Advice for Breeders
All breeders should have read the GCCF Maine Coon Breeding Policy, the GCCF Maine Coon Registration Policy and the GCCF Standard of Points if they intend to breed and register kittens with the GCCF.
GCCF Maine Coon Breeding Policy
GCCF Maine Coon Registration Policy
GCCF Standard of Points
Even if you are registering elsewhere, there are health matters that are covereing in these two documents and are helpful to anyone who wishes to breed Maine Coons - either experiened breeders or those who are just starting their Maine Coon breeding journey.
There is a great deal of information in the GCCF Maine Coon Breeding Policy to help breeders to choose suitable breeding cats and potential matings. This should be used as a road map when you are deciding on buying a breeding cat and also when choosing a suitable mate.
All members are also entitied to a discount for genetic DNA testing at Langford Cat Genetic Testing Centre, based in the UK - this is especially useful as all Maine Coons must be tested for various gene traits before they can be used for breeding in GCCF. You can find out more about Langford Cat Genetic Testing HERE
In addition to the registration policy and breeding policy, the Maine Coon Cat Club offers the following advice to all breeders:
VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR ALL MAINE COON CAT CLUB BREEDERSWe urge all our breeders to read the following information, it has been put together to help you as we develop our GCCF registration policy and breeding policy. Health is absolutely paramount for our wonderful breed.
ADVERTISING THROUGH YOUR WEBSITE OR SOCIAL MEDIA ETCPlease think very carefully about your wording when advertising.
We have seen some Maine Coon breeders (not necessarily MCCC members) advertising HCM negative cattery or HCM DNA/gene negative tested. This may lead to some prospective buyers believing that there is no possibility of a kitten developing HCM. Since it is known that there are a number of different HCM genes out there, and to date, only one (HCMmc) can be tested and identified using DNA swabbing, we strongly advise that all breeders use the term “HCMmc” rather than just HCM. This will help to prevent complaints by owners who may argue that they were sold a kitten on the understanding that the cattery was HCM negative, when in actual fact the testing had only been done for one specific HCM gene.
The club also strongly recommends that regular heart scans are conducted on breeding animals, even after they have stopped being used for breeding as this can flag up other heart issues including other forms of HCM which cannot be identified by DNA swabbing.
BREEDING TO PRODUCE HCMmc, SMA, PKDef NEGATIVE OFFSPRINGAll Maine Coon cats to be registered on the active register from 1st January 2024 MUST have been tested for the one known Maine Coon HCM gene (i.e., HCMmc: the A31P mutation in the MYBPC3 gene), SMA, and PK-def. From 1 January 2024 Homozygous cats born after this date would not be eligible for Active registration. From 1 June 2024 Heterozygous cats born after this date will not be eligible for Active registration.
All cats already registered on the active register may still be used for breeding, but breeders need to know the their DNA gene status so they can plan matings to clear the lines of any of these three genes. We do NOT recommend breeding from homozygous positive cats as even mating to a clear cat will produce a heterozygous litter of kittens and no kitten would be able to be used for future breeding in GCCF. We appreciate that people may have a cat which is heterozygous (carries one faulty gene of the pair) for one or more of the three listed genes and they may wish to breed from this cat to produce a clear offspring and continue that pedigree line. This can be done. However, we would only recommend mating a heterozygous cat (carrier) to a homozygous negative cat, this way there will be no homozygous positive kittens, and you may well produce a homozygous negative kitten which can then be used in a future breeding programme.
ADVERTISING THROUGH YOUR WEBSITE OR SOCIAL MEDIA ETCPlease think very carefully about your wording when advertising.
We have seen some Maine Coon breeders (not necessarily MCCC members) advertising HCM negative cattery or HCM DNA/gene negative tested. This may lead to some prospective buyers believing that there is no possibility of a kitten developing HCM. Since it is known that there are a number of different HCM genes out there, and to date, only one (HCMmc) can be tested and identified using DNA swabbing, we strongly advise that all breeders use the term “HCMmc” rather than just HCM. This will help to prevent complaints by owners who may argue that they were sold a kitten on the understanding that the cattery was HCM negative, when in actual fact the testing had only been done for one specific HCM gene.
The club also strongly recommends that regular heart scans are conducted on breeding animals, even after they have stopped being used for breeding as this can flag up other heart issues including other forms of HCM which cannot be identified by DNA swabbing.
BREEDING TO PRODUCE HCMmc, SMA, PKDef NEGATIVE OFFSPRINGAll Maine Coon cats to be registered on the active register from 1st January 2024 MUST have been tested for the one known Maine Coon HCM gene (i.e., HCMmc: the A31P mutation in the MYBPC3 gene), SMA, and PK-def. From 1 January 2024 Homozygous cats born after this date would not be eligible for Active registration. From 1 June 2024 Heterozygous cats born after this date will not be eligible for Active registration.
All cats already registered on the active register may still be used for breeding, but breeders need to know the their DNA gene status so they can plan matings to clear the lines of any of these three genes. We do NOT recommend breeding from homozygous positive cats as even mating to a clear cat will produce a heterozygous litter of kittens and no kitten would be able to be used for future breeding in GCCF. We appreciate that people may have a cat which is heterozygous (carries one faulty gene of the pair) for one or more of the three listed genes and they may wish to breed from this cat to produce a clear offspring and continue that pedigree line. This can be done. However, we would only recommend mating a heterozygous cat (carrier) to a homozygous negative cat, this way there will be no homozygous positive kittens, and you may well produce a homozygous negative kitten which can then be used in a future breeding programme.
Homozygous Negative Male (-/-) | Heterozygous Male (Carrier) (+/-) | |
Homozygous Negative Female (-/-) | Mating - Good All kittens negative (-/-) May be registered on the GCCF Active Breeding Register | Mating – OK Kittens could be heterozygous i.e. carrier (+/-) (cannot be registered on GCCF active register for breeding) or negative (-/-) (may be registered for breeding) |
Heterozygous Female (Carrier) (+/-) | Mating – OK Kittens could be heterozygous i.e. carrier (+/-) (cannot be registered on GCCF active register for breeding) or negative (-/-)(may be registered for breeding) | Mating – No, as this may produce some affected kittens which could develop the condition. Kittens could be heterozygous i.e. carrier (+/-) (cannot be registered on GCCF active register for breeding) or negative (-/-) (may be registered for breeding) OR homozygous positive (+/+) and these may go on to develop the condition. This mating should NOT be carried out. |
Currently, we are in a stage of transit, where we have different eras when cats have been registered with GCCF on the Active breeding register:1. Some cats which were already on the active register before any testing became mandatory may not have been tested at all. If this is the case, please get your breeding cat tested so you know the DNA status for HCMmc, SMA and PKDef. 2. There are cats which were tested before 31st December 2023 by their owners, so the swab was not vet verified and linked by them to the microchip number.3. There are heterozygous cats that were registered and vet verified between 1st Jan and 31st May 2024.4. All cats active registered after 31st May 2024 are homozygous negative for all three genes.
We know that two negative parents will not produce a positive or carrier kitten, and we are looking at the possibility of being able to amend the registration policy at some point whereby kittens from negative tested parents may not need to be tested if their parents’ DNA test results and linked verified microchip details (verified by a vet or vet nurse) are on the GCCF system. However, at the current time, the GCCF linked DNA Status/Microchip database is still being built up, since we have cats which were registered at so many different stages of this testing process. We appreciate that this is frustrating for breeders needing to test any kittens that they wish to breed from, even if they know the parents are negative but health is paramount and we need to take this one step at a time.
The registration policy is constantly under review and there is regular liaison between the Maine Coon Breed Advisory Committee and the GCCF Genetics Committee about the next steps forward. Please bear with us, we are doing all we can to ensure that the correct steps are taken to protect the future of the Maine Coon Cat.
We know that two negative parents will not produce a positive or carrier kitten, and we are looking at the possibility of being able to amend the registration policy at some point whereby kittens from negative tested parents may not need to be tested if their parents’ DNA test results and linked verified microchip details (verified by a vet or vet nurse) are on the GCCF system. However, at the current time, the GCCF linked DNA Status/Microchip database is still being built up, since we have cats which were registered at so many different stages of this testing process. We appreciate that this is frustrating for breeders needing to test any kittens that they wish to breed from, even if they know the parents are negative but health is paramount and we need to take this one step at a time.
The registration policy is constantly under review and there is regular liaison between the Maine Coon Breed Advisory Committee and the GCCF Genetics Committee about the next steps forward. Please bear with us, we are doing all we can to ensure that the correct steps are taken to protect the future of the Maine Coon Cat.
