Our number one cattery priority is the creation of healthy kittens and cats. We run full genetic panels on all of our breeding cats, and complete results are always posted on our website (check our individual Kings and Queens‘ pages). This includes the most important genetic testing for Maine Coons: HCM, SMA, PKD, PKDef, as well as many others.
However, genetic testing alone is not enough to catch all of the possible health complications with this (or any other) breed. It is very common for cats to carry genes for certain diseases and never develop those issues, and for cats with clear genetic panels to develop diseases despite not carrying the genes tested for them. Genetic testing has come a long way, but most diseases are polygenic (coded for by many interacting genes) and there are still countless gene markers that these panels are not able to detect.
That’s why we also perform annual advanced heart echocardiograms on every single breeding cat in our cattery, as well as professionally graded hip X-rays, fecal and upper respiratory PCR testing, and complete physical exams including bloodwork panels and SNAP tests for FIV, FeLV, and Heartworm, on every single one of our breeding cats. If any cats do not pass all of their testing, or even if they have passed all of their testing but have produced a single kitten with any genetic issues, they are retired from our program immediately.
Each of our kittens goes home with their spay/neuter already completed, their own personal complete genetic health and trait panel from MyCatScan, deworming and vaccinations up to date including rabies, microchipping, negative FIV, FeLV, and Heartworm SNAP testing, a negative fecal PCR float and parasite panel, their TICA registration paperwork, and a wellness certificate obtained on the day they turn 13 weeks old (or the Friday before/Monday after if it’s on a weekend).
Anywhere within the continental US and Canada. We are located in Utah, but the majority of our kittens have gone to homes all across America! Kittens are flown in-cabin by us personally to the airport of your choice if you choose to have them delivered, or if you choose to fly here yourself, we are happy to bring them to you at SLC airport on the day of your flight. At this time we do not provide deliveries outside of these countries, but if you live elsewhere and want a kitten, you are still welcome to fly here and pick up your kitten!
Pick up kitten at the SLC Airport (you fly here) – No Charge
Pick up kitten at a pre-determined location within 15 miles of Lehi, UT – No Charge
Personal Kitten Delivery by Vehicle within 300 miles of Lehi, UT (By Hazel or Dallas, or one of our close family members) – $300
*Personal Kitten Delivery by Air within 400 miles of Lehi, UT (kitten rides in cabin with Hazel, Dallas, or one of our family members) – $400
*Personal Kitten Delivery by Air beyond 400 miles of Lehi, UT (kitten rides in cabin with Hazel, Dallas, or one of our family members) – $600
*With these options we will fly the kitten to the airport nearest to you. You will need to meet us at your local airport to pick up the kitten on the day of the flight!
Yes, although our waitlist process has changed recently! There are a few steps to complete if you are interested in a Greek Garden kitten:
Our kittens get to go home between 13-14 weeks of age. At 12 weeks they are spayed/neutered, and then at 13 weeks old they receive their final vet checkup and are allowed to go home if they get the all clear! We reserve the right to hold back any kittens for an extra week or two if we feel they need more healing time or a longer evaluation period. Most kittens heal from spay/neuter surgeries very fast at this age so it will be rare that any need to be held back!
Breeding health-tested Maine Coons properly is a very expensive and time-consuming process, which is why a well-bred Maine Coon kitten can be so expensive. Pricing varies with each litter and color. Our kittens are all currently priced at $4,000 – male or female, polydactyl or standard, regardless of color. Each kittens costs the same amount for us to raise and the same amount of time and care, and we do not believe it is fair to charge extra based on something as trivial as color/gender/polydactyly. All of our kittens are healthy from fully tested and vetted parents. The deposit to reserve a kitten is $500 and is taken off of the total price of the kitten.
A 3 Year Genetic Health Guarantee,
A Complete Genetic Panel from Catscan DNA Testing (Tests for Over 120 Diseases and Traits),
A Free First Month of Pet Insurance from Trupanion,
A Starter Kit with Litter Box, Toys, and Food,
Spay/Neuter Completed at 12 weeks,
TICA Registration Papers,
Microchipping with FREE Lifetime Registration,
2 Sets of FVRCP Vaccinations,
Deworming and Intestinal Parasite Testing [Negative],
Heartworm Testing [Negative],
FIV/FeLV Testing [Negative],
Photo and Video Updates of Your Kitten as They Grow,
Gotcha Day Grooming, Ear Cleaning, Fluff Blow-Dry, and Nail Trim,
A Veterinary Wellness Certificate and Exam Obtained Within 10 Days or Less Prior to Your Kitten Going Home,
An Airline Compliant Soft Pet Carrier to Take Your Baby Home in,
Your Kitten’s Health and Medical Records,
And of Course Lifetime Support for You and Your Kitten!
This answer to this is complicated – yes and no. We do absolutely everything we can to produce the healthiest kittens possible, starting with our very careful selection process for the cats in our program. We perform thousands of dollars worth of testing every year and only allow the most fit cats to breed. We even perform testing on our kittens which is hard to find with most other breeders.
Our kittens are created with health in mind, but even so kittens are always at risk of being exposed to things outside of our control in their new homes, such as household toxins, viruses from other pet cats, and a million things they could get from their harnessed walks outside or from a vet’s office.
We have a 3 year guarantee for any possible genetic conditions, and a health and sickness guarantee that lasts 72 hours after your kitten goes home. We always highly recommend pet insurance is kept on your kitten – especially in the first year – because young kittens are more prone to accidents and are still developing their full immune systems.
Before they have had all of their shots, kittens are especially prone to diseases. In order to preserve the safety and health of our cats and kittens, we do not allow visits at this time – our cats are all healthy, and we plan to keep it that way!
We have also heard a lot of horror stories of breeders being robbed at gunpoint or worse for their litters of puppies and kittens. We are a little paranoid perhaps, but want to avoid that risk. Instead of in-person visits, we allow scheduled facetime visits for you and your kitten, and can always provide references upon request.
The deposit of $500 is always required up front to reserve a kitten. Typically, the rest of the payment is due at the time of pickup. If you prefer to pay in weekly or irregular installments, that is completely fine as long as the kitten is fully paid for before it goes home with you!
We get a lot of messages every day, and do try to respond to every single one. However, most of our time and energy is spent on our cats and their health and happiness, and not on social media. If you message us asking about something that is already covered on our website, chances are we will either direct you to the website or sometimes if we are busy we will just not respond (I -Hazel- am very forgetful especially when it comes to remembering to reply to messages).
Additionally, please try to remember that we are people and not machines. Messages with little to no effort, such as simply saying “price?”, “how much?”, or “I want one”, are usually left in our “message request jail”. A simple hello and short introduction will get our attention, help us get to know you, and make us want to do business with you. We are choosing the future families for our babies after all!
First of all, I hear ya. It feels like for every actual breeder of Maine Coons, there are ten scammers, cat mills, brokers, or who knows what else trying to get money from you for a kitten that either doesn’t exist, does exist but isn’t owned by the person trying to sell it to you, or is very sick. I have gotten quite a few of my cats from other countries where meeting the kitten isn’t really an option and have been in the same boat, trying to make sure I’m not just sending my money to some unknown bank account that will disappear in a couple days. Here are some of my top tips to avoid problems:
ALWAYS video call or meet the breeder in person if they allow visits, BEFORE sending a single penny! I personally do not even accept payments from kitten buyers until they have an approved application, have completed a video call with me and met the kittens they are interested in, and they have reviewed and agreed to the kitten contract. Bonus tip, if you are still having doubts after the video call – ask for references! Any good breeder will have plenty!
Ask for pictures of the kitten at various stages of development. Scammers LOVE to steal photos from actual breeders and use them as their own, which is why as you may have noticed a lot of us breeders like to stick our logos on as many of our photos and videos as we can. Chances are, if a scammer has stolen photos, they will not be able to provide photos of the kittens at all stages of development. Ask them to take current videos of the kittens as well, or better yet – facetime!!
If the price of the kitten seems unusually low (especially under $2000 – massive red flag), or the “breeder” negotiates price with you – back away. Low-priced kittens are almost always either scams or from backyard breeders who have not done the proper (very expensive) health testing prior to breeding. BYB’s often do not have breeding rights on their cats – selling their kittens as “purebred, unpapered”. Kittens that are unpapered cannot ever be considered purebred, especially by CFA and TICA standards! Additionally, there is always a reason why the person does not have the kittens papered – and it’s not because they are “just too lazy” to register their cats or it’s “too expensive to register them” (both excuses I have seen from backyard breeders). Registration is easily the cheapest and fastest part of the process – it only costs around $10-20 to register an entire litter and can be done in 5-10 minutes! Breeders often do not give kittens with breeding rights for a reason – either they feel that they are not yet ready to help mentor and support future breeders, or they have deemed their kittens as “pet” quality and not “breeding” quality. Or any other reason under the sun! We are preservation breeding and are very picky about which cats we select to continue on the lines. Backyard breeding ruins this effort, and often leads to the creation of “mutt” kittens that are sick, deemed unprofitable by the backyard breeder, and then often given to shelters. It is in our (unspoken) code of ethics to NEVER allow any of our precious cats and kittens to end up in shelters, adding to their already huge workload – and this is strictly outlined in any good breeder’s contract!
Seller profiles and Facebook groups that are titled “Maine Coon Kittens for Sale”, “AVAILABLE NOW Maine Coon Kittens”, “Maine Coon Kittens for Adoption”, etc… are almost always scams. These scammers are especially prevalent on Facebook, but I have seen them on Instagram, TikTok, local classifieds, and almost anywhere else you might look for breeders. HUGE red flag if someone is reaching out to you asking you to buy a kitten from them! Especially if they reply to your comment on social media with a link to another page supposedly with available kittens. You should always be “making the first move” as far as contacting a breeder you like! The only time a breeder should contact you first is if you are already on their waitlist. Of course, you would have contacted them to be put on the waitlist in the first place, so the rule still stands, lol.
Ask for proof of health testing on the parents. Make sure the names (of both the breeder and the cats) on the documents match!
Ask plenty of questions! Scammers get annoyed when you ask too many questions. Good breeders see it as a “green flag” that you want to get to know more about their kittens before making such a big commitment.
“BUY NOW” buttons are a huge red flag. Good breeders want to get to know their buyers before allowing them to have a kitten that they have spent months loving and caring for. And it’s always important to get to know your breeder as well!
Scammers have been known to photoshop TICA and CFA certificates, as well as certificates for health testing. For OFA, most certificates have a QR code to scan which should take you to a page on OFA with information matching what is written on the certificate. For TICA and CFA, you can always call their offices and they will be glad to authenticate whether the breeder is legitimate.
If you have already sent money to a scammer, they might send you “tracking” information to make themselves seem more legitimate, and then ask you for more money than originally agreed upon for a number of reasons – they need to upgrade the carrier, they need insurance on the transport, they need a temperature controlled crate – etc. Don’t send more money!! Cut your losses. A legitimate breeder and courier will tell you the price of transport up front and that is what is should stay at. If they raise prices after your agreement, try telling them you will only pay them in cash upon receipt of the kitten and see what happens.
Always follow your gut feeling!
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