United Maine Coon Fanciers of Australia

28/11/2024

You love Maine C**ns and want to offer the purrfect gift to your vet, friends or family ? It's time to order the brand new UMCFA 2025 calendar. ! A beautiful and useful gift for Maine C**n lovers.
$28 including postage within Australia. Just send us a message or email [email protected]

12/11/2024

Hooray - Our 2025 Calendar is printed and ready to send out!!!
Cost: $28 AUD including postage within Australia. By purchasing calendars you will be supporting our work in with pet owners and breeders alike and supporting them as they share their lives with this wonderful breed. If you would like to purchase a 2025 calendar please send this Page a message or email [email protected]
We are so proud of this year's design, a huge thank you to all our members who sent in the stunning photos and to our team who put it all together. We can't wait to share it with you!

07/10/2024

Our 2025 UMCFA calendar is ready to pre-order!
Email [email protected] to place your early orders.
Filled with wonderful images sent in by our members this calendar will make the perfect Christmas gift or make a wonderful addition to a breeder's kitten pack for new families.
Delivery of your pre-ordered calendars should be from the first week of November!

07/08/2024

Happy International Cat Day to all our beautiful cats!
You enrich our lives in so many ways 🥰 💕

03/08/2024

Cats walk like camels and giraffes: They move both of their right feet first, then move both of their left feet. No other animals walk this way.

26/07/2024

When kittens are losing their deciduous, (baby) teeth between 16-22 weeks old, you might find a tooth somewhere in your house or kittens may swallow the teeth as they fall out and they will pass through their digestive tract without harm.
As new teeth emerge, your kitten may have sore gums. Her loose baby teeth may bother her, making eating uncomfortable. She may be more irritable and mouth shy, and quit playing abruptly if she catches something in her mouth and it hurts. Your kitten may be trying to dislodge a tooth by pawing at her mouth and shaking her head. It is all just a normal part of your kitten growing up. To find out more on teething and your kitten, please read the following source links for this post.

https://www.greencrossvets.com.au/services/kitten-teething/

https://blog.petwellbeing.com/is-your-kitten-teething...

14/07/2024

Hip Dysplasia describes abnormally formed and poorly fitting hip joints. HD appears to be polygenetic - the result of several genes working together, which means that two normal cats could produce offspring with HD. Two normal parents are less likely to produce HD in their offspring than other combinations. Therefore, it really is worth testing and working towards breeding normal to normal. However, with so many cats affected, it has been recommended by some breeders that people may breed cats with mild (HD1) hip dysplasia to cats with normal hips. If we removed all cats with any degree HD from breeding, we would reduce the Maine C**n cat significantly.
UMCFA recommends PawPeds to evaluate the Hip x-rays of breeding cats, with submission of x-rays, to the PawPeds Maine C**n Hip Dysplasia program for assessment.

05/07/2024

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, or HCM, is an invariably fatal progressive disease in which the heart muscles become thickened and fail to relax normally. Some cats with HCM show no signs of warning, dying suddenly. Others may show signs of congestive heart failure, including laboured or rapid breathing, open-mouthed breathing, and lethargy upon minimal energy expenditure. There are two ways breeders can work towards minimizing the risk of HCM in Maine C**ns; carrying out genetic testing to identify cats with the MyBPC gene, and regular cardiac ultrasounds carried out by a specialist. We now know that there is one or more other HCM genes in Maine C**ns since cats that are clear for the MyBPC gene have died of HCM. HCM can be detected by a cardiac ultrasound, but this only tells us that it is or is not present at the time of testing, so it can still show up at a later age. Because of this fact, breeders should scan breeding cats regularly so that we can successfully breed away from this deadly health issue in Maine C**n cats.
If you would like to learn more please read the following source links for this post.
https://www.vet.cornell.edu/.../hypertrophic...

28/06/2024

Breeding pedigree cats is not as straightforward as boy meets girl!
One of the issues breeders need to consider is incompatible Blood Types - yes cats, like humans, have different blood types and if a mating occurs between 2 cats with different blood types the resulting kittens may die. It is vital breeders are aware of the blood types of their cats. Blood Type B cats all have high levels of anti- A Type antibodies in their blood. Like all mammals, antibodies from the female cat are passed into her colostrum when feeding kittens. During the first 16-36 hours of life, a kitten's intestine is specially adapted to be able to absorb these antibodies as these antibodies will help protect them against disease in the early weeks of life. This is where blood type incompatibility becomes a serious issue.
If a B queen is mated to an A male, some of the resulting kittens will be type A they will absorb the anti A-antibodies. This can be a significant cause of death in newborns. By knowing in advance the blood types of the parents, breeders can take precautions and the kittens can be saved. In those critical hours, kittens must be bottle fed by the breeder to prevent absorption of anti-A antibodies. To avoid separating mum and bubs, breeders can put an adapted baby grow suit or vet suit on the queen, just like Katja in our photo, allowing mum to still clean and bond with her babies until it is safe for them to suckle. In most cases, after 24hrs has passed, mum is able to suckle her babies normally and the lack of sleep suffered by the breeder fades away in the joy of a happy, healthy little family. Read more about incompatibility in feline blood groups below.

https://www.winnfelinefoundation.org/.../feline-blood...
https://www.revivalanimal.com/.../neonata.../learning-center See less

16/06/2024

Celebrating our People's Choice Award for favourite Maine C**n at last weekend's ACF National Show!

Exhibit number 82 - CH LTREND SWEETHOME ALABAMA

A beautiful Black Mackerel Tabby & White entire male owned and bred by D Barnett & M Townley. This boy had an overwhelming number of nominations by the public, each being represented by a People's Choice ribbon. With over 30 nominations he was a clear winner with the nearest nominee coming in with 19 votes.

Congratulations to his breeders!!!

Pictured is Mary Townley showing off her boy and one of the many People's Choice ribbons. As you can see there are also a lot of stunning official show rosettes on his cage! The public chose well ❤️

09/06/2024

UMFCA at the 2024 ACF Nationals, Sydney.

08/06/2024

01/06/2024

The Australian Cat Federation is holding it's 52nd National Cat Show in Sydney at the Hawkesbury Showgrounds, Clarendon over the King's Birthday weekend, that's next Saturday and Sunday 8-9th of June!!!
UMCFA will be having a stand there with all things Maine C**n so come and visit us and the hundreds of beautiful cats who will be there competing for Supreme Best in Show.

24/05/2024

May your weekend be full of kitty kisses 🥰

18/05/2024

Cleocatria is having a fun weekend with her human. What are you and your fur babies doing this weekend? Do share your photos with us.

11/05/2024

Topic of Today!
Access to a wide variety of articles.
If interested to be a member of UMCFA, do contact our secretary at [email protected]

03/05/2024

Topic of Today!
Recognition & Credibility
If interested to be a member of UMCFA, do contact our secretary at [email protected]