Alliston Maine Coons
Last updated - Nov 23 2024
Our Story
My name is Troy Stevens. I am the owner/operator of Alliston Maine Coons. I am a cat lover in general but have a particular fondness for Maine Coons. I've worked in Alliston at Honda of Canada Manufacturing on the assembly line for 14 years (2024). I decided a couple years ago I wanted a cat again after living without one for almost 10 years. And so my search began......
2021
While searching I began to consider breeding as the prices I was seeing for Purebred Maine Coons were in the thousands on average. At the time, I did not have thousands of dollars to spare towards a cat. So June 25 when I saw an unfixed female Maine Coon for sale for $500, I jumped on the opportunity. That's when I picked up Luna. Or as I soon got know her, Lunatic. When I picked her up, the owner asked me if I'd like another cat with her as they were somewhat bonded. Another female fixed and for free. Considering she would be alone while I was at work, I agreed and brought Evie home along with Luna. While Luna was petite and only 2 years old, Evie was 6 and quite large. But she served her purpose very well. Both cats settled into their new home very quickly, and kept each other company while I was at work. During this time I did a lot of research into cat behaviours. Males/females/fixed/unfixed and Maine Coon behaviours in particular. I got to see first hand the difference between how fixed and unfixed females behave, as well as just how often and erratic heat cycles can be.
I was also able to start getting into routines necessary to care for multiple cats. Feeding cycles, litter box cleaning, repeatedly checking water dish is full/clean, etc.
I was also able to determine that Luna was definitely not a purebred Maine Coon, thou she did have some Maine Coon characteristics. Some research revealed her to be a mix with American Bobtail. Which was why her tail was so short.
2022
After doing my income taxes for 2021, I found I had some extra cash and so began my search for a mate for Luna. On March 29, I found an ad for unfixed purebred male for $1500. It was at the high end of what I could afford, but the pictures showed a very handsome cat that was noticeably Maine Coon. So I went and picked up Butters. I met his owner in a mall parking lot and only got to see him through the door of her carrier in her backseat. But he seemed like a nice big cat so we transferred him to my carrier, she gave me his vaccination records and I paid her.
It wasn't till I got home and let him out that I started to notice things about him. He looked very scruffy and thin. It didn't take long to realize what kind of conditions he had been kept in previously. Big golf ball size mats of fur all over him. I managed to pick him up and weigh him and he was barely over 11 pounds. His ears were filthy, which turned out to be an ear mite infection. And he had such a bad case of stud tail that his tail was oily.
He was very wary of me for the first couple of weeks, but once he realized I meant him no harm he opened right up and let me clean him up. Within 8 weeks he was over 14 pounds. He did have immediate interest in the two girls. Which was expected considering Luna was mid heat when he arrived. It didn't take long for him to "introduce" himself to her, and they became quite close. Evie on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with him. After about a month of seeing Evie get more and more uncomfortable living with Butters, I put her up for free adoption and promptly rehomed her.
And just in time too. Just 9 and a half weeks after bringing Butters home, June 4th, Luna had her first litter of 3 kittens. It was a small litter as they only got to mate in the latter part of her heat cycle, but a good start. I witnessed her giving birth and find it amazing just how instinctive they are. Although all three kittens were healthy at birth, one did end up dying 10 days after birth. Noticed it having problems, rushed it to the animal hospital where they simply told me there was nothing that could be done and it was going to die regardless, so we opted to put it out of its pain. Her remaining two kittens, a male we named Prince and a female we named Patch grew up nice and healthy and were an absolute joy to raise.
I learned a lot raising this litter. But probably nothing more important than the benefits and sometimes necessity of separation. Due to my living arrangement at the time and inexperience, there was no separation between any of the cats, at really anytime. I hadn't really seen any reason to as Luna hadn't gone into heat since Butters impregnated her when he first showed up. And I hadn't really seen Butters making any advances towards her. And he hadn't shown any real interest in the kittens in any way. And in that regard I got lucky, I learned of the dangers a father cat can accidentally do to his kittens when I caught Butters carrying his son by the scruff to go try and mount him. I managed to prevent that kind of behaviour until they were rehomed, but then discovered another big reason for separation.
In September we learned we were going to have to move. We had been searching for almost 2 months with no luck when I started noticing Luna was getting round again. At some point she had gone back into heat and Butters had impregnated her again. Shortly after that we found our current home in Alliston and we could have access to it starting December 1. I arranged for us to have 2 weeks to get moved, until December 15, as the place needed a lot of work to make it decent to live in. Which I am so glad I was able to do, as Luna decided she wanted to give birth November 30th.
Yep, the day before we are supposed to start moving, she gives birth to 5 kittens. Unfortunately one is born with a deformed skull and exposed brain and died shortly after birth. Then the next day we go to start cleaning the new place, my mother brought her small dog and found the place was infested with fleas. So much so, that in just a couple hours my mother found dozens of fleas on her dog whom had never had fleas before. Some quick research showed me fleas can be deadly to newborn kittens, so I needed to try to clear that before moving the kittens in. But without a deep expensive fumigation that would prevent us being in the house, there are only so many options to try and clear an infestation. So I did the best I could to clear the fleas from my bedroom before setting it up and then bringing momma and the kittens in and quarantining them in it. But not before I had another kitten die after 10 days from unforeseen circumstances. Then I continued to battle the infestation in the rest of the house which would end up taking months and costing quite a bit.
2023
Once we got the flea problem solved, raising the 3 kittens was a breeze. Socks, Patch and Tux grew like weeds, and all quickly found new homes. Once we were all settled into our new home and able to start relaxing, that is when I started looking into getting registered. I went to the TICA website to inquire about the process and found it to be quite simple. More or less just register, choose a breed and pay a fee. Once I did that I started looking into registering my cats. Turned out I couldn't as they had no pedigree, and couldn't be registered as a pet unless spayed or neutered. That's when I started looking for pedigreed cats to replace my unregistered couple.
At the same time I started thinking about how I might better advertise that I have kittens to sell. Up until then I had only been advertising on Kijiji and would get a lot of messages asking questions I would wind up answering repeatedly. I chose to use WIX and their website building service. I came up with the name Alliston Maine Coons and checked to see if the internet domain was available and it was so I registered the domain and began learning how to use the WIX service. I wasn't able to launch it before the 3 kittens I had were sold, but I knew it would help for later litters and I was right.
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After selling 2 of the kittens in March, I had enough cash to look at acquiring a registered cat. I found someone selling pedigreed registered females for breeding in North Bay. And on March 26 I went up and for $2500 got Wola. I noticed she had an issue with her left eye, but was told by the owner it was a recent injury from her cats fighting. I would find out later it was more than a simple injury from a fight. It was when I brought her home things started to get interesting. Starting with Butters. With the new girl in the house that he was unable to mate with right away, began to try and get her attention by spraying. Something he hadn't done with me before. So he had to start being limited to his freedom. Luckily, in this new home, I have multiple ways to separate and contain my cats.
At first Luna and Wola more or less got along ok. But now that I had a replacement for Luna, I went and got her spayed. Not to long after that her attitude started to change towards Wola. Over the course of a few months she went from being friendly and even a little playful, to downright grumpy when around her. Which only seemed to get worse when Wola finally went into heat the last week of June and her and Butters got to mate. However I was able to keep them separate when unsupervised up until Wola had her litter on Aug 28.
I was getting up that day for work at 5:45 am, but Wola had woken me up at about 5:20 am nuzzling me and meowing. I didn't think much of it at the time, but 15-20 mins later when I heard a different meow I knew then she was trying to tell me it was time for her kittens to come. I turned on the light and sure enough right beside the bed on the floor was Wola and a newborn kitten. I quickly got up, put on some clothes and moved Wola and her baby into the birthing pen set up for her. Called in to work and took the day off and watched her over the course of 8 hours have 5 healthy kittens. And finally, none died.
While the kittens and Wola were all doing well, Luna only got worse. The few times she went up to the pen where the kittens were, she would just growl and hiss at them. So I decided it would probably be best to find her a new home before the kittens started getting mobile. I put her up for free adoption and she quickly went to a new loving family in October.
I've gotten into the habit of weighing the kittens at birth, and then every week after and recording it. Which is how I knew something was wrong with Wola and the kittens in week 4. At first it just seemed like Wola was tired. Which was expected nursing 5 kittens. But she started to eat less as well. When I weighed the kittens for week 4, they had hardly gained any weight since the week prior and even lost a little. So I brought Wola to the Vet, and it turned out she had come down with a case of mastitis. (an infection in the mammary glands) As a result, the kittens needed to be immediately weened off of and separated from Wola so they wouldn't drink the infected milk. They also needed to learn to use the litter box without Wolas guidance. Thankfully they learned that part within a day. Only 1 day with messes everywhere.
Unfortunately, with the kittens not nursing on Wola, her mammary glands just started filling up. And after a few days, one simply burst. After a couple months and around $4000 in vet bills, Wola is all healed up and healthy again. But I've decided to retire her early as I don't want to risk her having complications again with another litter.
In early October, the woman I bought Wola from contacted me to see if I was interested in her other female and male cats. After some consideration and preparation I picked up Talisman and Rafaela on October 29 for $2500 each. Rafaela thankfully integrated relatively well into Wola and her kittens social group. Talisman however, was too timid to be around anyone. It would take almost 4 weeks before he would come out of hiding and start allowing me to pet him. Even longer before he'd let me brush him. It didn't help Butters wanting to show his dominance and taking swipes at him every little chance he gets. But he's coming around and getting more comfortable all the time. Especially in mid December when Rafaela went into heat again and I let them be together again. Meanwhile I got Butters neutered Dec 8 so hopefully he calms down with the other cats until I can find a new home for him.
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2024
In January of 2024, I started the Facebook page and Instagram accounts for Alliston Maine Coons. I will strive to keep these accounts up to date.
On January 12 Butters went to his new home. And just in time as I needed his pen to separate Talisman from the remaining female kitten Lola and Wola until they get spayed.
Jan 31st Wola gets spayed. Surgery goes fine and she is brought home to recover. After a week I notice semi-hard lumps in her abdomen of a fairly large size. A trip to the vet and x-rays revealed it to be inflamed tissue around the mammary glands that had been infected prior. And easy fixed with anti-inflammatory and anti-biotic pills.
On February 17, I welcomed into the world 5 new kittens from parents Rafaela and Talisman. For the first time, I will be able to register the kittens, as both parents are registered.
While this process is new to me, I will strive to make it as easy as I can to transfer ownership to new owners and provide all necessary documentation.
This also allows me to provide breeding rights. And as such will be available upon request prior to spaying/neutering.
However, it does require extra agreements/stipulations upon adoption for legal purposes regarding mating ability when adopted before the age at which pet can be spayed/neutered.
March 6 Lola gets spayed and micro chipped at 6 months old. She also gets reserved by a new family for when she is all healed up. Everything goes well for the first few days. Then on March 11, I noticed she has licked open her incision and an infection had set in. I immediately let the person whom had reserved her know the situation and brought her to the vet as soon as I could. Some meds were prescribed and we treated her for another 10 days. After fully recovering Lola went to her new home with the new name of Mikhaila on March 24 2024.
March 30 2024, and the newest litter is 6 weeks old. And the forth kitten gets reserved and named. Leaving only 1 left unspoken for. With Astra, Moose, Ramses and Effie all now having names, I feel the last one needs something more than kitten #3. So I think a simple fitting temporary name for him will be Blue due to his coat.
At this point I have begun looking at the process of registration to TICA. Seems simple enough, though I need to wait longer than I had anticipated due to factors that haven't fully developed yet such as eye colour. As such I'm going to wait until April 13 when they go for their first vaccination and micro-chipping to add that info to the registration.
The breeder that I picked up Rosemary from was enrolled in a breeder program by Royal Canin which provided an extensive package along with their kittens. After going through it and seeing all it offered, I was impressed and decided I would like my clients to have the same kind of experience. So I joined up, and have since switched all my cats to Royal Canin. They have an extensive line of foods both wet and dry for all stages of life and even specialized by breed. Plus the brand is widely suggested and has a great reputation. Information will be found on the new Nutrition page.
Bringing in a second active queen, (particularly a kitten) made me realize I needed a higher degree of separation, while simultaneously keeping them together enough to get used to each others scents. So I decided it was time to expand on my pen. I cleared out the other side of the room where the old pen is situated. I chose this time to put more effort into the appearance of the pen, by painting the wooden framework and concealing the areas where the screening is folded and stapled to the framing. I also added more shelving and carpeted them for better grip and comfort. Over the course of a couple weeks I was able to complete the new pen and begin using it in place of the old one. Once completed I removed the old pen and in the next few weeks I intend to rebuild a new one in it's place. A direct mirror of the new pen on the other side of the room. Once that one is complete, I will put up a wall/door between them to make a third larger pen that will become the new birthing pen.
After getting Wola's abdomen issues on the mend I decided to focus on the ongoing issue with her left eyelid. It had been a concern since I got her, but only minor as the vet wasn't concerned and it doesn't really negatively affect her at all. However, it did result in the eye usually being closed as the eyelid was folded inward. I had tried eyedrops from the vet a couple times before, but it only helped temporarily. So I had the vet look more into it, and they determined it was the muscles in the eyelid had gotten weak causing the curl, and directed me on a path to strengthen it, as opposed to a surgical non guaranteed option. And so I started a daily routine of cleaning the eye of any gunk built up, massaging the eyelid in the opposite direction of the curl and applying an antibiotic and lubrication eye drop every day. As a result, by the end of February, her eye is almost all the way open and nearly looking normal.
Due to high demand for males (orange in particular) and requests to be added to one, in March I added a wait list application to the website. Enabling me to better track and contact specific requests as they become available.
April 1 and the last kitten is reserved and named Simba.
April 13 comes and all goes as expected with no complications and genders confirmed. Registrations are completed with TICA. During the week following, all go to their new homes.
May 1, due to overwhelming demand, Wait List is put on hold. With over 30 clients waiting, I begin searching for new queens. After a week of searching and one sketchy trip to Newmarket, I found a legitimate breeder in Rockland, just East of Ottawa. On May 9 I made the 6 hr trip and picked up Rosemary.
Rosie as we call her has settled in nicely in her first 6 weeks home. She has been slowly introduced to the other cats and has grown to almost the same size as Rafaela at just 5 months old.
In the first week of June Rafaela began another heat cycle and I started letting her and Talisman be free together. However he seems only interested in Rosie since she came home, despite not having access to her. After 3 weeks I've not witnessed them mate, but she did stop showing signs of heat after the first few days. So either she'll start showing soon or she should go into heat again. Time will tell.
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Over the next couple of months I got the other pen done, minus the door and a couple shelves. Namely because when nearing completion of the second pen I realized Rafaela did get tagged when she was in heat and was likely only a couple weeks away from giving birth. So I turned my focus to finishing the birthing pen between the two other pens. I got it finished just in time as she gave birth just before I was ready to hang the door on the birthing pen. Aug 14 she gave birth to 3 kittens. My guess is her heat cycle was interrupted with the introduction of Rosemary, and only having 3 is what made it so hard to determine if she was pregnant until so late. But regardless, they are all healthy.
Near the end of June, my domain provider was migrated from Google Domains to Squarespace. This caused an issue with my primary email and made my web services span 3 different companies. So to simplify management I transferred my domain provider and email provider to the same provider as my webpage, WIX. Now I have 3 emails attached to the website that I use for different purposes and eventually got my original working again. Thou I lost the history before Aug 23 2024.
At the end of Sept. I was presented an opportunity to reserve my next new queen. In Dec I will be adding a polydactyl (6 toes per paw) black tortie for next year.
I've also decided to keep one of the 3 kittens to breed with Rosie and the new girl coming. The creme boy I've named Maximus.
Max will have the special distinction of being my first cat kept since birth. While Rosie and the new girl coming I will have had since young kittens, it's not quite the same. I will likely keep Maximus once retired due to that bond.
Once those 3 are all breeding, it will be time to retire Talisman and Rafaela. I'm thinking early 2026.
Mid Oct. at nine weeks old, the kittens have daily time in the main room with the pens open and all the cats socializing nicely. Even Rosie and Rafaela chase each other around playfully. Only Wola seems a little uncomfortable at times. Sometimes she'll hiss and growl, sometimes she'll hold a kitten down and clean it. Either way I think she will be happier once she finds a new home with someone who can love her as much as I do but has less competition for that love.