white maine coon on back mouth hanging open with feather stick

Some Maine Coon breeders will say to get a Maine Coon Stud boy first, while some will say to get a girl first. I don’t know if there’s technically a right or wrong answer, but I can share my experience with you which might help you decide. Remember, I’m no expert but I can take you through a vault of emotions that drives me to write this post.

My breeding journey started around March 2017. I started talking to a well-known breeder about becoming a breeder. She was willing to mentor me, as long as I only dealt with breeders that she approved of.  The more I talked to her, the more I decided against working with her.  I just didn’t like the vibe I was getting, so I cut my ties with her.  I’m glad I did! Since then I’ve discovered that her cattery has experienced some health issues.  Back then, I didn’t know much about properly vetting breeder cats or checking their health history.

Will a Maine Coon Stud Spray in the House?

In September 2017 – Omega, my white solid boy came home. I was still on the fence about breeding because I didn’t have any girls. My biggest concern was where to house a male in the event he was a sprayer. There were so many questions in my mind that it just wasn’t definitive enough for me to move forward. Not at this time. I was SO CLOSE, but just not there yet.

To make a long story short, I altered Omega. I SHOULDN’T have done that! At the time, I felt a little ragged around the edges and maybe even a little uncertain about what my next step was. He’s turning out to be such a gorgeous guy and would’ve made an awesome Maine Coon stud. But once he was neutered, I had immediate regret.  It was too late. This was most likely the first mistake I made as a Breeder.  Not one that caused any damage though. He makes a wonderful pet, however, and I wouldn’t trade him for the world!

That still left me without a Maine Coon stud.

maine coon stud
HissyFit Coons “Omega” – Our Altered Solid White Male

Which Comes First, the Boy or the Girl?

It wasn’t long after that I got everything situated in my head.  Something clicked in my head and in my heart, and I started to move forward with intent.

I started looking for a female Maine Coon with breeding rights.  If you’re a new breeder, then you already know the challenge of finding a breeder in the United States that will allow breeding rights. So I started looking is Europe.  That’s when I found Catsvill County’s Ursula Olegavna! She became my first Maine Coon Queen. She was imported at the age of 6 months and started her life here with me at Sassy Koonz Maine Coon Cattery.

In my case, the female Maine Coon came first!

female maine coon
Catsvill County’s Ursula Olegavna – Our First Maine Coon Queen

Time started speeding up and before I knew it, Ursula was in heat! Every three weeks like clockwork, she was cycling.  But I still didn’t have a boy for her.  I started to get a little nervous since I’ve heard about girl getting Pyometra if they cycle too many times without being mated. Starting to feel desperate, I started asking breeders if I could use their boys as a stud for her just one time. This isn’t an easy feat.  There’s either breeding restrictions on their cats, or there’s just too much risk for them allowing a cat into their cattery. Not to mention I’m a new breeder and I have no reputability yet.  What a challenge!

Meanwhile, I’m scouring the internet looking for a Maine Coon stud to add to my program for the future. I’m so concerned with the health and vitality of my cats, that none would suffice. Time isn’t on my side though, so I needed to stay up all night until I found a kitten that would be my Maine Coon Stud, that met the breed standard who was healthy.  Persistence paid off and I found my male Maine Coon “Illuminati”.  Just a baby, he’ll need time to grow and mature into a producing adult.   But at least I found him and he passed all of my health and breed standard vetting.

Black smoke Maine coon male stud illuminati
SIRE: Illuminati [Retired]

The Maine Coon Breeder That I’ll Never Forget

Everything happens for a reason.  The diligent quest to find a Maine Coon Stud for Ursula paid off. A Maine Coon breeder who is very special to me allowed me to mate Ursula with one of her gorgeous males. <3. To protect her privacy, I won’t post her name here. Once the pregnancy is confirmed, I’ll be posting a photo of him though. 🙂 And this beautiful lady will always have a place in my heart for so many reasons. I tell her I love her at least once per week, so she already knows this.

I think it’s important to develop relationships with other Maine Coon breeders.  It’s a very small and tight-knit group of people.  It’s not easy to break into, and they’re not a very welcoming society.   If you’re sincere in your efforts and promising in your desire to be a reputable breeder with good intent, then you’ll find the few wonderful people that you can look forward to having a relationship with for a very long time. 🙂

To Sum Things Up: Get Your Maine Coon Stud First!

To sum things up, the worst feeling that I’ve had about this experience so far is not being independent.Having to depend on other people isn’t the best feeling in the world.  Not having my own boy to mate Ursula with made me feel like a real shmuck. Since I made the decision to get the female Maine Coon before the male Maine Coon, it left me in a predicament.  My girl was cycling every 3 weeks, with no boys in sight!  That kinda sucks I’m not gonna lie.

Had I gotten the Maine Coon Stud first,  I would’ve had the choice as to WHEN I mated her and WHO I a mated her to. My feeling of helplessness would’ve been non-existent. It sounds so dramatic for a reason. This situation kept me awake many nights in a row.

For all of you new or aspiring Maine Coon breeders out there, get your boy first!  Learn from my experience that a girl in heat that’s ready to be mated isn’t good for the heart or soul. 😉 My male Maine Coon is now at home and settled into his Sassy Apartment fully equipped with sofas, bathrooms, kitchen, and window seats.  By the time Ursula (or any of my upcoming girls) are ready to be paired, he should be ready to go.

Are you Excited About Our Maine Coon Kittens?

We hope that you’re as excited about Sassy Koonz Maine Coon Kittens as we are!  Now that we have a boy, things should move along pretty smoothly. If it doesn’t you’ll certainly be able to read about it right here on the Sassy Koonz blog!

If you’re interested in becoming a breeder subscribe to my blog so you can keep up with updates. I’ve just begun my journey, but I’m hoping to be able to help new breeders now and in the future make informed decisions.  I’m certain to make mistakes along the way.  You’ll be able to learn from my mistakes and do well!

Thinking about Breeding Maine Coons? I recommend that you take this online training course. Other than PawPeds, which has a very long wait, it’s the only interactive and highly informative training course on the internet. It’s called The Complete Guide to Breeding Pedigree Cats. It undeniably covers ALL of the basics that you should know before you ever consider becoming a breeder.

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27 Comments

  1. it sounds like your journey into breeding has been an up and down road, with you now gettinto that smooth stretch of road. If I would have been closer to you, and of course had breeding rights myself, I would have offered use of one of my two boys, as Freedom and Warlock are both still intact males ? I wish you the best, and look forward to your future Coonie babies ?

  2. I am looking for a female Main Coon with breeding rights. Do you have one? I really don’t want a male. Years ago I had a male and he sprayed in the house. I had to rehome him. I loved him. I was raising Himelayans at the time. Pure breed with papers, so I had to use a friends male. I gave him his own room, he was not happy. I never wanted to cage a cat. I rehomed him to lady who had whole house and didn’t care if he sprayed.

  3. I have a question. My name is Derek Aby. I live in Indiana. I’m 100% sure That my Roxy kitty is 100% Maine Coon. But how do i go about finding that out? she is a female when just went into heat for the 1st time yesterday! I am going to wait to breed her till she is 2 almost 3 just so that i know everything is how it should be with her. And she is my Baby not a Cash Machine !!!!

  4. I agree, finding a breeder that you can get breeding rights from is crazy. I’m not past going overseas, however and scared of not getting scammed. What is the best reputable International breeders that you have seen so far?

  5. Thank you for this information. I found it very helpful although I just put a deposit down on my female with breeding rights last night.
    After reading your blog, it sounds like I’ll be in a similar boat as you down the road. I didn’t realize it would be so difficult to find a male to use as a stud later.
    I’m glad things worked out for you in the end. Do you have any tips for me to begin connecting with others now to find a male for our girl when the time is ready?

    Thank you so much.

    1. You should start looking for a male now. That way you’ll also have a boy ready when your girl is ready. 😉
      You can complete my breeder application if youre interested in one of my kittens.

  6. Sassykoonz

    I am looking for a male with breeding rights and registered to breed to my female f3 Savannah she has already had three kittens they were all healthy but saw the Maine Koon Savannah mixes and they are stunning she is fully registered and is from a great line if you are interested or know someone who is I could do a first pick and am willing to travel my email is [email protected]

    1. I would never breed my Maine Coons to another breed. My goal is to preserve and improve these beautiful cats. ❤️

  7. Hello! I am just starting my journey and I am looking for my first Maine Coon with breeding rights. I am a second year veterinary nursing student and would love to follow your journey, exchange experiences and possible purchase one of your babies!

  8. How do you keep males from spraying the house? This is a big concern of mine regarding this process

  9. Aloha Tracy, thanks for the insight. I have learned so much from your blogs and site. And thank you for the Sensei link, just started it and I’m gaining knowledge. Make me 2nd guess if I want to get into breeding. Time will tell once I learn more. Thank you…

  10. Hello Tracy, thank you for being willing to help others who share your love for maine Coons. I’ve collected and breed many exotic fish, birds & dogs in my life and told myself i will finish with maine coons. Although i wont be ready for another 3-4 years im a researcher and planner. I love your cattery! I never had kids of my own so my pets are my kids loved & spoiled. My question for you is would you be willing to help me find a stud & 2 females when ready? I dont mind getting either the stud and females from you if they are from different lines. I will definitely take the classes you reccommend. I just want the 3 coons then once they get older we can all retire….lol…..I will follow your blog.

  11. I grew up with my mom showing Persian and Himalayan’s as a child but once I saw the maine coon breed m y heart was forever set on raising some beautiful babies. I am now 35 and have finally purchased my first stud from Spain. He is now about 7 months old and I just adore him. He is black silver tabby. I am wanting to purchase a female but also wanting someone to mentor me a little on how to go about becoming a reputable breeder. I would love if you could help me with this. I have kept up with a lot of your posts over the past few years on researching for my male.

  12. I have 18 month old sisters with breeding rights for one. I didn’t realize it would be so difficult to find a one time stud. I was going to let them have one set of kittens and then fix them. Any ideas on how to approach that?

        1. NO, thats really challenging. You literally have to know someone REALLY well and trust each other to borrow someone’s stud.

  13. HI Sassykoonz. I have a quesiton! Are Maine Coons colony cats are do the boys and girls need to be seperated until it is time to breed? Thank you!

  14. Hi!! It’s horrible you had such a hard time looking for a good guy. I would have been devastated! which has brought me to this Very important question. By No means do I want to be a breeder for profit. I have always rescued in the past and kept my first litter and fixed my kitties soon after. This is because I felt like I would always have my special girl and her family with me long after he times comes. Which breaks my heart if I am not allowed to mate my Maine coon to have one healthy litter💔. In my heart he is with me but knowing I have his or her babies with me brings the joy and love I can’t explain. I know it sounds crazy. Which makes me question how the heck breeders obtained breeding right to begin with and charge so much. Say my Main-Coon lives a healthy loving long life and passes naturally.. now I have to repurchase from a breeder again 💔. I absolutely feel at lost because I totally agree that breeding should Not be anbused and I hate the idea of Mills. I am just conflicted with this idea of breeders keeping the breed so tight knit and charging so much. Just trusting to understand what to do💔.

    1. One of our jobs as breeders is to protect the breed, making sure that the bloodlines stay pure. There’s a lot more to breeding a Pedigree cat than just putting 2 cats together and hoping for the best. We do tons of research, health testing, blood work, Hip screening, careful selection of matings. We want to produce the best of the best that we can. That requires a lot of time and willingness to learn. Thats why breeders protect their lines so carefully. If they do agree to sell breeding rights they wantto make sure that the breeder also shares the same goals as they do about their cats. Hope this helps.

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