About us

About Westeros Maine Coon – Om oss

We are a home cattery dedicated to Maine Coon, registered in 2012. From December 2016 our small family live outside of Fredrikstad, Norway (25 minutes from the Swedish border) with our cats, who share all our home with us. Explore our pages to find out more about us, read about our breeding philosophy, our cats and more. Each of our cats have its own page, see the menu.

 

Vi er et hjemmeoppdrett av Maine Coon, stiftet i 2012. Fra desember 2016 bor vår lille familie like utenfor Fredrikstad (25 minutter fra svenskegrensen) med kattene våre som vi deler hele huset med. Ta en titt rundt på sidene våre for å lese mer om kattene, vår avlsfilosofi og mye annet – noe av stoffet er på engelsk. Er det noe dere lurer på er det bare å ta kontakt, på epost eller via Facebook. Vi fins også på flere sosiale medier.

Westeros

Our cattery name Westeros has multiple sources.

I grew up on the west coast of Norway where my family is from for centuries back. Maine Coons are definitely “western” cats originating in Maine, USA, and my first cats were also from westcoast based breeders, so I wanted west as part of the name. One of the farms where several lines of my own ancestors lived is the Vesterås farm in Geiranger fjord. Older spellings of the name include Westeraas.

Vesterås gård, Geiranger

Westeros is the name of the continent depicted in George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, a fantasy epic book series, in 2011 also adapted into TV-series Game of Thrones. We name our kittens inspired by this book universe and other fantasy epics.

Our cattery name was registered in FIFe as NO*WesterosCat, in May 2012. Westeros is also registered in CFA and TICA. All FIFe breeders are required to register their kittens within FIFe before other registries.

 

Knowledge is Power

I believe that knowing as much as possible about breeding is necessary to be a responsible breeder. Knowing your own strengths and weaknesses and being willing to learn from mistakes is also very important. Having had genetics as a strong interest for years, and being a typical theorist, it has been interesting to study all the material available on Maine Coons, their history and health. I am also lucky to have good and experienced mentors, to help and give advice in all the matters I have no experience with myself.

The PawAcademy offers internet courses for cat owners and breeders, and the three levels of the course cover most issues a breeder will come across. The three courses go for a total of 27 weeks, and the study is quite extensive. I have completed all three PawAcademy courses G1, G2, and G3. Read more about the Paw Academy courses about cats on the PawPeds website.

 

I have also completed the Diploma programme for NRR FIFe Norway. This is basically a test of the FIFe and NRR rules and regulations for breeding, showing and keeping cats.

Breeding and Genetics

My interest in breeding and the discovery of genetics as tool for breeders was awakened in my teens. My family had a wonderful sable collie, and my dream then was to become a breeder of these beautiful dogs. I bought the book that at the time was the most extensive for collie breeders, Collie Concept by Bobbee Roos (1982), and was both surprised and a bit concerned by how breeders were taught. Culling by euthanasia and other less accepted methods today were quite common, and doubling the merle gene, and mating merle with sable, was allowed in the US, but not in the Norwegian Kennel Club. I still sometimes open this book with its colour genetics charts:

Collie Concept

Bobbie Roos: Collie Concept

My interest in genetics started before I got Maine Coons, and since 2010 I have been involved in the Norway DNA project for genetic genealogy. I do DNA-detective work through BergeGenetics, to trace unknown ancestry and more.

Good knowledge and understanding of population genetics, and how inbreeding influences the health status in a breed, is an essential component in the Westeros breeding programme.

Reading List has references and background – alle referanser og mange artikler

Contact us: email – send en epost

 

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