Joanna

Owner & Breeder
Crazy Cat Lady/Kitten Wrangler

I’m an RN by day, a mother of 2, an outdoor enthusiast, and former world traveler on a shoestring.

My favorite part about breeding is the experience of sympathetic joy — when I see how happy people are with their kittens in their homes and how well the kittens integrate into the daily lives of their people, it gives me a deep feeling of joy and satisfaction. Knowing that I help facilitate the creation of loving animal-human relationships is why I clean so many litter boxes every day!

I have always loved animals and had large dogs (Golden Retrievers), but my young daughter has been an absolute cat lover since she was 1 year old. After fostering cats from the SPCA for a while, she expressed that she wanted a cat of her own. I started researching things like, “which cats are the most like dogs?” I wanted to find her a cat that would feel a bit like a dog in its personality, affection, trainability, family loyalty, and large size. That’s how I found Maine coons.

As soon as I read about them and looked at pictures, I felt immediately connected to the breed and its rich history, and knew we needed one in our family. My husband has spent every summer of his life in Maine; I used to sail with my grandfather, and later sailed far flung parts of the world, including Maine. I could not have imagined the wild ride I was in for when I brought Shera home from her breeder near Richmond, Va.

I believe breed preservation of Maine Coons is a small act of American historic preservation, because of their unique place in history as one of only two natural breeds from the USA. I’m very proud to be participating in that in a small way. I love to look through historic archives of New England photographs to find wet plate images of OG Maine Cats.

It’s so much fun to raise the kittens be surrounded by such beautiful cats! I love raising the kittens and watching them go from basically naked little peanuts to confident, playful, curious kittens.

I respond to all your emails and inquiries as quickly as possible. I work a FT RN job and have my family and animals to care for, so I appreciate your patience if my communication is delayed.