At first, things were going well as I proceeded to find out information about this cattery. She was courteous and took time out of her day to answer some questions. I'll be the first to admit i had a lot of questions. But if im going to spend 5K or more on a couple of kittens, im going to do my due diligence. As you can see in the texts, i am very aware and accepting that deposits are non refundable. I placed a deposit for a couple of kittens. I was told i was going to receive a receipt after she got home later that afternoon. Got nothing. Some unexpected expenses came up. So, about 3 days after i placed the deposit, i figured I'd at least ask to see if she'd do me a solid. I ended the conversation by telling her, "No worries, you can keep it." But she wasn't done talking to me, i guess (see texts). This review is NOT about me not receiving my money back. That's on me, and i totally understand. This is about how she handled this conversation. She was rude, condescending, and very unprofessional. She proceeded to guilt trip me, trying to make me feel bad for asking questions. Her communication is also awful. No reciept that i asked for, after i asked her twice. I never received a pedigree that i wanted to see after she told me she'd send one. And she never placed me on the waitlist after she said she would. After looking at the other reviews on here, it looks like theres other problems with this place. Take your money elsewhere. Make sure not to take too much of her time, or she might charge you extra for it. read more

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I was very fortunate to locate a reputable Main Coon breeder in California. Once we contacted KT, owner of Cherokee West Main Coons, we were on our way to adding another member to our growing feline family. We chose a male Main Coon whose name is Noland. He has been with us for nearly a year and all I can say is that I have never had such an amazing animal as an animal friend. I wish to thank KT for her knowledge of this breed and providing us a lifelong family member. read more

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My husband and I decided to talk with Katie about buying one of her Maine Coons. Katie was kind and explained her love for these cats. She has been a breeder for several years. And, you can tell that she dearly loves all of her cats and their kittens. As, each kitten leaves.......they are saying goodbye to a " member of the family ". Though, knowing each one has found their forever home. She sends home with each cat. A bag of food, blanket, water and food bowl and liter along with a litter box. I nearly forgot Katie also, gave us a vitamin powder that she makes. Okay, back to the point of buying a Maine Coon. We went from intending to buy one and we fell in love with two. So, we bought TWO ! We already have two and they are all getting along fabulously. A big THANK YOU KATIE. Teresa and Christopher read more

Adopted a beautiful chocolate smoke. Best temperament. Seems Kaye has exited the business, not sure.

After clearing the ringworm things were good until at around age 2 he began losing weight FAST, his eyes turned gray and one eye closed completely. He wouldn't eat, couldn't walk, and nestled himself in a pile of laundry in the back corner of our closet preparing to die. I took him to the emergency vet and they did rays and found kidney failure and liquid in his lungs. He was diagnosed with FIP an illness he caught from the other cats in his litter. It lays dormant in them for a year and kills them unless treated. There is no FDA approved treatment for it in the United States. read more

The cat we purchased from Cherokee West had cow hock legs, a heart problem (heart murmur found on first checkup with a vet and diagnosed with an MRI just after he turned 1 year old), and spinal issues. He dropped dead (quite literally) in front of my wife just after he turned 2 years old. Cherokee West offered a replacement cat when the heart problem was found, and again upon his death. We did not take her up on either offer. We understand that a replacement cat (you turn your cat in and get a new one) would be a reasonable offer if looking to breed, but, as a furry family member, replacement was never an option for us. We freaking loved that cat, and couldn't have replaced him when he was alive, and didn't have the emotional capacity to imagine going through it all again after he was gone. Our cat was gorgeous, and he did have many traditional Maine Coon qualities, but he was also more wild and aggressive than any M.C. that we've ever met; he was mildly dog aggressive (even with our very old and sweet dog), cat aggressive, and slow-to-trust our patient, cat-loving kiddo. He would BITE when groomed, when we took him to the vet, or simply when grumpy - which was worrisome around guests and our kiddo. Since Cherokee West keeps their cats/kittens in a building separate from their home (at least they did when we picked ours up), we feel that the kittens may not be getting sufficient socialization. It felt that perhaps the looks of the cats had been put ahead of temperament when breeding - but maybe this is just common among this coloring? The temperament and health problems with our cat COULD be an exception to the rule; this is simply our experience. Please do your own research, find out what tests are done before breeding (get documents), and be sure to tour the facility whenever possible. We miss our boy. read more

We thought we were getting the fur baby of our dreams. Unfortunately, and I should have had my eyes opened when we picked our kitten up. They brought the kitten out to meet us and all seemed to be ok. We asked to see the mom and the mom was called out from a number, like cage #27. Her husband then located and brought the cat out. She walked around in front of us, scared like a cat that is locked in a cage all day. Our cat is now two years old and still has not bonded with us and shown us the love that a Maine coon is expected to give. We love Zeke and will continue to try and help him break through, but if I had to do it over again, I would definitely not purchase a cat from this breeder.do not be fooled, she is not the small loving breeder she portrays. read more

I am not one to leave a bad review, but my experience needs to be told. If I could give a -5 star review, I would. I purchased 2 Maine Coon kittens from this breeder in December of 2022. Once I arrived for pick up, I foolishly didn't listen to my intuition which was screaming at me to turn around and leave. To put it politely, the house was not cleanly. Not an environment healthy cats are brought up in. Nonetheless I pushed through all the red flags. I noticed the eyes of the male I was picking up were weepy... and when I questioned this I was assured it would clear up quickly with some drops. Not only did it never clear up, what he actually had was feline herpesvirus, which is a chronic upper respiratory infection that is HIGHLY contagious amongst cats. It would NEVER go away... may go dormant, but could flare up any time with stress, age, or just because.. He CONSTANTLY had runny eyes and a runny nose... I reached out to the breeder and was given attitude and was told I just have buyers remorse.... I sucked it up and dealt with it. Wiping his eyes multiple times a day otherwise they would get raw from the boogers/liquid. And wiping his nose multiple times a day otherwise the booger buildup made it hard for him to breathe. Because that is what we do for animals we love. Fast forward to the first week of October 2023 his health took a turn for the absolute worst. His breathing became such a struggle for him. He dropped weight FAST and his face started to swell. I took him to the emergency vet where they ran tests and did X-rays and was told there was fluid around his lungs suffocating him... and that there is no cure. That what he had was 100% fatal as there is no FDA approved treatment... he died 4 days after his 1st birthday. I tear up as I write this because my kids and I loved him so much. This was gut wrenching. When I reached out to the breeder to let her know, the news was received with attitude and an explanation that her ONE YEAR HEALTH GUARANTEE AFTER PURCHASE DOES NOT in fact cover this. I didn't expect her to offer another cat, nor do I want one. I didn't expect my money back. All I wanted was a heartfelt apology. An acknowledgment that this situation was completely messed up. Which I didn't get. My kids and I loved our male kitten so much... We are heartbroken. Please DO NOT buy from this breeder. read more

Wonderful! Honest! Reliable! Katie, the owner is kind and jumps through hoops to make you happy. You will have a beautiful kitten, healthy and just so adorable. read more

I have purchased 2 Maine Coon kittens from Cherokee West Maine Coons Cattery. When I purchased my first kitten, I also got a rescue kitten for my Coon's companion. I was told that my rescue kitten was part Maine Coon. I was curious and ordered a DNA and Genetic Health marker tests for my rescue kitten and was offered a discount and ordered one for my Maine Coon kitten also. The test results were not surprising, but very satisfying. My Maine Coon kitten's results showed she is a gorgeous Maine Coon and all the possible predisposed genetic markers are all negative, clear. No Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, hip dysplasia or any other genetic defects that can affect our felines. My rescue is 10% Maine Coon. All her genetic health markers are clear. After purchasing my 2nd Coon kitten from Cherokee West Maine Coons, I did the same testing for my newest addition. The results were the same. All negative, clear and a healthy little Maine Coon male. Just like the narrative provided on their Cherokee West Maine Coons site, my animals are very healthy, friendly and playful cats. My Coon kitties are beautiful. Their depositions are sweet. My male chirps all the time! I want to thank Cherokee West Maine Coons Cattery for raising such wonderful pets!! I knew very little about Maine Coons, and the owners were very friendly, helpful and knowledgeable, answering all my questions. (And I had a lot of questions) They provided me with nutrition and diet info for my kittens. They sent me home with everything I would need for each of my new pets. Cat litter, cat pan, cat food, a supplement and a comforting blanket with the scent of the mother kitty, I am planning in the future to add to my Maine Coon family. I will definitely go back again to Cherokee West Maine Coons Cattery for my next pet! read more

I will tell you our story. They claim to be a hobby breeder but are not. It's a kitten mill. The cats are her income source which would be fine if they were healthy and taken care of. I knew pulling up to this wasn't the place but, I took our kitten home and quite literally rescued it because I couldn't leave him there. KT seems nice at first but don't be fooled like I was. I expected there may be some minor health things, fleas whatever and I knew our kitten had a hernia but, I didn't think it an issue since they did offer to fix it and put it in my contract. Getting them to actually fix it though, that, was a hassle. She said her vet would do it, PAWS, a low cost clinic and she'd only pay for it there which I was ok with until I got home and tried to schedule it a week later once the cat had adjusted. Turns out they do not do hernia repairs at PAWS unless it's an accidental finding on a neuter or part of a neuter. I went back and forth with KT for a few weeks and the hernia had grown and needed to be fixed fast so I told her I'll take him to my vet. KT wasn't very responsive especially after I told her she lied and her vet said they don't do straight hernia repairs there and they had no records of us or from her offering to pay for the repair either. Finally, after weeks of back and forth, I got her to agree to refund me 1/2 of the cost of the cat to cover the hernia surgery but she would only do it as a payment to my vet since she was contractually obligated to pay for that to keep herself out of trouble. And, the only reason she even agreed to do that was because she didn't want me to take her to court since I had genetic testing done on my cat which I had gotten back during this period that showed he carried the gene for HCM (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy). Mind you, that's something she claims she tests all her cats for and guarantees they do not have. The truth is, she knows her cats have the genetic mutation and that's why the health guarantee is only a year since HCM is usually not discovered until after a year old. These cats are money and it is got many people but the problem is she has no bother breeding sick animals or selling them to others. The only reason I even tested my cat was because she promised to email me the parent's paperwork to show they were clear and never provided it even though I asked multiple times which made me uneasy. I went to UCD Genetics lab where she says she has her tests done on her website for the genetic tests. Imagine my surprise to know there was no records on my cats parents. Or, the breeder (her) in general. Things were going ok after the hernia repair for about 3 months no heart issues yet so I was hoping we were in the clear but then another issue popped up. My cat had exotropian. It's a condition where the eyelids that roll inward onto the eye and was a $3500 surgery to repair. It's also genetic. And, since it was genetic, the surgery had to be redone since it came back in one eye. It was during that second $1400 eye surgery my cat had an arrhythmia so, we got referred to a cardiologist. After running a cardiac BnP test, the numbers were elevated and turned out heart disease is setting in. I knew he carried the gene since I had him tested but since it was only one it was a 50/50 shot he'd get it since he only had the one gene I was hoping and praying he wouldn't. I should have probably returned him when I found out he had the gene but by the time I got the genetics back he was already part of the family and my kids had bonded with him and they'd just gotten over the loss of our first cat. So, here we are now with more expenses for a sick cat. Cardiac pills and cardiology appointments and echocardiograms are not cheap. I love my cat, my kids love our cat but I wouldn't recommend buying here unless 1, you have a lot of money to throw away on a car with health issues which we don't but now have no choice but to pay for and 2, you are okay with loosing your pet after a few years to HCM and feel like explaining the possibilities of loosing a beloved pet to your kids and/or family. Like I said I knew by the looks of this place it wasn't the best but I never, ever expected it to be this bad. So far I'm down about $6000 for the cost of the cat and two surgeries and that doesn't even include the costs for numerous specialists or costs related to his HCM. What makes all this even worse was she knew she was selling us a sick animal to begin with and swore he was healthy and this was after talking to me and finding out we were replacing our cat who passed that was diabetic. I told her I couldn't deal with more animal health stuff or expenses and I have a disabled child with high health expenses and needs of his own so I can't take on any more and my kids couldn't loose another best friend. read more

Make sure you get proof of a clean bill of health before you pay and pick up your kitten. She did not provide, and our kitten had ringworm. She will take 0 accountability. Beware! read more