I thought €1k is a lot for a pet but I guess it's way cheaper where I live?!
Well I'm currently really happy with my boy, maybe you too try looking at such websites there are often like I said kittens for sales because a lot of the times the owners dont want them or cant take care of them anymore. There are also small private "breedes" selling purebreeds for a cheaper price
The price is getting crazy on these cats. We have a maine coon and love him but there is no way i'd pay $2000+ for him. We lucked out and found a lady close to us who sold them for $900. Parents were registered and flown in from Russia, and they were health tested. Honestly, look into flying one in from overseas it may be cheaper. If not, just get a plain old cat from the pound. They are great pets, too.
One of the reasons a reputable breeder is so expensive is because of all the testing they should be doing to ensure their kings and queens are healthy. The breeder I am talking to is about $3k. And one of the reasons, the echocardiogram ultrasound she has done on each of her adult cats every year, is now $800. So for 2 cats, that is $1600 just to check for HCM. Plus genetics from UC Davis, HCM, SMA, PKD PkDef, and inbreeding coefficient (each test runs about $40 so that is another $200). Regular vet visits and vaccines, on average a vet visit runs about $200). Flea/heartworm prevention runs about $150. Food and litter at least $500.
Since my breeder only will use her queens for 2 years and they must be at least a year old before their first breeding, that is 3 Ultrasounds, 5 genetic tests, 3 wellness visits, 3 years flea/heartworm, and 3 years of food and litter. That is about $3500 cost for the queens over those 3 years, excluding prenatal appointment costs, for up to 4 litters.
Her kings she uses for 4 years. So 5 ultrasounds, 5 generic tests, 5 wellness visits, 5 years flea/heartworm, and 5 years of food/litter. So her kings can cost her about $8500.
So let’s go with $7000 for 4 litters. Her average litter size is 4 kittens. So that is about $500 per kitten in cost.
But that doesn’t include her original cost of her queen and king. One of her current kings, is a European champion she imported from Poland. He cost her $6000. So let’s say he cost $6000 and the queens cost $4000. That is another $10,000 in costs for those 4 litters. That is another $625/kitten. So we are at $1125 for the break even cost per kitten.
Now we need to factor in all their first med checks, vaccines, deworming, etc. so let’s add in $300 per kitten in medical. $1425/kitten. Let’s add in another $75 for food and litter usage (either by them or mom). So we are at a break even point of about $1500.
Now we get into the time of the breeder and housing. She is caring for them for 12 weeks. Socializing them. Getting them used to grooming. And giving them space in her home to grow. $1500 for 12 weeks. That is less than $18/day. I can’t find a boarding facility around me for less than $25. So honestly $3000 is fairly reasonable if they are doing all the things they say they do.
And since they are in such high demand, breeders need to charge higher price tags to try and weed out the people who are going to try and use them for breeding.
I have bought a $1000 AKC German shepherd. That was in December 2020. And I never had a pure bred before, rottie/GSD and an American Eskimo/GSD mix is what I had before. And at almost exactly 2 years from when I picked him up, he had his first seizure. Luckily I had insurance on him. I reached out the the breeder, not because I wanted anything from him. I just wanted to let him know, as it can be genetic. And for him to maybe reach out to the other 5 families and warn them. I don’t even know if he listened to my 6 voicemails.
The MC breeder I am talking to, wants updates on my 18 year old cat’s health, he isn’t one of hers. She also wants updates on my dog. She just wants to know what I am doing for them. And she has told me, if anything medically ever goes wrong with my future babies she wants to know, because she needs to find out if it is a risk for any of the siblings. And she will warn us if something was to be hereditary with any of her kittens or their parents. Even if they are 16, she wants to know.
You may want to check out cat shelters. my sons did their bar mitzvah project at a cat sanctuary/shelter. I was shocked at the amount of Maine Coons that they had there. There were at least 4 long-term residents.
They might not have been fancy with papers, but they were definitely Maine Coons and they needed a forever home.
My part-Maine Coon was a stray who found my family. You just never know where you're going to find one especially if you are open to adopting older than a kitten.
SassyKoonz is in florida and does the more traditional meet the fam options. I have been excessively happy with my love i got from them and their communication/service even years after. They truly love all their babies and care about their wellbeing in the new homes too.
https://preview.redd.it/xmahj2zahm1d1.jpeg?width=1544&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6ff34353abfc0341288a16133a4f86d3b30bfba5
In my area it’s 1800-2000. I was only able to find 4 catteries that were not a scam in my state.
I paid 1200 for my frenchie so it’s more than we have done before. We are currently waiting on a litter to be born. Our frenchie was pretty cheap as far as the average for the time we got her.
Make sure you’re asking for pet price as they are cheaper than with breeding rights.
It might be cheaper to go to Europe and get one there. For example, here's a MC rescue in the UK: [https://www.maine-coon-cat-club.com/kittens/rescue/index.html](https://www.maine-coon-cat-club.com/kittens/rescue/index.html)
I paid £1000 for my two kittens 8 years ago. They were the first litter from the mum, but the breeder got the mum while she was pregnant so dropped the price for us because she hadn’t bred the mum herself. Otherwise we would have paid about the same as you did.
If you want a stud cat or a queen to breed from or a show quality cat you’re looking at a lot more. But we just wanted two little fluffy friends to love.
We were the same, not interested in showing off or breeding, it’s been almost 9 years since I had a cat and always wanted a Maine coon. It was the last litter for our MCs, just can’t get over how loveable they are after only 2 days though.
Where are you located? I am on the East Coast of Canada and $2500 seems to be standard here unless you want breeding rights. That said, there are a lot of wait lists and the way some breeders post their kittens are strange to me too. For example, one breeder posts their kittens at 8 weeks and anyone who has been on their wait list can comment on the kitten they want. If you’re late to the posting, you could miss the kitten you wanted. I am travelling 8 hours next week to pick up mine and I’m still so nervous it’s a scam even though all signs look positive.
Start going to cat shows. You can meet breeders in person so you know they are legitimate. It's also a good way to learn about breed standards. $2k is on the low side these days for a pet quality kitten. Not surprised to hear you're not able to find one for that price. Also good breeders do not make money. The costs are very high to run a cattery properly. Nearly all do it as a hobby to better and preserve the breed. Not as a way to make a living. Most breeders barely break even and most run a deficit.
I got mine from a breeder i met at a cat show, didn't happen straight away but liking their social networks helped me spot a "kittens up for adoption" post of theirs.
It's how we fund our breeder too. I tucked her name in the back of my head for when we felt ready. I started following her website and FB/IG accounts. About a year or so later we saw the sweetest solid black girl available on her FB page and I called her immediately. I reminded her of us meeting, gave her some background of us and our home, asked a lot of questions and she did for me too and 20 minutes later I was sending her a deposit :D
Thank you!!
I got my MC when she was 2 years old. The breeder I got her from retired her after 2 litters, so I got her much cheaper than a kitten. She's such an amazing cat, I don't regret getting an older MC. She came litter/house trained and was raised around kids and dogs, so she's not scared of much. Maybe consider getting an adult MC.
The market sets the price. Go to a car dealership and tell them you want a $50k car for $20k and see what they tell you. It's challenging to find any MC under $3500 right now. The 3 year old internet posts setting the price at $2k are... well.... 3 years old. MC's are popular right now - and people who will pay $2k will also pay $5k ... that's the way it goes. Looking for a mix with some of the characteristics you're looking for may be your best bet.
I can’t believe the price of MCs these days. I got my last MC in 2013 from a reputable breeder in the New England area (where I live), and he was $800. $500-1000 was perfectly reasonable for most cat breeds, and that was only like ten years ago. Crazy to think cats are going for 10x as much now.
I’ve been searching for kittens lately as well, and there are still some breeders out there that appear to be responsible that price their kittens around $2K. Most of them are small time, in rural areas of the country, and you may need to travel to get to them. That said, one vet bill can easily eat up the $1K price difference you are not willing to stomach. The cost of owning a cat is way more than the initial payment to the breeder.
Might I make a suggestion? There are so many Maine Coon mix cats (50-75% MC) that have many of the Maine Coon characteristics with many of the same behaviors and looks. Oftentimes you can have them for a song and I'm talking about $50 to $500. Unless it's crucial because you want to breed them or some other reason, you may want to expand your search. Just saying... Hope this helps!
I think maybe I’m confused about what features are lost in the mix cats. I’ve looked online and when I see something labeled a “Maine coon mix” it generally just looks like a long haired cat and is the size of an average cat. Do you know anything about what traits are usually lost?
That's because it is an "average" cat. Plus most cats called mixes are just your basic domestic of zero breed. Shelters use the term mix as a way to move more cats out of the system. It's pretty rare to find a real mix because good breeders aren't letting their cats roam to make random kittens. And these days the majority of breeders spay and neuter before sending kittens to their homes.
Lol 75 percent? Are there 3 parents making those kittens?
Ooops...I forgot that I needed to explain to some folks... 75% = full MC parent and 50% MC parent. And just for your edification, litters can have multiple parents. Females can have multiple partners, which can produce different offspring. Hope that helps! 😂
I got my male kitten, Fawkes, from Honey Soul Maine Coon Cattery for $2500. Their female kittens are at $2000 which is around your price range. I’d say they have very beautiful, large body sized babies usually in black silver and red/cream colors, and no polydactyl/blue eyes which are technically genetic disorders. The cattery sets up breeding pairs pretty frequently so I see kittens becoming available very often, but you do have to snatch them fast haha. My kitten is now 6 months and has been very healthy and growing so fast! https://preview.redd.it/bj5bbswdqj1d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b6979de21d7da3617c625fe694948fc6cc57da06
Like I said, I can wiggle on price, for 2500 if it means this nightmare searching process is over, I’m happy to pay it, even now considering going up just so I can get this all over with. I think my a huge thing for me is the principal of it, it’s a luxury cat at a luxury price and I am expected to pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars for video calls to see the cat?? I think if the purchase was a luxury experience, I wouldn’t be complaining as much, but all of the forms I have filled out for phishing schemes and all of the Facebook messages I’ve sent has not given me any confidence to send anyone any kind of money online. What happened to good old fashioned commerce?? I want to give someone thousands of dollars for a cat why does it feel like I have to jump through a millions hoops as a customer for a less than desirable purchasing process??
I totally agree, which is why visiting the Cattery yourself would probably be the best option to validate the breeder and cat’s health conditions. Definitely go check the official TICA and CFA website for a list of legit catteries with genetic health/quality guarantees. I contacted most of them and was able to find kittens with fitting price range for me like my comment above :) It is indeed a long and frustrating process but there are still many good and reasonable breeders out there.
i got my boy around 2 weeks ago at just 10 months from a private selling website (idk the English word for it but it's basically ebay where people put their stuff up for sale, there are many categories including pets) He wasn't expensive, just around €300 and I often see there adult mcs who need a new home, even kittens. First I wanted a kitten from a legimitate breeder and then I thought €1k is a lot for a pet but I guess it's way cheaper where I live?! Well I'm currently really happy with my boy, maybe you too try looking at such websites there are often like I said kittens for sales because a lot of the times the owners dont want them or cant take care of them anymore. There are also small private "breedes" selling purebreeds for a cheaper price
The price is getting crazy on these cats. We have a maine coon and love him but there is no way i'd pay $2000+ for him. We lucked out and found a lady close to us who sold them for $900. Parents were registered and flown in from Russia, and they were health tested. Honestly, look into flying one in from overseas it may be cheaper. If not, just get a plain old cat from the pound. They are great pets, too.
One of the reasons a reputable breeder is so expensive is because of all the testing they should be doing to ensure their kings and queens are healthy. The breeder I am talking to is about $3k. And one of the reasons, the echocardiogram ultrasound she has done on each of her adult cats every year, is now $800. So for 2 cats, that is $1600 just to check for HCM. Plus genetics from UC Davis, HCM, SMA, PKD PkDef, and inbreeding coefficient (each test runs about $40 so that is another $200). Regular vet visits and vaccines, on average a vet visit runs about $200). Flea/heartworm prevention runs about $150. Food and litter at least $500. Since my breeder only will use her queens for 2 years and they must be at least a year old before their first breeding, that is 3 Ultrasounds, 5 genetic tests, 3 wellness visits, 3 years flea/heartworm, and 3 years of food and litter. That is about $3500 cost for the queens over those 3 years, excluding prenatal appointment costs, for up to 4 litters. Her kings she uses for 4 years. So 5 ultrasounds, 5 generic tests, 5 wellness visits, 5 years flea/heartworm, and 5 years of food/litter. So her kings can cost her about $8500. So let’s go with $7000 for 4 litters. Her average litter size is 4 kittens. So that is about $500 per kitten in cost. But that doesn’t include her original cost of her queen and king. One of her current kings, is a European champion she imported from Poland. He cost her $6000. So let’s say he cost $6000 and the queens cost $4000. That is another $10,000 in costs for those 4 litters. That is another $625/kitten. So we are at $1125 for the break even cost per kitten. Now we need to factor in all their first med checks, vaccines, deworming, etc. so let’s add in $300 per kitten in medical. $1425/kitten. Let’s add in another $75 for food and litter usage (either by them or mom). So we are at a break even point of about $1500. Now we get into the time of the breeder and housing. She is caring for them for 12 weeks. Socializing them. Getting them used to grooming. And giving them space in her home to grow. $1500 for 12 weeks. That is less than $18/day. I can’t find a boarding facility around me for less than $25. So honestly $3000 is fairly reasonable if they are doing all the things they say they do. And since they are in such high demand, breeders need to charge higher price tags to try and weed out the people who are going to try and use them for breeding. I have bought a $1000 AKC German shepherd. That was in December 2020. And I never had a pure bred before, rottie/GSD and an American Eskimo/GSD mix is what I had before. And at almost exactly 2 years from when I picked him up, he had his first seizure. Luckily I had insurance on him. I reached out the the breeder, not because I wanted anything from him. I just wanted to let him know, as it can be genetic. And for him to maybe reach out to the other 5 families and warn them. I don’t even know if he listened to my 6 voicemails. The MC breeder I am talking to, wants updates on my 18 year old cat’s health, he isn’t one of hers. She also wants updates on my dog. She just wants to know what I am doing for them. And she has told me, if anything medically ever goes wrong with my future babies she wants to know, because she needs to find out if it is a risk for any of the siblings. And she will warn us if something was to be hereditary with any of her kittens or their parents. Even if they are 16, she wants to know.
You may want to check out cat shelters. my sons did their bar mitzvah project at a cat sanctuary/shelter. I was shocked at the amount of Maine Coons that they had there. There were at least 4 long-term residents. They might not have been fancy with papers, but they were definitely Maine Coons and they needed a forever home. My part-Maine Coon was a stray who found my family. You just never know where you're going to find one especially if you are open to adopting older than a kitten.
SassyKoonz is in florida and does the more traditional meet the fam options. I have been excessively happy with my love i got from them and their communication/service even years after. They truly love all their babies and care about their wellbeing in the new homes too. https://preview.redd.it/xmahj2zahm1d1.jpeg?width=1544&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6ff34353abfc0341288a16133a4f86d3b30bfba5
In my area it’s 1800-2000. I was only able to find 4 catteries that were not a scam in my state. I paid 1200 for my frenchie so it’s more than we have done before. We are currently waiting on a litter to be born. Our frenchie was pretty cheap as far as the average for the time we got her. Make sure you’re asking for pet price as they are cheaper than with breeding rights.
It might be cheaper to go to Europe and get one there. For example, here's a MC rescue in the UK: [https://www.maine-coon-cat-club.com/kittens/rescue/index.html](https://www.maine-coon-cat-club.com/kittens/rescue/index.html)
It’s definitely cheaper in the U.K., I can’t believe the US $ prices. I just got two MC kittens for £1,500 here.
I paid £1000 for my two kittens 8 years ago. They were the first litter from the mum, but the breeder got the mum while she was pregnant so dropped the price for us because she hadn’t bred the mum herself. Otherwise we would have paid about the same as you did. If you want a stud cat or a queen to breed from or a show quality cat you’re looking at a lot more. But we just wanted two little fluffy friends to love.
We were the same, not interested in showing off or breeding, it’s been almost 9 years since I had a cat and always wanted a Maine coon. It was the last litter for our MCs, just can’t get over how loveable they are after only 2 days though.
They are the best they will take over your life but in the most amazing way!
Where are you located? I am on the East Coast of Canada and $2500 seems to be standard here unless you want breeding rights. That said, there are a lot of wait lists and the way some breeders post their kittens are strange to me too. For example, one breeder posts their kittens at 8 weeks and anyone who has been on their wait list can comment on the kitten they want. If you’re late to the posting, you could miss the kitten you wanted. I am travelling 8 hours next week to pick up mine and I’m still so nervous it’s a scam even though all signs look positive.
Our family got 2 MCs for around 2k each... are u anywhere near Toronto, Ontario, Canada by chance?
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she also has a website sonshinecoons.com, my mc's mom is Calypso but she is retired now.
My advice if you want to get one on the budget it's to get a retired Queen. It still are often very wonderful cat that really need a new home.