As a Maine coon breeder, I understand more than any pet owner how expensive these cats are, we spend the most money on them. We are constantly purchasing new cats (which cost more than pets) and own many of them at once (more than any pet owner will). I ensure I understand that a Maine coon is pricey and not an impulse purchase for most people, but this is not on purpose. When something costs a lot to produce, it must also cost a lot to buy. It is very easy to focus solely on the item you are purchasing and overlook the fact that these cats are not merely street cats that have been randomly bred. Their breeder has invested a great deal of money in them and given up the most valuable resource of all—time—to preserve the breed.
The price of breeding Maine coons
What inspired this blog post is that I recently received a Facebook message from someone expressing their desire for a Maine coon kitten. I sent her my website, and her response surprised me. The woman said "thank you but i would never pay $3,500 for a kitten spayed or not." Now, it didn't surprise me that she wouldn't pay the price, because a lot of people wouldn't, but it stunned me that someone could be so nasty to respond that instead of just moving on.
There is a lot that goes into breeding that no one sees, so I'll give you a rundown of the basic minimum required to begin breeding and the costs until my kittens go home. First, spend a lot of time learning everything about breeding and how much it costs to get started. This includes genetics, health, history, medications, illnesses, hormones, heat cycles, birthing, bottle or tube feeding, raising kittens, potential problems, advertising, social media marketing, how to build a website and attract visitors, photography, contracts, health guarantees, LLC information, and taxes. I realize I'm probably missing something here.
You should have a separate space for your males that is specifically designed for stud cats, as they will most likely spray on everything; your females may also spray so you need an area for them as well. Then you'll need to research breeders and pedigrees before purchasing your first cat. If you buy from another country, plan to pay at least $3,500 per cat (including shipment), and double if you buy from the United States. I have spent approximately $11,000 on three imported cats. However, males are happiest with three females, so plan to get four cats at once. Vet, feed, and administer DNA testing ($100 each on sale) to each cat before waiting a year for hip x-rays ($500 each per year) and echocardiograms ($500 each per year). These cats must also pass these examinations, therefore you may have wasted your money. You'll also need litter boxes, cat trees, dishes, toys, grooming supplies, and money for professional grooming if you don't want to do it yourself.
Before you can begin marketing, you must first get a website domain, pay a monthly hosting price, and then spend 6 months or more developing it. I'm also going to include my $1,200 iMac because you can't develop a website with your phone and will need a computer. Marketing your cattery begins with pictures and videos. You'll need at least an adequate phone for photos, but even those don't compare to actual cameras. I spent $400 on my first camera and $800 on the second.
It is crucial to understand that many negative things can happen between the time you obtain the cat and the time you breed it, including disease, which can ruin your entire cattery. For the sake of this scenario, suppose one of your females did not pass the health check and you had to rehome her. Now it's time to breed, but first you must hope that your male will reproduce. If he does, you'll need separate rooms for your females and kittens, as well as birthing boxes, pee pads, blankets, bulb syringes, heat pads, clamps, scissors, collars, scale, calcium, formula, bottles, and other supplies. Then hope and pray that nothing goes wrong. I lost a litter of eight, with only one surviving in my first litter. I had to bottle feed one kitten (there were three at one point) every two hours, which would not have been possible if I had a regular job. Your females may also require an emergency C-section, which costs thousands of dollars. If your litters are successful, you must have the time to raise them, so set aside family, friend, and vacation time to raise kittens.
You thought I was finished, huh? Now your kittens must be vetted; for example, if you have 10 kittens from two females, you must pay for 1-2 vet checks, 3-4 dewormings, 2-3 vaccinations, microchipping, and, most importantly, spaying and neutering ($200 each at least). But I neglected to mention that in order to have your kittens altered, you must keep them until they are 17 weeks old, which means you will be feeding 10 kittens for 12 weeks. Again, I realize I am probably leaving out some things.
Time is money
People often forget that as breeders, we devote our entire time to not only our kittens but also our cats. Maine coons, in particular, require a high level of upkeep, and we must keep a lot of cats at once. We are not paid by the hour or guaranteed a salary, there is no paid time off, vacations, or sick time. We work 24/7, 365 days a year, rain or sun, sick or healthy. Do not take this as a complaint, but as an explanation. $3,500 per kitten does not even touch the surface of repaying me for the time I have invested in my cats and kittens, in fact, it is the bare minimum.
A lot of breeders call this a hobby, which I completely disagree with. This is a business that keeps a breed alive and can only function if money is coming in. For some reason, many believe that we are required to fund our business with money from our regular 9-5 jobs while operating at a loss, I'm sorry, but that is not the case. A business with no return or profit must close, and the breed dies. There has been too much misinformation regarding profiting from breeding, and I will not contribute to it as some breeders do. See my blog about making money through breeding.
I will charge as I see fit and what will make my business profitable so that I can support my cats and continue breed conservation to the best of my abilities. Most people spend a long time saving up for a kitten because it is a significant investment, it took me six years to be able to purchase my first Maine coon. If my prices are out of your budget or you cannot rationalize spending that much on a kitten, that is entirely fine, I am confident you will find a wonderful cat on Craigslist or at a shelter but don't expect me to lower my pricing or condemn me for charging what I do without understanding even a fraction of what was spent on producing these kittens.
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