Kitten prices

You Paid How Much For That Kitten?

If you are new to the world of pure-bred cats, you might be initially surprised at how much they can cost.Being in the position of breeding Maine coons for a while, we realize now why they are priced the way they are. There are a lot of expenses that go into creating and maintaining a solid breeding program with top-quality cats that are consistently disease free and healthy. We could cut corners and charge less for our kittens, but the short-term savings wouldn’t be worth it. Just to give you an idea of what goes into a breeding program, here is a partial list of expenses:

Food – We use  top quality food with a lot of research behind it. Feeding our kings, queens and the kittens  all together they can  put down quite a bit of food!

Litter – Having indoor cats and keeping a clean environment means scooping litter boxes twice a day and completely replacing litter once a month. We keep quiet a few, giving our cats plenty of choices. We have found that hauling around litter makes for great exercise, though!

Cleaning Supplies & Other Household Items – Pads designed for baby beds make great bedding for new kittens. They are soft but absorb liquids, which makes keeping a clean area for our new “babies” as easy as swapping out a few pads once or twice a day. It does create quite a bit more laundry, though, which takes some time and energy.

Veterinary Visits – This is probably one of the biggest expenses for breeders. Each kitten gets all required vaccinations and at least one vet visit performed by a vet. They do a complete exam of the kitten – listen to the heart, check their eyes and joints – and are able to apply many years of experience with cats to find any potential problems. We also take all our kittens in for their spay or neuter surgery and do all the necessary follow up care. All our kittens come with a photo-copy of all veterinary records. And our vets are very thorough .In addition, our breeders have annual exams and shots and dental care. We also administer de-wormer and a spot treatment called revolution.

Genetic Testing-We genetically test all our breeders making sure none are carriers of the deadly HCM gene. Now that testing is available, this is an expense that we really don’t think should be optional for any Maine coon breeder. If all breeders tested their breeding stock, we could completely eliminate the genetic form of the disease in very little time.

In Addition we test for SMA and many other diseases. Please click on the link to read about health testing.

Breeders – Finding the right breeder can be a time-consuming process. Part of that process involves making sure any cattery we buy from has similar ideas about kitten health and breeder qualities. In addition, good breeding cats will generally cost between $2500 and $7,000 each. Plus flights to different places world wide and back to pick the perfect cat for us and fly him home with us can easily cost up to 12 000$ .

Cat Trees, Scratching Posts, Water Fountains, Toys, etc. – We make every effort to provide a fun environment for the kittens while they are with us. We have invested in several large cat trees and play toys. In addition, we have large scratching posts around the house and work on training kittens to scratch the posts, not the furniture! We’ve also found that drinking fountains encourage our cats to drink more and so have invested in several Drink well stainless steel fountains. We use only reverse osmosis water to help protect against potential urinary tract problems.

Registration with CFA. We are registered with the major cat association and have registered all of our breeders and kittens with CFA. We have 5 generation pedigrees for our breeders and will provide you with a blue slip to register your kitten.We also spend time staying current with the latest Maine coon news.

In a nutshell, we want to have the absolute best breeding program we can. In order to do that, we need to charge an amount for our kittens that will cover our expenses plus provide just a little incentive to keep us going. We are pretty convinced and have found from experience that breeding done well is not a good way to make a lot of money. But it’s not without its rewards! It’s a joy to have kittens running around the house and its fun to hear back from new owners.

Please send us an email ironclawscattery@yahoo.ca  for current pricing.