Cats that are used as foundation animals in the Maine Coon breed

Foundation Cats

Notes are incomplete on some of these cats, and information is not guaranteed to be correct. If you have additional information to add, or if you spot errors, please email 

Diana Verhaegen

Masterweaver [Judith Schulz]
Prairiebaby [Judith Schulz] (At that time)
Praylyne [Phyllis Tobias]
Vita [Rasma Sauja]

Masterweaver owned by Judith Schulz 

First Project In The Year 2020:

New Group of Polydactyl Foundation Farm Cats from Manitoba, Canada

Zoomilee PP of Masterweaver (F1, the grandma of most of them) [p]
Coyote PP of Masterweaver (F1, Lil’ Coyote’s mom) [p]
Jackal PP of Masterweaver (F1, Ulysses’s mom) [p]
Fisher PP of Masterweaver (F1, Lil’ Coyote’s and Ulysses’ dad) [p]
Masterweaver All Things Created PP (F2, Call name Coyote) [p]
Masterweaver New Beginnings PP (F2, Call name Ulysses) [p]

In June 2020, A group of feral farm cats in Rural Manitoba had caught my attention during an intentional search, while visiting family. The group is located about 200 km north from where I had found the last PP (4WD) snow shoe Polydactyls, at the turn of the century. There are some regular footed and some show shoes. All Polies in the group are Polydactyl on all four feet, just as in the previous years. Again, no mitten paws! Various types of coat- and tail lengths. On this farm I only saw dense coloured kittens that particular year, many reds. The females seem to have an average of 4 live kittens - a good sign for this type colony. According to the caring farmer, all the cats are quiet and relaxed in temperament. I went back several times in 2020 and brought home some fairly closely related MW 4WD kittens - Coyote, Ulysses (and his cousin-brother that was petted out) and then Dolly. Both parents and one grandma could be seen and photographed on site. We were able to figure out the lineage for about two generations, at least on the mother’s side.

Masterweaver All Things Created PP, MW 4WD, “Coyote”, F2 Tortie female

Manitoba, Canada: Coyote is my absolute favourite! I named Coyote after her mother “Coyote PP of Masterweaver”, just after receiving reports from the farmer that cats on his farm kept disappearing that particular year. Kittens left the barn loft and were nowhere to be seen within days. Gone! Adults gone! At first, farmer George suspected them being taken by large birds, called fishers. Then later in the year, a group of hungry coyotes were suspected to be the guilty predators. Then strangely, cats disappeared and then some of them re-appeared later on. So George wasn’t quite sure about anything anymore but, being not only a farmer but a true cat lover, he decided to buy himself a big Pyrenees Mountain dog. Why am I saying this? After my initial visit in June, George was kind enough to keep a kitten from one of the litters,  lil’ “Coyote”,  in his bathroom. He held her especially for me (!), until I was able to pick her up. He did this to prevent her from becoming “Coyote bag lunch” (his words). Coyote was the cutest little pumpkin. Surprisingly, she was also free of parasites. In fact, all cats were which is super uncommon on farms, especially farms with pigeons in the loft!! What I did notice was that her and one of the siblings had a pretty bad chest infection that needed immediate attention. So I gave George some meds for the little brother and some of his other kittens and took Coyote home. Even tough I often keep foundation cats up to a year, to determine whether or not they are good enough, it was decided very early on that Coyote had potential to become the main building block for a new Canadian foundation line. Coyote is not quite Maine Coon girl size but currently weighs about 10-11 pounds which is really great for a foundation cat. I love her heft and substance and adore her overall facial expression. She has a boxy muzzle, a decent chin, great profile and proper ear set. We’ll just have to glue some ear (not lash) extensions on her, lengthen her body, legs and tail a bit and breed in a better coat. Tell those people who say foundation cats can’t have lynx tippings to find a job somewhere. Coyote’s temperament makes even the most serious person laugh out loud. She is a hoot!! My husband gets a daily, full facial and haircut by her while laying on the floor mat and doing his stretches. (This replaced the barber during “covid”). Coyote has been fully health tested and had a healthy litter of 5 in 2021. Her gums and teeth are amazing! She produces true to breed type and will be kept here for several years, in order to further her HCM testing and try out different matings with her. Yes, there is a slight possibility she might have relation to my MW Poly cats from 2000. Mind you, after so many years and so far from the last location, they would be diluted down enough to consider them unrelated. 

Masterweaver New Beginnings PP, MW 4WD, “Ulysses”, Red/White F2 Poly male

Manitoba, Canada; While taking another trip to Manitoba in the fall of 2020, I took Ulysses and his “cousin-brother” home from the same farm at under 4 weeks, simply because they would not have lived another month and I didn’t want to ask George again to keep them for me. Half of George’s barn cats went missing that summer. The coyote (and fisher?) issue was quite serious. Despite some minor set-backs, Ulysses has been an overall good choice for my breeding program. I wasn’t sure about him for the longest time but he really bulked up over the past year! His temperament is exactly like Coyote’s and makes that of a registered Maine Coon look bad, no kidding! He’s an ultra happy, gentle, offensively affectionate clown boy. He gets along with everything that has legs and does not smell, pee or spray. Ulysses’ size is ok and his body and tail are nice and long. His coat is shaggy, easy care but still too bunny like. I favour his strong muzzle, chin and profile but he obviously does need quite a bit of help still with his overall head shape, eye set, body size and other goodies. Trial breedings and further testing will confirm whether or not he is worthy to be integrated into the gene pool of our breed. Hang tight! 

Second Project In The Year 2020

Two New Foundation Females from Lake Superior Area

(Masterweaver) Joy from Waters of Masterweaver. Joy, Blue F1 Female  

Lake Superior, Eastern Canada: Joy originates from the Canadian shore of Sault Ste. Marie, where the Saint Marie River connects Lake Huron and Lake Superior.  I feel very blessed to have found her! Joy was chosen for her extremely affectionate temperament, her wonderful coat, overall favourable breed traits and -  last not least -  her perfect health and gums - that’s priority when picking foundation cats! Her parents are unknown which makes her an F1. Joy is ultra affectionate with me, Ulysses and Efren but grumbles with cats she doesn’t know. We integrated her around age 2 which has to be considered. I love ultra perfect temperament but have to remind myself that sometimes with a new foundation cat that wasn’t baby raised you can’t determine the true temperament in the lines until they make kittens. I love her overall balanced type, her facial expression and her superb coat, even though it mats a little. Joy’s weight and size will definitely have to be improved. She sits at around 10 pounds at 2 years of age. Her hips were OFA certified Good. Other health tests are being performed over the next couple of years. 

Masterweaver Creation Song, Efren, Calico F2 Female

Lake Superior, Eastern Canada: Efren means “fruitful” in Hebrew. She is a precious little jewel from another trip around Lake Superior. I adopted Efren from a private, rural home, a few hundred kilometres away from where I found Joy.  She came from a healthy, repeat litter of 4. Efren has amazing colouring, fairly nice coat quality, a long, square muzzle, decent size and a quiet, uncomplicated  demeanour. I was able to meet and photograph both her parents and a sister from a previous litter. Everyone of them appeared to be very affectionate. I do not like Efren’s head shape, ear set and some other goodies yet, but all this can be fixed along the way, up to F4 or F5. I was admittedly not ultra thrilled about the ticked ghost pattern Efren is passing on to her kittens but since this pattern is commonly observed in domestic and wild cats and also now accepted in our breed standard, I’ve since decided to be excited about this unique trait. Efren had all 50 genes with Optimal Selection negative and her diversity is a whooping 40 %! Hips were rated “excellent”. HCM/PKD test negative in 2021, to be repeated in a couple of years. I kept two of Efren’s kittens from one of my pedigreed males and will be continuing her lines through them.

1. MW Toe Arrangement: Canadian Masterweaver Polydactyl foundation cats were ALWAYS PP (4WD). They were ALWAYS snow show or patty type. This means ALL of them were Polydactyl on all four feet and originally never produced a mitten paw. The cat Prairiepoly of Masterweaver was a PP. Prairiebaby Masterweaver P was actually a PP. Both of them were snow shoes. I only used one P in my pedigrees in the beginning and then later came up with the PP suffix. The PP symbol has been taken over by many other breeders now and simply means the cat is Polydacytl on all four feet. Since there were other Polydactyl lines mixed into the pedigrees later on, some of the Polies later turned out to be mitten pawed and some of them 2WD. However, the ORIGINAL Masterweaver Poly foot was always a 4WD snow shoe.

2. Origin Concerns: The area where we used to live in Manitoba was very sparcely populated - a small farming community, literally in the middle of nowhere. This means that many people actually knew each other through horse shows, fall suppers and country markets. I was the talk of the town with my “foundation projects”, causing many smirks on peoples faces. During the years of 3rd wave foundation breeding, I occasionally found a prospect foundation cat on a surrounding farm. Many didn’t work out and were either petted out or brought back to the farm to their accustomed surroundings. So some of the F1 x F1 breedings” were done naturally on the farm and most times I got my kittens directly through the farmers (who were my neighbours). Other times, the farmers just dropped whole litters off at the country vet, in order to prevent over-population and to find homes for them quicker. None of these farmers ever spayed or neutered their cats. That’s just the mentality in the Prairies, like it or not. In other words, whether I bred two F1 cats at my own home or received a kitten/cat directly from a farm or through my vet (which only happened *twice* in all those years by the way!) they were still ALL farm cats and I usually knew *exactly* where they came from when farmers eliminated their “overstock”. Why? Simply because the girls who worked at the vet office knew who dropped them off :-). The only cat I was never sure where she originated from was Canada Graceland of Prairiebaby. So I simply asked my vet to write up a letter of verification for me that was provided to some breeder colleagues who received kittens from her later on. So nothing was ever “hidden” from breeder friends. I didn’t bother to explain all this on Pawpeds earlier on but now realize a detailed explanation could have potentially prevented some misunderstandings (or potentially created more confusion ha!). I also would like to mention that, since the Seidlers and Cheryl Fraser had already quit breeding and were 220 km away from me anyways, I was the only Maine Coon breeder around in the Prairies at that time, in a radius of about 1000 km (!). Nope, there weren’t many of us in the Prairies (not even in all of Canada) during that time. So for any of the foundation cats below to be a potential result of pedigreed heritage would be seemingly far fetched! Optimal Selection heterozygosity results of Canada’s offspring have also confirmed this.

(Masterweaver) PrairiePoly of Masterweaver (he was a PP) (Updated 2021) [p]
Masterweaver Creation Shows Your Face [p]
Prairiebaby Masterweaver P (he was is PP) [p]

Rural Manitoba: In the year 2000, a Canadian born, polydactyl foundation Maine Coon was added to my breeding program. I called him “Prairiepoly of Masterweaver”. Due to the value he presented, not only for me personally but also for the Maine Coon breed in general - a breed that had been reduced to a limited gene pool and only one or two (?) of the “original” Poly lines at the time, I named a whole bloodline after him. I chose the word “Masterweaver” not to blow my own horn but rather to give glory to our God who created the whole universe and every living creature in it. Prairiepoly’s F2 son, “Prairiebaby Masterweaver P”, was then paired with three of my foundation females, in order to integrate the Snowshoe type foot (MW Polydactyl on all 4 feet) into several pedigrees. A lot of passion and effort was poured into these Masterweaver cats, by trying to improve their weaknesses and to enhance their natural strengths.

In 2010, some of us were finally able to show our Polydactyl Maine Coons in TICA "New Traits”. This was kind of ironic since about 35 - 40 % of the original Maine Coon breed was actually Polydactyl (lol). The promotion of Polydactyl Maine Coons resulted in a positive reverse effect on our breed. Showing Polies has also served as a perfect tool to educate a deserving public and to eliminate some of the old ‘myths’ on Polydactylism. Polydactyl Maine Coons are super cool!!

(PrairieBaby) Oakland of PrairieBaby [p]
PrairieBaby Fear No Evil [p]
PrairieBaby I Love All You Made [p]
We had been keeping an eye on our neighboring farm cat colonies for a while. One night, my friend Rose phoned me and told me she had seen a litter of kittens that looked "just like Judith's cats" and I should go have a look at them. My two guys had taken both vehicles and so Rose took me to the farm. It should be mentioned that we have a certain type of longhaired cats populating the Oakland area for many years. At the farm we met a whole group of large, wonderful looking cats with nice long rectangular bodies. Most of them longhaired. Inbreeding must have taken place because most of them were dilutes with white. Most farm cats have a certain amount of inbreeding. Even though we are against inbreeding, we believe that even an inbred farm cat presents a great outcross to our existing lines because there is a long invisible pedigree behind them. Also, if a group of cats has stayed healthy over many years and litters are still large and perfectly formed - despite of the inbreeding - then this is a good sign that this is a relatively clean line with great vigor. Then some of our research has automatically been accomplished - in a natural way! We looked at the gums and teeth of some of the tamer cats and they looked great! One of the blue/ white females, 4 years old, who just had a litter of four kittens struck our attention. They were just being weaned and all seemed to be in good health. We decided on one of the blue tabby/white males and took him to our vet. We also asked permission to take mom in for CBC and Felv/Fiv testing. Please note that a Felv/Fiv test on a kitten younger than 12 weeks is not reliable. That is why we always take mom in first. We took pictures of mom and the four babies and also of some of the relatives to get a clear picture of the traits in this particular line of cats. We later called the mothercat "Canada Love of PrairieBaby". One kitten was real nice. He is a Blue Tabby/White boy. The other boy kitten looked more like a hamster (ha!) than a Maine Coon and had a strong under bite. So he couldn't be used for breeding. Father of Canada Love's litter was a big Blue tabby/white male we called "Souris Valley of PrairieBaby". Maxine, the daughter of the farmers, promised us a picture . We later went back and took pictures ourselves. We weren't able to catch him though. This is an old line and according to the farmers - good, honest, old fashioned English folks - there has never been any sicknesses in their cats. As a matter of fact, the great grandfather of our little boy just died last winter at the age of 18. He lived with the neighbors of the farmers. Boakeman had been in many fights and has been badly beaten up. All their cats were well fed and most of them had nice shiny coats. Mother Canada Love has had several healthy litters. The fact that there were 4 kittens in the litter and all were large and healthy, told us that the inbreeding COI can't be too high. The farm where the 17 year old male lives is also the home of the little Red Tabby/White girl, we later called "Oktober". She is his great grandchild. Both parents of Oktober could be seen at the farm. Her mom is "Lilly of the Valley of PrairieBaby", a Cream Tortie/High White. Oktober's dad is "Oakland of PrairieBaby", a Red Mac Tabby/High White. There was no scale for the cats handy at the farm, but my guess is that Oakland weighed about 15 or 16 pounds as an adult male. We were very impressed of this flock of cats. All looked extremely well taken care of. The litter of five where Oktober came from was running around happily. The lady knew all the "imaginary" pedigrees and could give us a pretty reliable history for all cats.
Update 2022: All three cats are now presented in many pedigrees all around the world. Some F6 generations became Grand Champions and Regional Winners in CFA, shown through Sheila Haskins in Texas, among others.

(PrairieBaby) Shame Into Praise of PrairieBaby [p]
From Oakland, Manitoba, directly from farm: The story behind Moudine is boring. We simply found her at our good friend's farm and asked if we can have her and she said "sure, it's one less kitten to find a home for!" Moudine's parents are not related. So, that's the story :-)). This girl brought a lot of boning and affection into our foundation program. Update 2021: Moudine is now presented in many pedigrees around the world. 

(PrairieBaby) Sid of PrairieBaby (formerly of Thunderpaws) [p]
From Maine, through breeder collegue Donna Chase: Sid is an F1 (first generation), Maine origin foundation Maine Coon. What makes Sid so special is that he is one of the very few original Maine Coon cats (formerly called Maine cats or Maine shags). He was found and registred right in the State of Maine. Sid represents an excellent example of the old fashioned, traditional Maine Coon type. He has a beautiful head and gorgeous eyes, a strong muzzle and chin. His coat is heavier than what we see nowadays but needs better shag. He is heavy boned and has a well balanced body and a nice long tail. Sid is very big for a foundation cat. He now weighs over 18 pounds but agreed with me yesterday that he wouldn't mind losing a pound or two :-) What we like so very much about Sid is that he is a real gentleman and never behaved like a stud male, other then when it came to breeding a girl. Sid has a very sweet, gentle and outgoing character and loves to raise kittens. However, he needed to be the highest in rank among males when he was still whole. When we talk to Sid, he right away rolls over and lets us pet his belly. He loves to sit on laps and purrs constantly. Sid has captured our hearts with his charme. Update 2021: Sid is now presented in many pedigrees around the world. Some of his F6 offspring, paired with my other foundation lines, became Grand Champions and Regional Winners in CFA. A big THANK-YOU to Donna Chase for letting me use him in my program!

PrairieBaby Drench The Barren Land (Prairiegirl) [p]
From outskirts of Selkirk, Manitoba, private home: Here goes: I found Prairiegirl through a newspaper add, during a shipping trip to Winnipeg. Her origin is Selkirk, the outskirts of Winnipeg. The people had two dogs, three female cats, three kittens left, all were loved and well taken care of - but not much money seemed to be available and things at their house were going overboard. Only one of the females was spayed. The other two (mother and daughter) were both whole. One was 4 years old and the other one (Prairiegirl) was 3. And.........this prairie girl was too nice to be overlooked!! Have they had kittens before? This is what the owner said: "They both had had a few litters - whenever they managed to get out when they were in heat. The tom cat used to sit in front of our door, waiting for them, peeing on our stairs. The kittens always went well because they were so nice and fluffy. Sometimes we brought them to the pet store if we didn't find owners". My question: Were the kids alright and healthy? "Oh yes, both are great moms, the babies already ate by themselves at 3 1/2 weeks of age. They had many Calicos and Tabbies with white paws, usually around 4 kittens." Question: What about the young female, the one who has babies right now? " She has had babies from the same tom cat as her mother, the next door guy, for the past couple of years. Nice friendly guy." "Can I see him?" "Sure, if he is home". over at the neighbor's house..... This particular tom didn't turn out to be exactly the most handsome cat but obviously capable to produce nice kids with his own "daughter" outsch!. "I ***think*** we won't take any of the kittens, but would you be willing to let us have the young female instead of a baby kitten?". "You mean you don't want a kitten but the mother?" "Yap. I am sure you will find homes easily for her 3 remaining kids". "Well we weren't planning on it, but we were kind of thinking of keeping one of these kittens........sure!! " :-) Prairiegirl and her mother Susie were obviously naturals when it comes to raising litters. According to the owners only her mother lost a baby once in her first litter. Of course pet people are not fully capable to see deformities in young kittens, but this "health history" still speaks for itself. And........even better (or not): None of them has ever seen a vet. So we have some vaccinating to do here :-)). They also did not care to spend the money to get either of them spayed, like many cat owners here in Manitoba. They actually seemed released when I offered to take "Prairiegirl" with me. Prairiegirl loved me from the first minute on. Since we had not planned this incident at all, we had to go buy a kennel for her in Winnipeg to transport her home - or actually - to be more specific, straight to my vet in Brandon. In her kennel she turned and turned, trilling at me, wanting attention. When I put my hand into the kennel she rubbed against me, licking my hands. At my vet she did not resist any kind of checkup or blood test. Her temperament is so loving and stable that this alone would have been a reason to include her in my program. Since she did not come from a shelter or farm, I am less concerned about health problems or parasites, but everything needs to be done by the book to be safe. Update 2021: Prairiegirl is now presented in pedigrees all around the world.

PrairieBaby Fall At Your Feet P (Plopp) [p]
Both parents from rural Manitoba, directly from the farm: Plopp is an F2 polydactyl foundation girl from my Canadian lines. "Plopp" is called a Four Wheel Drive in breeder language, which means she has six toes on her front and hind feet. I never introduced the PP code until a couple of years later. (She should be a PP on her pedigree). Plopp's temperament is out of this world. She tops all my other cats in her dependency on people. She jumps on your shoulders, licks your face and messes up your hair with her big paws. She never shows her claws. Plopp gets along very well with our other cats. She has an excellent immune system and has never been sick. Perfect gums and teeth. There were six healthy babies in the litter where Plopp came from. Plopp's mom is my lovegirl Moudine. Daddy is a big Canadian Polydactyl whom I called Masterweaver. A completely new bloodline is being created here, in order to strenghen the gene pool of the Maine Coon breed. Update 2021: Plopp can now be found in pedigrees all around the world. She was basically the mother of the Masterweaver Poly foot (4WD snow shoe) we see in our Maine Coons now.

PrairieBaby Gonna Be Worth It All (Cameron) [p]
Both parents Oakland, Manitoba, mother from neighbouring acreage, sire a stray farm cat: Cameron is a complete product of nature. Nobody bred this boy, he comes from a romance relationship of two cats in my neighborhood. Cameron's father Peppy is the most wanted tom cat in our little town. Nobody really likes him. As a matter of fact, the guys in town have been trying to shoot Peppy on several occasions. Peppy empties garbage cans and steels things out of garages. For some strange reason, nobody has ever been able to catch him. Peppy has endured many cold winters with no home. His face shows scars from endless cat fights. My neighbor Glenda had compassion on him and has been feeding him for a while and has also given him shelter. She is the only person Peppy has warmed up to. Cameron's mother is was owned by my neighbor Rose's daughter Vandy. Cameron's mother was in love with Peppy the minute they first saw each other. The first time she had a litter from him was last year when I was on holidays. Rose had told me "Judith you have to look at these kittens!". But............Judith was too busy at the time. Well, this early spring Rose said she had seen her kitty at another rendezvous with Peppy. A couple of months later the babies were there. She had four again, just like last time. At first they looked like regular longhaired kittens. But all of the sudden Rose called me and said " Judith you gotta come over and look at these kids. They look better than some of your purebreds". I didn’t Ike her saying that but went and could not believe my eyes. The kittens grew and grew and the more they grew the more they looked like little Maine cats. One of them was supposed to go to Rose's sister, Rose kept a girl kitten, a third one went to a lady who lives down the road. Cameron was the cuddliest of them all and so Rose's daughter Vandy wanted to keep him badly, together with his sister. When Cameron (they call him Flinn) turned 5 months old, we decided to borrow him for a season. Cameron has made some lovely kittens for us and since Vandy has now decided against taking him back, he is still whole. Cameron is presently still being used in our breeding program, but lives with some of our other foundation females on a farm here in Manitoba. To our best knowledge, Cameron's parents are not closely related. Looking at his outer appearance, we also don't think that Cameron is related to our other foundation cats - and if then probably only slightly. Update 2021: Cameron is presented in pedigrees around the world. Prairiebaby River Promise, a full brother to Cameron, was later sent to Ulrika Olsson, the founder of Pawpeds in Sweden. He sired many litters in Sweden and Europe, providing great gene diversity.

(Prairiebaby) Canada Graceland of Prairiebaby [p] (FULL REPORT UPDATE In 2021!)
From Rural Brandon, Manitoba, through country vet: Canada is a beautiful, first generation (F1), foundation female with Manitoba, Canada origin. She presented a strong building block during the 3rd wave of Maine Coon foundation breeding and is present in many of nowadays pedigrees. I was really getting tired of writing stories in 2003 but was finally able to kick start my memory to complete Canada’s details. The purpose of my 2021 update is also to put some of the “guessing games’ of Canada’s heritage to rest. Here goes......The staff at Grand Valley Animal Clinic, at the outskirts of Brandon, Manitoba, was keenly aware of my Maine Coon foundation projects at the time. No wonder as they did hundreds of Felv/Fiv tests, stool samples and CBCs for me! :-). So one day, one of the vet technicians, either Angie or Peggy (?), called me and said: “Judith you have to come and see this cool cat we have at the clinic for you!” So here I went and yep, Canada definitely was a good one! Unfortunately, she was pregnant at the time of adoption and delivered a litter of short haired kittens at my house, obviously from some random short haired tom cat. All kittens found good homes, at which time I was able to do some intentional F2 breedings with Canada. Canada was bred to one of my full foundation males and also to a pedigreed male. Despite the fact of being a small kitty with a cobby little body and tail, Canada had wonderful type for an F1 and produced some REALLY nice babies. This was the reason I decided to share her with a couple of my close breeder friends. This ensured a more diverse distribution of her lines. In fact, I liked her babies so much that I kept three of her daughters from one litter. Even now, after my breeding break, I still love working with pedigrees that have Canada in the background. I even love it when she is doubled up (or quadrupled) in my current pedigrees! Several of Canada’s offspring were shown in ACFA. A collegue of mine, Allegiancelove Cattery in Bulgaria, has produced marvellous F4 and F5 offspring from one of Canada’s granddaughters, Prairiebaby Grateful for Eternity (Hazel).
Side Note: Much controversy has been stirred up over Canada’s origin over the years. This is understandable, due to her typey head and lynx tips. Looking at my explanation above, the possibility of a connection to our existing breed would have been possible but seemingly low. A vet-signed letter was provided when Canada’s offspring was shared with breeders in later years.

Prairiebaby River Revival (Franky Frownsalot) [p]
Dam from Rural Brandon Manitoba, through country vet, Sire from Nesbitt, Manitoba: Franky's dad is the same cat as Cameron's dad. Franky's mom is a female named Jessey who is living with the neighbors now. When we got Franky at about 10 weeks of age, we honestly did not believe that we would be able to integrate him with our other boys. Franky hadn't been handled up till then and he didn't exactly have that *gentle giant temperament* that we prefer for our foundation kitties to have. In the contrary!! Franky was a terror!! Extremely quick to act, unbelievably smart, extraordinary territorial, way too early maturing and rather "pro-actively aggressive". The food bowl was empty before the other cats had even spotted it. Franky swatted the boys (young or old) over the head when they did not stay back. Even grandpa Silhouette who usually don't take any nonsense from anybody was feeling unusually intimidated. Franky took his job very seriously! Everybody was a dangerous rival in his opinion. He felt he needed to defend all things around him, no matter if they needed protection or not! This went on for about 3 or 4 weeks. We didn't even create a separate page for Franky at that time, simply because we did not think he would be able to stay. Had this boy not been so drop-dead gorgeous and very sweet with people, he probably would not have gotten a chance to show us whether he was hiding a lamb under his lion coat or not. After about a month Franky suddenly started to change. He was beginning to realize that nobody wanted to take anything from him and nobody was going to rule over him. He has now developed into a SUPER affectionate, sweet, social and good natured (not quite well behaved yet :)) young male. He can still be a bit bossy at times but we have enough girls to even this out. The adventure with Franky made us realize that a strong desire and ability to survive is definitely one trait that can make a foundation cat very valuable - if this trait will fade when the cat is handled and socialized. I am by no means suggesting that people should breed with domineering and unpolite cats. In the contrary! In our case the bad behavior was simply a learned, natural *proactive measure* to stay alive. Had this boy been raised in my kitten nursery, he would have been a completely different kitten. Franky has smartened up and we used him for several breedings. We are seing wonderful temperament in all his kids. Update 2021: Franky has played a vital part in my foundation program and is in many pedigrees around the world. One of his offspring, Prairiebaby Come to the River of Eolecoons was sent to France and has done a marvellous job there!

Prairiebaby River Mercies (Ashanti) [p]
Ashanti is an outstanding offspring girl from our two full foundation Maine Coons Prairiebaby River Revival (Franky) and Canada Graceland of Prairiebaby (Canada). I am more than happy with her appearance and especially her temperament which (I think) almost tops everything I have seen as new foundation in the past. Ashanti has a lot to offer, considering she is full foundation and only F2. Ashanti has never been sick in her life. She is strong girl with a great immune system and perfect gums and teeth. Update 2021: Ashanti’s lines have been distributed into the breed mostly through the mating with Prairiebaby Plowman Spring River PP, at Lykken Maine Coons in Holland.

(Prairiebaby) Coonopry River Songs for Hope (Hazelnut) [p]
This fabulous girl is a result of a full foundation breeding between Jericho, our F3 full foundation male and Loretta, an F3 Koontucky full foundation female, owned by Coonopry. Hazelnut made herself right at home here the minute she arrived. I was not expecting anything else with the temperament of her parents. This girl actually reminds me a lot on Ashanti in her gentle but demanding affection. Hazelnut has stolen my heart with her extremely loving character and her great type, coat and coloring. What a healthy female with perfect gums and teeth.

All Prairiebaby and Masterweaver-stories sent in by Ms. J. Schulz herself checked and updated by her.
Note by Malin Sundqvist:  I choose to maintain the text as it was sent to me in her own words.

Praylyne / Kumskaka owned by Phyllis Tobias

In the Beginning [Ohio] [p]
Prayze Medley [Michigan] [p]
True Blue American [p]
What Manner of Love [p]
In the Beginning is "Adam", black/white male and was from toledo ohio area, as a stray a friend took in. he was bred to Prayze Medley, blue/white and she was from the humane society in adrian michigan. They produced True Blue American, "Ami" , solid blue and What Manner of Love, "Anne", solid blue.

Direct the Path [Michigan] [p]
Direct the Path, black/white, "Pat" was a neighbors cat who we borrowed before he was neutered.he was bred to our beautiful bluetorbie girl who we thought looked silver, but she never produced a silver kitten. she came from an old couple in monroe michigan when i stopped at a free kitten sign. she was the mama and the most beautiful thing i ever saw. i had to convince this family to let me take her, but we had many litters from this girl. always a true friend to me! she got old (we never knew her age) and she started to miscarry her litters and finally never got pregnant again. so she was spayed and givent o a friend to live our her old life. called "julie". Pat and Julie produced a litter (in her old age and this was her last kid) called Word Treasures, bluecream. We kept treasure for a couple litters and spayed her. 

Hymn of Praise [p]
No Greater Joy [p]
Hymn of Praise "Him", red mac and No Greater Joy, brown mac tabby/white female. we took them in with their last kitten who we named "Blazing Glory". (brown mac patched tabby/white female)the parents were then fixed and blaze had litter for us, then litters for prairiebaby in canada and finally with wackymoon coon in denmark. we have a daughter of hers in breeding now and blaze is a spay. one of the best cats we ever had! 

Disciple of all Nations [Michigan] [p]
Overflowing New Wine [Michigan] [p]
Declares the Glory [Michigan] [p]
Disciple of Nations, "Nat", brown mac and Overflowing New Wine "Floey" were adopted with their daughter Declares the Glory "Clare" from our vet. they were taken by animal control and placed at the vets in addison michigan to find them new homes. we fell in love with all of them, but didnt keep nat any longer. Floey had many litters and was tested for all tests but on her second hcm screening, she was diagnosed with hcm. she is still alive, but all but a couple of her kids were spayed/neutered and petted out by others. Clare is the mom to one girl kept in breeding and clare tested negative on her screenings, but we didnt feel safe then and spayed and placed (they didnt have the genetic test to help with things back then) Clare and Floey were big and heavy cats and very gentle loving temperments. we never had a single problem with either in the attitude to cats or people. 

Peacemaker [p]
Closer Walk of Praylyne [p]
Peacemaker and Prudence were not owned by me. i got a lovely torti kitten from them in toledo ohio and registered her as an f1. i later went back to see them and take photos and the people gave me permission to register the parents and make my torti kitten an F2. so i contacted ACA and did just this. the kitten is Closer Walk and called Kara. she is calico and still with us. a small size girl but with perfect type. i would have kept her as a breeder even longer than i did except she didnt get along with other girls well. Kara has made many kittens for us and now lives a peaceful spay's life.

By Phyllis Tobias, as told to Diana Verhaegen, 5/2008.
Note by Diana Verhaegen: the spelling of the cat's names are maybe different in several anecdotes or on certified pedigrees... I choose to maintain the spelling as Phyllis wrote it to me.

Vita owned by Rasma Sauja

Katya [Ukraine]
Lacis [Russia]
Minka [Russia]* [p]
Puka [Russia]** [p]
Ansis Meiya [p]
Businka [p]
Comments by Rasma Sauja about the pictures of these cats:
* Minka, progenitor of Latvian Maine Coons. A very big cat, nice blue. Nice tail and coat. Of gentle disposition.
** Puka (and me) at the age of about 6 years.

1. I believe the Latvian MCs originated with ship's cats that came into rescue and were adopted, marvelled at and taken to shows as household pets, the judges said: "hold on a moment these have all the characteristics of Maine Coons". So a club was formed to go through the stages of recognition and breed and develop them. The person in charge of it all is Rasma Sauja, she lives in the Republic of Latvia.
Above information was provided by: Ann Mary Bishop.

2. "About ship's cats. These 4 cats were timely about 16 years ago when cats in Latvia didn't have pedigrees. Puca was my female, I got her from people who bought her "from sailor", the ship I didn't know. She lived 11 years and was healthy always. Minca and his owner are dead... The owner used to say that he had bought him from the owners of a pregnant cat from an English ship. He was born in Latvia from this pregnant female. He was blue and very nice and big. About Lacis I don't know but Katya was from a West German ship in Odessa, Ukraine."
By Rasma Sauja, as told to Susan Grindell. 

3. "The cats you are interested in are our first cats. Our club is 20 years old now. Our first cats were without pedigrees. They were fenotypical. Our cat shows were the first in the then Soviet Union. Some international foreign judges (mainly from Czechoslovakia and Germany) affirmed their quality and breed. About Katja, Lacis, Minca and Puka. Everybody was of gentle disposition. After the collapse of Soviet Union (in 1991) Katja and her owners emigrated to Germany and I know nothing about her. She was then 6 years old. Lacis passed away at the age of 9 years. He died from ureter disease. Minca reached 9 years and possibly became the pray of some fox. (He lived near a big wood.) Puka was my dear cat. She reached the age of 11 years and died from cancer. "Vita" is my cattery, and Puka is the progenitress of Latvian Maine Coons. She was kind and gentle, very nice (the tail, the ears), a big cat (about 6 kg). She had 10 litters. All the kittens were healthy, some lived untill 10 - 15 years. Some are still alive. Black smoke Puka was born in 1984. Ance Meiya and her owners emigrated to America in 1992. I know nothing about her. Atti Chibar died at the age of 6 years from ureter disease. Celia Vita escaped from her owner's car at the age of 6 years. They could not find her 2 weeks. When they found her she was dead. Businka Vita with her owner emigrated to Germany in 1997. She reached 15 years of age."
By Rasma Sauja, as told to Lies Klösters, 8/2005. 

Note by Lies Klösters: the spelling of the cat's names are different in several anecdotes or on certified pedigrees... I choose to maintain the spelling as Rasma wrote it to me.

 
___________________________________________________________________________

More information about the offspring of these cats can be found at the Maine Coon Database.

Created 2003 by Fog City Cat Web Designs.
The Maine Coon Ancestors and PawPeds are unable to grant permission for the reuse of any materials found on these web sites.