Breeder Profile, Anne Harvey, Cooncerto Maine Coon Cats
My name is Anne Harvey and I
breed Maine Coons in Australia under the prefix Cooncerto.
This breed profile is not only about me but also about the
people behind me as it should be. None of us breed in
isolation and we are all indebted to the breeders of the
cats behind our cats all the way back to foundation, without
whom we would not have Maine Coon cats. So the story of
Cooncerto is also the story of friendships brought about by our mutual love of a magnificent
breed of cat.
The first cat show I went to was
a small regional show in Bundaberg, Queensland, with a
friend who had bred Siamese many years ago and who still
shows shorthaired neuters and spays. At the time I had four
cats, various elderly domestics who had wandered into my
home many years ago and chose to live with my husband and I.
I remember walking around the show hall and wondering which
breed of cat I would chose if I could have another, but
mostly I just remember being amazed that any of the cats
would stay on the judging tables with members of the public
and strangers walking around. Of course there were no Maine
Coons at that show in regional Queensland in the mid 1990’s,
but I guess that it was the start of my foray into pedigreed
cats, although I never dreamt that I would travel as far
along this road as I have.
It was several more years before I
took the next step. My elderly cats were succumbing to old
age and it was time to find the next generation. We expect
to outlive our cats, but nevertheless it is still
heartbreaking when it happens. I looked in shelters for a
kitten or cat to help fill the hole in my heart and did not
find that special one who called out to me. I wanted a cat
or kitten with character – and I had read about Maine Coons
so I decided to find out what I could about them. Once I
started looking in earnest, I was totally hooked. It was
quite hard to find a breeder of Maine Coons in Australia at
that time. I remember finding the most amazing websites in
America where the breed originated and I visited many times.
Eventually I found two references to Maine Coons in
Australia. One was a pet owner who had published photos of
her babies and the other was Cath Walker of
Gradach Maine Coons in
Sydney.
In early 1999 I went to Sydney to
meet Cath and choose my Maine Coon kitten – my first
pedigreed cat and hopefully a neuter I could show. A little
brown classic tabby and white boy tempted me to take him
home, but he was not show quality and I decided to wait –
colour was not important, but I did want to try my hand in
the show ring. And then I waited and waited! Cath and I
became friends during that time and finally in November 1999
I went to our local airport to pick up Gradach Democles –
Samson to his friends – my 18 week old red classic tabby
kitten. And my life changed completely from that moment on.
I knew that one day I would breed these beautiful creatures
– I wanted nothing more than a houseful of Maine Coon
kittens. As I write this article I have my dream – I have my
houseful of kittens gamboling around my feet and my
shoulders and on my keyboard as I try to write this and I
love it. But back to my story, the next step after Samson
arrived was actually to go to our first show. The show
season in Australia ends in November and begins again in
late January, so I entered Samson in his and my first cat
show in Brisbane in January 2000. I knew nothing about
grooming or cage curtains or anything much about what to
expect, but we had beginners luck and he brought home Best
Kitten in one ring and placed highly in all the other rings.
I wish I could tell you the names of the judges and the
exact placings, but it was no more than I expected with my
beautiful boy <grin> I showed Samson to Bronze Double Grand
Champion and then we reached an agreement – he didn’t really
like showing much and I love him too much to make him
unhappy. By this time I was well on my way to achieving my
dream to breed Maine Coon Cats. Cath Walker had agreed to
mentor me and was introducing me to other breeders and we
were poring over pedigrees and doing a lot of browsing
through websites overseas looking for my first stud cat. I
spent many weeks editing and adding to our database of cats
and learning about pedigrees and I came to realize just how
lucky we are to have the use of the
PawPeds database on line –
what a wonderful resource for new breeders and old ones too!
My thanks to Ulrika and Astrid and their husbands.
Fiona Cooper-Stephens of Coolcoons
had begun breeding Maine Coons in Sydney by that time and
the three of us Fiona, Cath and I got along well and had
some pretty social weekend shows! Fiona and Cath taught me
to groom a cat properly for the show benches. Fiona provided
me with my first breeding queen – a tiny bundle of fur and
attitude that we called Motor Mouse because she meowed
loudly all the way home to Hervey Bay from Sydney – Motor
Mouth more like, but that was not dignified enough for my
first queen! Mouse is now a stately spay and grandmother,
but she still has as much character as that tiny kitten I
brought home.
And then with help from a lot of
people, Donna Hinton on Nascats, Jill and Dave Burrow of
Coonsboro, and of course Cath, I found Caron Gray of
Rumford Maine Coons in
Brookfield, Wisconsin. I wrote tentatively to Caron asking
if she would consider sending one of her babies to Australia
and to a newcomer to boot. I believe in fate, Caron had a
new litter just born and one of those kittens turned out to
be my Rumfords Indiana Jones.
Sending a cat from America to
Australia is not a light commitment and I will be forever
grateful to Caron that she was prepared to do this for me.
Over the incredibly long waiting period we got to know each
other pretty well by phone and by email, I collected a huge
album of photographs from Caron of my babies in every stage
of their growth – oh, I ended up with not just one, but two
Rumford cats to begin my breeding programme. Thank you
Caron!! (Since this article appeared in the Maine
Attraction, I have also fulfilled my dream to meet Caron. I
stayed with her and her husband Steve in their home in
September 2004 when I went to pick up my next stud – but
more of that later)
Breeding cats is easy, right? You
get a girl cat and a boy cat and put them together and hey
presto – kittens!! Well, no, not exactly. There is so much
to learn; there are so many things which can go wrong, and
then there are the special moments which make it so
rewarding – for me birth is one of those special times. All
my kittens are born in my bedroom and the expectant mother
gets to spend some quiet time with us in the weeks preceding
birth. My first litter of kittens arrived in the early hours
of the morning to Motor Mouse on New years eve 2001 – I had
held Mouse’s paw for two nights waiting for the moment, and
of course it happened in the wee hours of the morning in one
of those few hours I had snatched some sleep for myself. I
woke to the sound of a newborn kitten crying – he was on the
polished timber floor and was cold and his mother was busy
with the next kitten. Thankfully December in Australia is
summer and he was not really very cold, just a bit shocked
and alone. I spent the rest of the morning with the phone to
my ear and Cath and Fiona on the other end at various times
helping both Mouse and I through the rest of the birth. It’s
nice to know that you have friends you can ring at five in
the morning and they will still talk to you! Now I have a
birthing kit packed in advance and I am experienced enough
to judge the time pretty well and we share that special time
together in a much calmer state. I really enjoy the quiet
time spent with the girls before birth and sitting quietly
with the new mothers after we have both cleaned up – they
are so proud of themselves and their babies, making
paddlepaws over the kittens heads while they all line up to
suckle.
Another thing that I enjoy is
watching the faces of the people who come to collect their
special kittens. In the beginning it was hard to let my
kittens go to their new homes, but now I know that they are
very special in the lives of the people who adopt them and I
get a lot of enjoyment out of the happiness I know that the
kittens will bring. I get photos and email updates from most
people who have my kittens and I know how much happiness
they bring in their new homes.
Each of my cats is special and I
treat them all as pets. I never want to be a large scale
breeder since I believe that cats deserve to share our lives
and not be caged. Sometimes in a multi-cat household this
gets hard to manage. We do have cats from time to time who
have personality clashes, or the older cats get tired of
having their tails pounced on by kittens, but I am lucky to
have a large house with a number of cat friendly rooms
fitted out with shelves under the windows and climbing
places where I can give my alters some space and time by
themselves during the day while I am at work. I think I
spend half my time rotating cats to and from these safe
places, but we have some lovely places in the house to sit
quietly with a book and a large Maine Coon on your lap.
But with the joys there are also
heartbreaks. That special girl who has to be desexed before
she has her first litter, that beautiful kitten who does not
make it past his first week. The strange things like when my
boy chose not to mate a girl who was in screaming heat,
preferring instead to play with a baby kitten. He never
mated that particular girl and so I desexed her. I
choose not to dwell on the negative things but to learn from
them and move on with hopefully a better idea of how to cope
when the next problem crops up.
So what is it that makes Maine
Coons so special for me? I think that they are born clowns!
They are not delicate and graceful like most cats – the
noise they make thundering around the house is incredible,
especially at 4am in the morning! There is Samson who rolls
over on command like a dog (well when he feels like it);
there is my big tough ex-stud cat Indy, who likes nothing
better than to drape himself over my shoulder and turn his
head up to me for kisses; there are the girls and the
kittens who like to play fetch; but funniest of all is that
tiny little meow which is so incongruous coming out of such
a big cat! I even enjoy housework with so many little
helpers; they love to help me make the bed, hiding under the
doona and inside pillowcases – it takes me a long time to
change the sheets, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Sweeping the floor and cleaning litter boxes, I always have
helpers. I often feel like the Pied Piper walking around the
house with a trail of kittens and cats behind me. So I think
to summarise it, the best thing they bring to my house is
laughter and joy and beauty.
When I decided to breed Maine Coon
cats, we built a courtyard enclosed on three sides by the
house with an eight foot high wall around the other side
which keeps in all but the most determined of cats. I let my
neuters and spays run in there and even the entire cats when
I am home to supervise and can spend time out there with
them. Watching a Maine Coon stretch out and run in the sun
with the breeze blowing through their coats is a wonderful
sight. They love the opportunity to chase dragonflies and
the odd willy-wagtail or peewee that comes down to taunt
them – I have sent these birds deliberately tease the cats,
flying low over their heads and landing just out of reach. I
don’t allow kittens into the courtyard though because once
they have a taste of life outside it is pretty hard to stop
them from wanting more. I can imagine these cats as
survivors in the wild, their hunting instincts are very well
honed and as with any cat, the wild side is hidden by only a
thin layer of well groomed fur.
I have only a few girls which
means that I breed only two or three litters a year.
Rumfords Indiana Jones has been retired now for several
years, and his successor VelvetJewels Theoden came to join
us from the USA in late 2004. I picked Theoden up in person
from Roxann and Van Rokiki of
Velvetjewels Maine Coons
when I finally got to meet Caron Gray and stay with her and
her husband Steve. Theoden is an exceptional boy, he doesn’t
spray, he doesn;t really act like a tomcat at all and can
still run in the house with most of my spays and neuters and
all his kittens! I have hopes that Theodens son Cooncerto
Fhoenix Rising born 12 July 2006 will take after his father
and if so Theoden can be retired.
Theoden is co-owned with Greg and
Allison Chappelow of ChappelHill Maine Coons in Sydney. I
did tell you that I had met some wonderful friends through
this hobby of mine? Well Greg and Allison are among those
friends. Importing cats to Australia is expensive and having
someone to share the expense with ensures that we can
continue to import and improve the bloodlines and health of
our Maine Coons. Greg and Allison have taken some time off
breeding cats to have a family of their own. I have since
brought over another stud male from Annette Norris of
MaineFlame in New Zealand - MaineFlame Kahanamoku arrived in
July 2006. I will have a little girl arriving from New
Zealand in 2007.
If anybody had told me eight
years ago that I would not only breed Maine Coon cats, but
import several from overseas, I would have
said it was an impossible dream. But nothing is impossible
if you are really determined. The trick is to do it to the
best of your ability and never compromise. The health of my
cats and kittens is critical to me. I test for Hypertrophic
Cardiomyopathy, Hip Dysplasia, and Polycystic Kidney
Disease. I want to do my best for the breed and I want my
kittens to be healthy, bring joy to their families and live
long and happy lives.
I have not mentioned yet how much
the friendship of Cath Walker of Gradach Maine coons has
meant to me throughout the last few years. Cath has been the
one who has held my hand through this whole journey;
answered my many questions and become a good friend in the
process. Our little Australian group of Maine Coon breeders
has grown in the last years with the addition of several new
breeders who have similar ideals to our own and who will
expand the genepool by importing new lines. Sadly, there are
also a great many new breeders who have chosen to add Maine
Coons to their established catteries because they are a
popular breed and not because they have a passion for these
wonderful felines. Without passion, life can be
mediocre!
And last but not least I must tell
you about my husband Peter without whom I could not follow
this passion of mine, breeding cats is an expensive and all
encompassing hobby and our life has changed in many ways. It
is difficult for us to holiday together because one of us
has to be home always. But it is worth it, I want you to
know that my life is enriched by the friendships I
have made through this hobby of mine and as a result, Peters
life has been enriched by my happiness – I hope!
We do lead busy lives and from
time to time it is necessary to remember to stop and smell
the flowers, or in my case stroke the shining fur of a red
tabby Maine Coon cat, or a brown tabby, or a blue tabby;
actually any colour will do as long as it is a Maine Coon!
