12/02/2021

BEEDING PLANS: 

WE  DO NOT HAVE ANY BREEDING PLANS AT THIS TIME. PLEASE CHECK BACK FOR UPDATES THIS WINTER.

We are very small with only 2-3 litters per year. 

When we determine which kitten (s) are available, that information is posted on our website in "Available Kittens & Cats".  We suggest that if you see a kitten you are interested in, to contact as soon as possible. 

The "terms" listed below explain kitten status.

OPTIONED: 

Another breeder has expressed interest in a kitten. The kitten remains not available until final decision is made.

UNDER EVALUATION:

 The breeder is still watching these kittens to see how they mature. THIS KITTEN MAY BE AVAILABLE.

TENTATIVELY RESERVED:

A contract has been sent to a potential kitten buyer. We have not received a signed contract. Kitten is still available.

 RESERVED:

A signed contract for a specific kitten has been received with  deposit. Kitten is not available.

STAYING:

The kitten will be staying with us. Kitten is not available. 

All kitten buyers are required to complete a Kitten Application, which will be forwarded upon request. 

WE HAVE THE RIGHT OF REFUSAL TO SELL OUR KITTENS AND RETIRED ADULTS AT ANY TIME. OUR KITTENS AND CATS WELL BEING IS ALWAYS OUR PRIMARY CONCERN. ALL KITTENS ARE SOLD AS PETS. WE DO NOT SELL BREEDING CATS.

WE CAN BE REACHED AT MAINEVU@AOL.COM OR 678-719-8587, DAILY FROM 10 AM TO 8 PM.

 Nutrition:

We feed our kittens and cats Purina ProPlan and Royal Canin Queen to our expectant mothers, and Mamma/Baby cats to our younger kittens.

**03/25/2021**Please note that Royal Canin, Purina and other well known pet food companies have a shortage of several specialty varieties at this time. I was able to order Royal Canin Maine Coon dry food at PetCo and PetSmart.**

Remember to always provide your kitten and cats with several water sources. A Drink Well fountain and several bowls of water is necessary as Maine Coons require a lot of water. 

All kittens go home with the following: all veterinary/medical records, including dates of all vaccinations, fecal testing results, and a microchip. Copies of parents DNA results and copies of parents heart ultrasounds, and a pedigree. A handbook with our veterinarians contact information, with our feeding schedule, and which dry and canned food and which litter we use is sent to all kitten buyers.

Photo credit:  MaineVu Peg

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12/02/2021

AVOIDING THE KITTEN SCAM

The Tell-tale signs of a Kitten Scammer

PLEASE NOTE: SCAMMERS WILL BE FORWARDED TO THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION!

Due to the COVID 19 virus pandemic, requests for kittens is on the rise. Please be very careful when choosing a cattery as COVID has also increased the scams.

Unfortunately, the increase in scams and poorly raised kittens (aka Backyard Breeders) is exponential as well and it gets truly challenging to navigate the array of deception of these scammers versus the legitimate feline husbandry cattery. So we felt it was important that, whether or not you acquire one of our beautiful MaineVu kittens, you are armed with the right information to make a wise and educated purchase of a purebred kitten, no matter the breed you desire to have in your home.

It’s very important to remain vigilant in your research and you must do your “due diligence” if you are to protect your wallet and more importantly, your heart from these unscrupulous film-flam artists. The more you know how to detect and avoid, the better results you will uncover. Here are some of the most important RED FLAGS you should be on the lookout for:

• Scammers typically only communicate with you via text message or email. It’s important that ALL available avenues of communication are accessible to you, including phone conversations, and even Facetime or Live Video Skype messaging if possible. They will usually not want to have that much exposure so they avoid it at all costs. Being on the Internet only, allows them to be as anonymous as possible. Be advised, however, that there are many legitimate catteries that won’t allow live home visitation due to the age of the kittens and to protect their homes and families from sordid individuals who may not have the best intentions when asking for access to the kittens.

• Scammers get easily irritated with questions about their kittens, their cattery and themselves personally. If they begin to get defensive and hostile when you ask the questions you need answers to, it’s a certainty that their operation isn’t very legitimate.

• Scammers have very few pictures of the kittens they are selling, especially if you want to see how the kitten you’ve chosen is developing. You’ll also notice that the pictures don’t look consistent. Remember that kittens do change rapidly, but not so much that you aren’t able to see consistent markings as they age (of course this is much more difficult for solid-colored kittens, but there are usually subtleties that you can make out from week to week.

• Unscrupulous kitten sellers will demand payment of deposits or the full price of the kittens and will press the issue. Typically they will insist on payment via Western Union℠ or MoneyGram℠ money services. You should avoid this at all costs since once you send that money, it’s gone and you have no recourse to get it back should you discover you’ve been swindled. There are many legitimate methods to send deposit money that will have ways to get the funds back should you find you’ve been deceived.

• Most scammers will offer their “champion, purebred, registered” kittens at amazingly discounted prices, and sometimes they will claim that these prices will include shipping. Research your breed and try to find a medium price for similar kittens from well-known legitimate breeders; if the price is on the low-end or lower, then you should walk away from the deal.

• Scammer websites are usually “live” for short periods of time. Beware of these sites. Most legitimate websites of legitimate breeders will have a registered SECURE website SSL socket on the site to protect your information. Look up at the URL address line of this page: if you see a little 🔒 in the address bar, it indicates that the website is secure. Most legitimate websites are registered properly in order for them to qualify for this service and do so to protect themselves and you as a buyer.

• Unscrupulous scammers will use the same pictures over and over again on multiple websites to advertise different kitten litters. They will often use web addresses similar to legitimate cattery websites in order to trick you into believing that you are on the correct site for the real cattery. For instance, our website address is mainevu.com, but a scammer will create a website using the address mainevumainecoons.com in an attempt to make you believe you are dealing with us. Be sure you are in contact with the right people before exchanging your information and more importantly your money!

• Facebook has a plethora of fake cattery pages online. Even though we also have our own Facebook page for our cattery, which is MaineVu Pedigree Maine Coons,  and MaineVu  Maine Coons, usually these pages are called “Maine Coon kittens for Sale” or “Available Maine Coon kittens”. Be leery of these pages.

• ASK around about cattery names. Legitimate, quality Maine Coon breeders (and for that matter, any purebred breed) will have a reputation among other breeders. Many good breeder (although not always the case) exhibit their cats in shows sanctioned by a legitimate feline registry such as the Cat Fanciers Association (CFA) or The International Cat Association (TICA) and you may actually meet these breeders face-to-face at the show and meet their cats in person. Scammer catteries almost never show their cats in public.

• Websites from scammers tend to be full of errors, including spelling and grammatical, or stating false “facts” about the breed, posting that their cattery is registered with the major registries when in fact their catteries cannot be located among the cattery listings of those institutions.

• Scammers will offer to transport your kitten for an amazing price. Be very careful about this as these costs are not as inexpensive as you may think. Also, many times, the “breeder” will contact you at the last minute asking for more money to cover “registration costs” or “customs fees,” etc. In most cases, this is a ruse and your should walk away from any transaction where the costs are not completely laid out for you from the very beginning.

Sincerely ,

Philip & Marjorie Berger