Martin County Maine Coon breeder fulfilling her dream

By Lilly Adkins

BSN Associate Editor

LOVELY — A Martin County woman who left her career as a nurse to breed Maine Coons has earned the title of top four of the best cat breeders in Kentucky.

Robin Nicole Harmon, 44, who does business as Kentucky Wildcoons Cattery, said that she worked as a nurse for a few years, but it was never really her dream to be in the medical field.

“Ever since I was little, I always wanted to work with animals,” she said. “I truly love animals, but I was always being told that vet school is harder to get into than med school due to the number of vet schools. So, until eight years ago, I never really thought that my dreams would come true, but I can honestly say I’m doing what I love, even though it has its ups and downs. I can’t imagine my life any different. A lot of people think this job is easy, but it’s not. It involves a lot of hours, its 24/7. You get no sick days, personal days or vacations, so you really have to want it to sacrifice and devote your life to it. Most jobs have three shifts, well you better have energy because your on call for all the shifts, its not just playing with kittens all day and cleaning litter boxes.”

Harmon said that when she started out, it was hard trying to find another breeder to work with.

“I can recall the first breeder I spoke with was very rude,” Harmon said. “As a matter of fact, when I told her I was from Kentucky, she actually called me dumb, which almost discouraged me to get into breeding. But I was tired of being discouraged of fulfilling my dream, so I kept trying. It still took me a few years to decide what kind of look I was going for, and I had to do research on the cattery since I choose to import instead of trying to deal with breeders in the U.S. Importing you have to worry about scams, but honestly there’s just as many scams in the United States as other countries. Plus, you also have to find a courier that is trustworthy to handle your cats on a plane for 20 plus hours. I have bloodlines from Russia, Arkansas, Maine, Georgia and Alabama to complete my pure-bred Maine Coons. I didn’t get the ones in the United States until I was an established breeder. No breeder in the United States will work with a cattery that isn’t established. Normally, if you get them from U.S. breeders, they put restrictions on their kittens. I never got restrictions, but the restriction is that you couldn’t sell breeding rights with their kitten until so many generations. I don’t sell breeding rights, but I did once and it was to a nurse practitioner in Tennessee, Amanda Womac-Boling and I only sold her the rights because I knew her and she is a very responsible person that loves her cats like me, you don’t find that quality in most breeders.”

Harmon said that she wanted to have a bond with her cats and raise them as a part of the family, so she knew she wanted them inside the house with her. Harmon also purchased a TV and an iPad for her cats and kittens to play with.

“Other catteries have things such as cat houses, but honestly they are those buildings you see on the side of the road, and some people cage them, to me that’s cruel and unthinkable,” Harmon said. “My males are separated from my females, yet they like having a living room and enclosed ‘catio,’ and they can see and smell the females, just not touch, and that way I know who is pairing with whom.”

Harmon, who currently has 12 cats, is CFA and TICA certified, but she uses the WCF standards, which is also used by other countries.

“I don’t have any litters at this time,” she said. “I did have several last month, but I do take breaks from litters to spend time with just my cats, just so I can keep that bond. I just brought Wolverine here, so I’m bonding with him at this time, plus he is in quarantine for the safety of the others.”

Harmon said that her cats are her cats, and if she breeds them, she doesn’t sell them. She also has one named Snow Leopard, her first female, that is fixed, but she is still there and not going anywhere.

Harmon said she has gotten a kitten that didn’t grow up to be a breeder, and if she believes they would be happier elsewhere, she would sell them for $400 to $600, but only if the person lets her see them interact with the cat to make sure they feel a connection.

“Kittens prices are a lot higher and they come with a year of contact. I keep in touch with buyers longer than a year and if something would happen, I would help them as much as I could if it was a genetic disorder,” Harmon said. “However, all my breeding cats are tested for HCM, SMA, PKD, FIV, Felv and seven other mutation genes, so if they didn’t pass those tests then they would just be companion cats, or pets of mine. Kittens price range varies from $1,800 to $2,500 which is the average asking price in this area. Other areas price ranges can go up to $4,000 or more.”

Harmon said she started her business in 2017, but she didn’t start breeding until 2019 because she doesn’t pair her cats until they are 2 years old, even though CFA regulations say you can breed them after they are 1 year old.

“Looking through my signed contracts, I have sold over 51 kittens, now I could probably sell more but just because my cats go in heat doesn’t mean I’m going to breed them. I prefer to have only two litters at a time so I can make sure the kittens will have all my attention,” Harmon said. “I like to give my cats a year off so they can fully recover from the litter, it’s hard on them so I like to make sure all of them have that time just for themselves.”

Harmon said she has a waiting list for people who want a kitten, and that when kittens are born, she goes down the list and let them pick or pass on the kittens. If they pick one, she reserves that kitten for them.