My Hunt for a Maine Coon and Stumbling onto Copper Road
Okay, so the house felt a bit empty. Decided it was time for another cat, specifically a Maine Coon this time around. Big, fluffy, you know the type. Started asking around, looking online, the usual stuff. Someone mentioned Copper Road Maine Coon Cattery. Name sounded alright, kinda rustic.
First thing I did, naturally, was hit the search engines. Typed in the name. Looked for a website, maybe some pictures of their cats, see what their setup looked like. You gotta do your homework with breeders, learned that the hard way years ago. Found some basic info, saw some photos of really nice-looking cats, gotta admit. Big fellas, good ear tufts.
Next step was trying to figure out their process. How do you even get a cat from them? Most breeders have hoops you gotta jump through. So I looked for things like:
- An application form
- Information on available kittens
- Health testing details (super important!)
- Their general philosophy on raising cats
Some catteries are really open, slap everything online. Others, you gotta pry it out of them. Copper Road seemed somewhere in the middle based on what I could find initially. Didn’t see a big flashy “Apply Now” button, which is sometimes good, sometimes bad. Means they might be more personal, or just bad at websites.
Decided the best way was to just reach out. Found an email address, I think it was on a breeder listing site or maybe their own basic page, can’t recall exactly. Sent a simple message. Introduced myself, said I was interested in a Maine Coon, asked about their process, availability, that sort of thing. Nothing pushy, just testing the waters.
Got a reply back after a day or two. Pretty straightforward. They explained they usually have a waitlist, asked about my home situation, experience with cats, especially big breeds. Standard stuff, which is good. Shows they care where the kittens go. We exchanged a few emails back and forth. They seemed knowledgeable enough, answered my questions about health checks and stuff.
Didn’t end up getting a cat from them in the end, though. The timing wasn’t quite right for me with their waitlist, and another opportunity came up closer to home just by chance while I was waiting. But the whole process of researching Copper Road, reaching out, chatting with them – it was a decent experience. They seemed like real people running it, not some big kitten mill. Just took some digging to get the info I needed. That’s usually how it goes when you’re looking for a well-bred animal, takes effort.