Riverdale MAINE COONS

22/08/2024

If you are interested in any of our kittens or cats, or if you have any questions, please
*** text me at (403) 200-1950.

It seems Facebook likes to take our accounts into their own hands and do all sorts of things to ‘help’ us. I don’t have time to learn all the in’s and out’s of the games Facebook plays, so please just text me.

19/08/2024

It’s toooooooooo hot 🥵🥵🥵

14/08/2024

Is YOGA SLEEPING a thing ??? Benson seems to think so ❓😂❓😂❓

10/08/2024

A lineup of some of the crates and carriers we use around the house and get the kittens accustomed to. It’s so extremely important to at least familiarise them with a variety of confinement and carriers. Having a kitten or cat panic by being confined and not being able to escape the trap is a great way to lose them. If they get scared and bolt outside, well, there’s a good chance you won’t find them again, and that’s the very last thing we want to happen - ever!

09/08/2024

Starting to get the kittens familiarized with crates. We just set them out and let everyone explore them. Then we’ll start putting food in them. We want the kittens to think crates are WONDERFUL THINGS 🎉🎉🎉

06/08/2024

05/08/2024

For those of you continuing to use the pine pellet type cat litter, I have one of these, and it works ok. I wouldn't give it 10 stars, maybe 5, but it does the job, wink.

Handling cat litter is not an easy job for pet owners, but it is indeed a thing that our cat owners have to face. This cat litter scoopers are designed to make the handling process more easier and provide you and your cat a better life. Size: 9.45×4.13×1.97 inches Material: thick plastic material....

04/08/2024

UNDERSTANDING GENETICS

A good breeder will always have every animal they intend to use in a breeding program health tested through a licenced veterinarian AND tested through a genetics lab for any abnormal genetic factors that may influence their health and the health of their offspring later in life.

A genetic predisposition is an increased likelihood of developing a particular disease based on genetic makeup often inherited from a parent. However, it is not inevitable that an individual with a genetic result or predisposition will develop the disease. Other factors, such as diet, exercise, and exposure to certain environmental elements, also play a significant role.

While there is an increased chance or likelihood of developing a particular disease based on the presence of one or more genetic variants and/or having a family history of the condition suggesting an increased risk of the disease, having a genetic predisposition does not guarantee that an individual will develop the disease.

A million things influence how a body develops; genetic testing is only one tool in the toolbox.

Naturally, as a breeder, we want to see sparkling clear or negative results on all the tests, but you also have to be aware that dogma is carried down many generations of breeders. Most breeders depend on the words of other breeders, and only a few do their own research to verify and validate the beliefs passed down the lines.

Factor XII is one of these situations.

Factor XII deficiency is a naturally occurring hereditary trait in domestic cats.

While it is under the umbrella of hemo/blood disorders, having two copies of FXII in a genetic result is not a problem. FXII-deficient knockout mice appear to be resistant to arterial thrombosis.

“However, a series of investigations have convincingly shown that FXII has no role in normal hemostasis. Recently, experimentally induced thrombosis in factor XII-knockout mice has provided evidence that factor XII (FXII) deficient mice are protected against ischemic brain injury after obstructive clot formation. Based on these experiments it has, therefore, been suggested, that blocking of FXII could be a unique target to prevent obstructive clot formation in arterial thrombosis without side effect of increased bleeding.”

Additionally. “A growing body of evidence has revealed that both FXII and FXIIa upregulate neutrophil functions, contribute to macrophage polarization and induce T-cell differentiation. In vivo, these signaling activities contribute to host defense against pathogens, mediate the development of neuroinflammation, influence wound repair and may facilitate cancer maintenance and progression.”

So, while having two copies of both variants of FXII has absolutely no effect and no intervention or caution is needed, I believe taking a chance on breeding with FXII may help the immune system and, in the case of thrombosis, may slow blood clotting, and both influences may help to save a life.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31022435/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17996217/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6713930/

Factor XII (FXII) is the zymogen of serine protease, factor XIIa (FXIIa). FXIIa enzymatic activities have been extensively studied and FXIIa inhibition is emerging as a promising target to treat or prevent thrombosis without creating a hemostatic defect. ...

03/08/2024

Yep, we’re kinda chill around here 😎

03/08/2024

I love my 1/8th of retired life, lol!!

02/08/2024

This kitten has been spoken for :)

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/u8jiQcyLdSt6db73/?mibextid=WC7FNe

31/07/2024

The original THREE AMIGOS
(Not the greatest set, but all three together 🤩 in retirement)

ARCHE OF RIVERDALE
Gray UA*Lorens&Arche (far right)
UA.FAU.01.98873.19 (Ukraine)
DOB: 20.12.2018
MCO as22*Blue Silver Blotched Tabby

VERONIKA OF RIVERDALE
Silver Twist Sunday Of Emberview (centre)
TICA SBT 012117 077
DOB: 21.01.2017
Black Silver Classic Torbie

BETTE OF RIVERDALE
Emberview Canadian Spice (far left)
TICA SBT 120917 036
DOB: 09.12.2017
Blue Silver Shaded Torbie/White

23/07/2024

Cats approach each other and engage in a round of nose-to-nose sniffing to determine familiarity and do an initial scent investigation. When you extend your finger at the same height as the cat’s nose, without making any other move, you give the cat the option to approach or not.

23/07/2024

TONIGHT ON RPM - THE IMPORTANCE OF REARING A PUP RIGHT...AND HOW TO DO IT!

Tonight we'll be squeezing as much information as possible out of Paula from the Natural Rearing Group Natural Rearing Breeder Connection about the epigenetic benefits of rearing a pup right.

Paula Vandervoort is a veteran dog breeder, a trained aromatherapist specializing in animal applications, a trained animal communicator, and the only credentialed natural rearing boxer dog breeder in the world.

For years, Paula suffered from chronic fatigue and pain, arthritis, tendonitis, fibromyalgia, and more. Allopathic medicine sometimes treated the symptoms but could not cure her. Natural means freed her from her illnesses. She has since dedicated her life to learning about holistic healing and helping dog owners achieve animal wellness.

Asides from being highly qualified in any and all of the dark arts that you care to mention specifically here she is an AKC Breeder of Merit. She has bred show, service, and performance Boxers since 1978, so she has a LOT of experience breeding solid pups to share with us...

"As a boxer breeder of five+ decades and founder of Natural Rearing Breeder Connection, our goal is to reach dog and cat breeders to teach them the value of species-appropriate raw feeding, replacing Big Pharma (antibiotics, chemical wormers, injectable vaccinations) with plant medicines and homeopathics, incorporating early development protocols, improving microbiomes in the first 8-10 weeks of life, and using the Laws of Nature in all aspects of their breeding programs.”

We will be touching on:

🐾 What is natural rearing and why does it matter?

🐾 How does a dog or cat breeder incorporate natural rearing into their breeding programs?

🐾 How does feeding a pregnant mom differ from feeding a pet who is not pregnant?

🐾 Weaning to raw vs weaning to kibble

🐾 How to protect puppies from disease

🐾 And what is “dark whelping”?! I honestly don't know and am trying not to Google until I find out later...

And I'm back which I'm sure will be a massive relief to you all. I can only imagine the sensory torment of both looking at and listening to Bren and Nick all night without my witty interjections.

That's tonight on RPM, 7pm BST, over on the RPM page, Youtube or anywhere you get your pocast (and while you're in there, don't forget to give us a review, ideally an extremely positive one).

See Paula's page here
Gentry Boxers Natural Rearing Group

23/07/2024

20/07/2024

Having a pedigree does not mean your cat is healthy.

Being registered with a cat fancy organization like CFA or TICA does not mean your cat is healthy.

Being vaccinated does not mean your cat is healthy (there are thousands of pathogens on earth).

Being treated with antibiotics does not make your cat healthy.

Species appropriate food, optimal nutrition, an appropriate environment to live in, and feeling SAFE is how every animal on earth (including us) gets, and stays, healthy.

Stressed, unhealthy, poorly nourished bodies get sick - because they are already out of homeostasis and sometimes only one more invasion is more than their body can manage.

13/07/2024

Send a message to learn more

12/07/2024

Hmmmmm, doesn’t really look like an even split of the work load to me 🤔🤔🤔

12/07/2024

ALL OF THESE KITTENS ARE SPOKEN FOR :)

Our Nevaeh (Nebelung breed) and our own Moose Eh Min. Nevaeh carries only one copy of Fel d 1 and Moose is negative. Both are genetically screened and are sparkling CLEAR on all fronts.

02/07/2024

https://www.drjudyu.com/offers/6zxZEhzc/checkout?

Cats are carnivores, yet most people are feeding kibble that’s high in carbohydrates, using low quality ingredients, and lacking key moisture cats need to thrive. Holistic Veterinarian, Dr. Judy Morgan, created this mini course, Kick the Kibble: How to Feed Your Cat, to show you easy ways to add w...

24/06/2024

Josie moved her babies into shared quarters with Lily. I threw an Amazon box in the area for the older kittens to play with - and Josie moved in, lol!Motherhood is so much easier when teamed up with a trusted friend - and these two moms make an awesome team together ❤️ I guarantee no harm will ever come to these little ones with Lily and Josie guarding the fort 🤩🤩🤩

24/06/2024

Don’t forget cat lovers to join Dr Brendan Rawpetmedics and Dr Amaya for cats with feline nutritionist Coline on Friday at 1 pm BST (GMT+1) We’re going to be discussing the best ways to transition cats on to raw fresh diets.

23/06/2024

Canadian eh.

Here is a credentialed veterinarian based on Vancouver Island who is holistic, promotes natural feeding and less vaccination - and backs it up with the science.

The allopathic/conventional medical and pharmaceutical community (both human and non-human) work on creating fear. If you don’t do this or take that, something terrible will happen - as we’ve all learned the hard way these past few years 😩

I started a deep dive into the whole vaccination and immunity thing over 10 years ago. I studied the science and enrolled in a biology program (online) through the University of Athabasca.

At the time I wanted to go to Saskatchewan for a weekend seminar put on by a raw food company featuring Dr Ian Billinghurst (Australia) & Dr Robert Silver (USA) (links in the comments) and being the middle of summer, and Saskatchewan, I didn’t want to take my dog, Raines, with me - too darn hot to not have him with me all day.

But, no one would take him for boarding because he was not “up to date” on his vaccinations.

I had been a good little doobie and had an exam and the full vaccination regimen every year, like we were advised to do at the time, for the first 5 years of his life - but word had started getting out that annual vax was not needed and it could even be harmful.

Common sense told me that,

1. If he wasn’t showing symptoms of an illness (and never had) it was unlikely that he would spread disease, and

2. Five years of concurrent vaxx should do the trick - he should have developed immunity for the specified diseases, should not get sick, therefore should not spread disease to others being boarded at the same time.

Just because you are not vaccinated does not mean you are carrying (and spreading) disease.

Anyway, I didn’t go to the seminar is Sask, and I missed an opportunity that would likely never come around again (especially in Canada) because these organisations who board animals (and their insurance companies) are woefully uneducated for their chosen field of work 🤬🤬🤬

The contents of this website are based upon the opinions of Dr. Jeff Grognet. This information is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research a...

22/06/2024

19/06/2024

Awwwwwwwwww!

16/06/2024

The key word here is RESPONSIBLE.

As a cat breeder with intact animals, I can tell you that intact cats are not fun, mostly because of the scent marking, and more than one male together will fight for the top spot on the ladder for first access to the girls.

My boys have their own room, are put away at night, and they wear diapers when they’re out and about during the day.

My house would, literally, be covered top to bottom, side to side with cat spray if they weren’t wearing pants.

We don’t do pediatric spay/neuter anymore, but I still insist new owners spay or neuter their cats at an appropriate age - and that is just before maturity hits. It’s a tricky one because every cat is a little different.

The Maine C**n breed takes up to 5 years to fully develop and mature, and I’ve had boys not sexually maturing for up to 2 years old.

I’d still suggest around 1 year old for Maine C**n, or the split second you see them starting to spray - both male AND female!

WE ALL AGREE WITH NO MORE UNWANTED LITTERS. We should consider newer, safer alternatives than a traditional gonadectomies to prevent long-term health concerns.

The World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA)🏥 has just announced their new spay & neuter guidelines.🙀 Due to growing evidence of adverse health effects of traditional gonadectomy (spay/neuter) and increases in cancers and joint disorders, WSAVA suggest the best practice for RESPONSIBLE pet parents is to leave dogs and cats unaltered (intact). Additionally noting, spaying or neutering a dog younger than 6 months of age is NOT recommended because of an increase of detrimental health risks. Acknowledging in some circumstances, such as rescues and shelters, where leaving an animal intact is not an option, they stress the importance of education and acceptance of newer, alternative sterilization techniques that have less long-term health concerns. 🙌

Discussing these alternative techniques and the pro’s and con’s today, plus much more in the Inside Scoop.

👉Comment SCOOPERS to join our troll-free subscription group and watch today's podcast. Our monthly subscription includes our weekly livestream, plus access to all past content - over 4 years of lives, interviews, ebook downloads and more!

15/06/2024

A little update on one of our last litter, Andy ❤️❤️❤️❤️

“Andy (now ###) is doing amazing! He is the sweetest little guy.

He comes for attention quite regularly and is always ready to purr when we pick him up.

He’s gotten bigger and weighs a ton!

He went for his first grooming a couple of weeks ago and the groomer loved him! She said he was really good just a bit of a chicken!!

Anyway, just wanted to update you and say thank you again for such a wonderful healthy kitty!”

12/06/2024

FINALLY! Someone is figuring it out!