Foundation Information

General Foundation Information
by Judith Schulz copyright 9/12/00 used with permission

The Maine Coon is a hardy and healthy natural breed of cats that,
at one time, had to be able to survive the harsh and hostile New
England winters. However, the gene pool in the Maine Coon breed
is relatively small, which has led to several immune system-related
and genetic problems. A new hope is to bring new foundation cats
into the breed. This will eventually broaden the gene pool for
better vigor and hopefully better genetic health.

Foundation breeding usually happens behind closed doors, until a
reliable state is reached, where kittens can be released to their new
homes with a good conscience. First generation cats often are not great
looking and need fix-up in type, which does not bring much glory to
the cattery :-) It can be embarrassing when a new line does not turn
out in the long run. So it is understandable if breeders don't promote
a new foundation line right away.

After much consideration, we have decided to follow the example of
Judith Shulz of PrairieBaby . We are making the trial phase of our
new Montana foundation line public. We are open for suggestions
and constructive criticism. We welcome comments from fellow breeders
and all people who are interested in the future of the Maine Coon.

To this day, there is not much documentation available about the
how-to of starting out a new blood line. Most of the old-time breeders
were foundation breeders at one time and they had no other choice but
to get their experience by a mentor called: "learn as you go". Nowadays,
when we speak of foundation breeding we mean "working with foundation
lines that are not presently used in a common pedigree". We would like to
share with you as we go and let you participate in our mistakes and little
successes.

ACA has it's studbooks still open and if someone finds a cat that so
resembles the Maine Coon breed, it can be registered with ACA as an F1.
An F5 can be registered and shown in Championship class in CCF an f4 can be registered and shown in CCA, an F4 can be shown and registered in TICA and ACFA, an f5 can be registered in CFA, and an F6 can be shown in CFA. Until then it is possible to show a foundation Maine Coon in HHP Class in all associations. This is fun and an alternative to promote foundation breeding. No association issues a certified pedigree until a cat shows 3 generations of ancestry.

Much effort, time, money and faith is involved to get a new foundation
line started.   However, several breeders have decided to give it a try for
the sake of the future of our lovely breed.   Foundation breeding, like
breeding in itself, can be full of disappointments, downfalls and surprises.
It is not the answer to all health problems. Foundation cats don't perform
a magic trick in our breeding program - that is why we call it "working with fouundation".    But at the same time outcross breeding can be exciting,
successful and enjoyable. It is well worth the hassle if we look at the end
results which can be a lower mortality rate in kittens, a better immune
system, larger, healthier litters and eventually and hopefully the defeat
of heart and hip problems.

Even though new foundation lines are thoroughly screened and tested,
we cannot guarantee these lines to be free from genetic faults. Every
single mating produces new gene mutations that would have not even
occurred in a different breeding, even of the same breeding couple.
Also, recessive genes can only be detected to some extent. However,
it is scientifically proven that outcrossing is the most effective way
to eliminate genetic faults.

Much controversy has been going on over the past years on the
"true origin" of the Maine Coon cat. We believe it logically can only
be the east coast, which includes Maine and border lining states. However,
the "seashell and fishermen thing" happened over a 100 years ago and in the
meantime, original Maine cats who lived outside, have mated with all kinds
of domestic cats and people have moved and taken their cats with them.
Cats have been sold all over the world and it is very likely that matings
could have occurred basically anywhere and with whomever. I believe
that no matter where we go nowadays, the true Maine Coon will most
likely be diluted down, simply because cats aren't very picky when
they are in heat.

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