If so this text is for you!
I do not want you to be deceived.
Extremely few of the unregistered purebred or suggested mixed breeds ARE what they are suggested to be, often the person selling been cheated themselves, that the cat is one or the other and so the misery continues.
I heard several stories, just recently (at time for this article) there was an article about a couple who had a housecat (a pure house cat with true farm-genes, not a single purebred behind), who been pregnant and got kittens. They sold a couple of those to a family who seemed fantastic, a couple of days later they by coinsidence found their sold kittens on Blocket for a much higer price and lo and behold as mixed breeds. (Blocket is a site for advertising i Sweden). bes
This is just one of all the tricks used to fool the buyer.
Ok, so you are interested in a Maine Coon and you find a mix where the mother is said to be purebred but unregistered, how do you KNOW that she really is a Maine Coon?
How do you find out that she is not i fact a longhaired housecat? How will you control that you get what you want? Do you like the look on the kitten, think it's just adorable? Then buy it, absolutely buy it! But leave out any talk about mixbreed or purebred. Just call your new love a housecat, a absolutely wonderful, gorgeous, adorable, housecat and nothing else, as non those other things can not be proved!
When it comes to unregistered purebreds I recently stumbled upon a similar story.
The kittens where ticked tabbies, this pattern is a dominant trait, and this means that at least one of the parents MUST be of just that pattern for the kittens to be able to get the trait and become ticked tabbies, anything else is genetically impossible.
The buyer, bought those two from a breeder who actually had two registered Maine Coon's, the breeder told the buyer that the cats did not go outside freely. Ok, so this should be fairly safe, right? The cats are indoor cats and pedigree can be shown for both the parents. Just ONE little problem, at this point there was only ONE ticked tabby Maine Coon in Sweden, and that was my own male, a import from Austria. I got very suspicious since I do know exactly what ladies he's been dating and the breeder did own a male she claimed was the father. I had seen a photo of the mother so I did know she was a classic tabby, so she couldn't be the one giving the trait. The father was the only possiblility. I digged a bit deeper into the history and the father had been rehomed to the breeder at the age of 1 in 2012..... wait a second here, my male is NOT the father, his firstborn offsprings was not even born at this time! So there was no possible Maine Coon who could actually give the trait to the kittens! I finally got to see a picture of the father and found out that also he was a classic tabby. Genetic proof, the claimed father to the litter, was NOT actually the father to the litter!
Most likely the female slipped out and met some nice little housecat male in the neigbourhood, got her kittens and the breeder eighter unconsciously, caused by lack of knowledge, or consciously to be able to sell the kittens easier and to higher price claimed that her own male was father to the litter.
Those stories is there hundreds of, we encounter more and more all the time.
So if you do like a housecat, buy one, but don't add weight to whether it's said to be unregistered purebred or mixed breed. The truth is that no one got the slightest clue about what's really behind that kitten. If you do want a purebreed, do buy a purebred from a reputable breeder WITH a pedigree, this is the proof of the origin of you kitten.
Do not let yourself be fooled by colors or looks, the housecat is present in any color or look. Even colorpoint (the color of the Sacret Birman, Ragdoll and Siamese) a colorpoint is of NO proof at all that the cat has anything to do with any of those breeds.
I actually a couple of times heard that the M on the forehead means it's a Maine Coon, Wrong, Wrong, Wrong, all agouti (cats with pattern), wether they are Classic Tabby, Mackerel Tabby, Spotted Tabby or Ticked Tabby got the M on the forehead no mather what breed they are, this has to to with the agout trait and pattern not with any breed.
Let our fantastic house cats that are so varied in color and shape and appearance be just housecats, long-haired and short-haired. Let them be what they are and don't lower their standards by saying they are one or the other as if they were not worth as much as the wonderful domestic cats they are!
If you now want a purebred but may not be able to afford it (I have full understanding that not everyone may be in a position in life when they can afford the purchase price) there are many, many options.
1. Adult rehoming, you get a pure-bred with pedigree for a lower price. Breeders often have to make the decision to rehome their cats when they have stopped breeding them, if they want to continue breeding.
2. This is something we do a lot in Sweden, I know thats not very common in other countries but I will tell about it. I will write an article about what it's actually about.
We call it Fodervärd translated right off it will bee Feed host, you can call it sited home maybe? Here are two options, "full" or "part", in both cases you pay in full or in part with work and dedication instead of money. And NO it's absolutely NOT a free cat, but instead of paying with money you pay in dedication, time and work.
In full sited home, you do not pay any money but have an agreement with the breeder that the breeder will get a number of litters from the cat if it's a female and you will raise the kittens in your home, take time of work for the birth and care for the litter until they move.
If it's a male you need to be prepared to receive females who will get to you for studservice. If it's "part" sited home, you will pay maybe half the price of the cat, but the amount of matings or litters will be smaller often just 1 or 2, in a "full" sited home contract the amount often is maybe 2-4 instead.
Av: Malin Sundqvist
