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Maine Coon Cattery
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On first learning about breeding cats, I started wondering : how long can one keep on breeding with the same lines in a breed (such as is done with the Maine Coon), without prolonging strong inbreeding and going toward the total healthcollaps of that breed? Inbreeding problems will probably be known to most of you.. In case they are not, I 'll give you a unpleasant list of nasty healthproblems that occur after ongoing inbreeding:
loss of vitality,
bad or diminished fertility,
small litters,
kitten death + structural deformation of kittens,
dwarfism,
diminished immune systems,
spastic cats and
if untested, the "passing on" of heriditary diseases such as HCM, PKD, Heupdysplaia and Patellar Luxation will occur.
To breed a pedigree animal alway implies having to deal with a delicate balance between either maintaining or letting go of type. When new gene material is introduced, the latter usually occurs and causes a higher degree of unpredictability of looks. Bringing fresh genematerial into the lines implies keeping a delicate balance between on the one hand maintaining a certain look and on the other hand possibly letting go of that look. In short: more unpredictability. The schedule below here, gives a clear oversight of all the the possible actions and reactions that can occur when choosing for inbreeding vs outcrossing.
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PROS |
CONS |
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INBREEDING |
Produces uniform or predictable offspring. |
Doubles up on faults and weaknesses. |
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LINE-BREEDING |
Avoid inbreeding of very closely-related cats, but cats are
still "pure". |
Require excellent individuals. |
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OUTCROSSING (Mating of unrelated individuals within the same breed) |
Brings in new qualities or reintroduces lost qualities. |
Less consistency and predictability of offspring. |
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HYBRIDIZATION (Mating of unrelated individuals of different breeds) |
Brings in new qualities or reintroduces lost qualities. |
Unpredictable - new traits may not all be desirable. |
PROS AND CONS OF
INBREEDING
Copyright 1996, 2001, 2003 Sarah Hartwell
In what way do I want to breed?
To make a well educated choice, I first learned (and still learn) about cat healthcare and cat care in general. I read all kinds of book about it and go to educational meetings. Furthermore I try to pick to brains of experienced breeder, vets + geneticsmajors. I also study pedigrees of big Showwinners and their offspring as well as Foundationcats & their offspring, trying to get a good "feel" of their types. The pawped-website is a great help of course.
I concluded that my breedingchallenge is : breeding a Maine Coon cats that will fit the standard as much as possible, but are not as closely related to each other as most showline Maine Coon cats are. The so called Outcrossing. In my case, the Maine Coon Standard, is the Fifé standard, but this does not imply that the other standards are without value. I do take different paths to get to that target; I may for instance make showline/foundationcat or foundation/foundationcat-combinations.
For Devon Rexes the below mentioned standards do not apply
To prevent misunderstandings, I would like to give your the Pawpeds definition of an "outcross"cat.
For further Maine Coon information, please have a look at the Pawpeds Heritage Site:
A word of thanks
Succesful breeding (read: fullfilling one's own targets)depends for a large part on the trust and aid of co-breeders.
All you people out there who help and support me: THANK YOU!!!
I hope to experience your catlove-and-knowledge for many more years.
"No man is an island"
Marjan Boonen
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