Our name “Mellowmaines” reflects (1) the gentle, sweet nature of the Maine Coon and (2) the mellow feeling one experiences when holding a cuddly, purring “gentle giant”, not unlike the relaxed feeling one experiences while sipping a glass of wine. Therefore, most of our cats are named after wines.

Our specialties are classic red and brown tabbies and brown patched tabby females, but we occasionally breed cremes and the aforementioned colors with white. Mellowmaines kittens are cuddled, talked to, and played with so that when company comes, they greet our guests enthusiastically.

Because the health of our cats is important to us, we have been involved in the University of Pennsylvania’s pioneer Penn Hip research study conducted by Dr. Todd Murphy, and we also are participating in Red Bank(New Jersey) Animal Hospital’s heart study coordinated by Dr. Carl Sammarco in New Jersey and Dr. Kittleson in California. Our cats receive regular veterinary physicals and are kept up to date with their shots.

Because one of the goals of breeding is to improve the breed, three to four weekends per month we attend Cat Fanciers Association shows where we are in constant communication with judges and other breeders. In its first six years, our cattery has had many Grand Champions, 6 Regional Wins(top 20-25 cats in the Northeast) and one Second Best Maine Coon in the nation, in addition to regional and national color wins. We also belong to the Garden State Cat Club, the Maine Coon Cat Club, and the Maine Coon Breeders and Fanciers Association.

We enjoy having people visit our cats and encourage them to do so after our kittens have had time to adjust to some protective vaccines. Seeing the personal chemistry between kittens and kitten buyer is important to us. Therefore, we do not ship or sell from the show hall. Kittens generally leave our home when they are about 16 weeks old, giving them ample time to be with their mom and to be socialized by us. Maine Coons are the largest domestic cat, taking almost 5 years, unlike other breeds, to mature fully. Therefore, they need this extra time with mom and breeder.

We occasionally place retired show and retired breeding cats in loving homes because we don’t want to become overcrowded. Giving up these cats is never easy for us emotionally because we have become attached, but we know that they will get lots of love and attention in their new, carefully-screened homes.

Working with our clients after a placement is very important to us, and we are here to answer questions and to assist you. As breeders, we enjoy educating our buyers and keeping them abreast of relevant research, literature, equipment, nutrition, grooming, catalogues, email lists, and cat shows. We love to hear people’s reports and to receive pictures of our “adopted” Maine Coons. Doing so gives us great pleasure and also enables us to see how our cats are developing over the years, enabling us to make appropriate breeding decisions in the future.