Cowboy's
(and our)
Story
Timeline: New Years” Eve, December 31, 1963, Judy and David meet at party. Judy thinks David is a jerk; David makes note to ask Judy out on date. July 22, 1964, first date. Tidbit: While Judy’s parents only permitted her to have a parakeet won on a TV show, David grew up with dogs, mice, hamsters, gerbils, canaries and fish. March, 1966, Judy and David see their first Maine Coon cat that belonged to their high school girlfriend’s younger brother.
Timeline: July, 1970, prior to starting medical school, Judy and David acquire first rescue kitten, a brown mackerel tabby and white female, to keep Judy company while David and future best man drive around country for six weeks. After a whirlwind 10,000 miles on the road, including two sets of new tires and a speeding arrest in Texas, David returns home and gets engaged to Judy. December 20, 1970, Judy and David wed. May, 1971, Judy and David acquire their second rescue, a six week old silver mack tabby male, who was picked-up off the curb in West Philadelphia after having been thrown out of a moving car, breaking his right femur. Christmas, 1971, Judy and David’s first litter arrives (vet at the time had assured that five month old male kitten was “only feeling his oats”). David keeps both kittens. Later, during third year of medical school, on a five degree night, two days prior to the premature death of Judy’s dad, and again, two years later during internship (when a colleague’s divorce left a kitten without a home), Judy and David expand their cat population to five and six, respectively.
Timeline: January 13, 1978, our son Joshua Michael is born. Three golden retrievers and about ten years later, after having visited two cat shows, brother and sister Maine Coon littermates (a male brown mack and a female blue solid), offspring of MTKittery Katahdin of Donnahugh, are acquired from Donna and Hugh Richbourg.
Timeline: September, 1996, Josh goes to college. In 1995, two more golden retrievers, brother and sister littermates, had joined our one golden remaining from the first group of three. After Josh departs, David sees Barbara (“Bunty”) Washburn outside of Petco, recognizing her from cat shows attended years earlier, and begins a series of phone conversations and visits that result in the acquisition of two Maine Coon kitten littermates, all without having consulted Judy. One additional hitch: Bunty requires showing the boys for one year! As a result, MTNest Maine Coons (pronounced “empty nest”) is founded, exciting weekend getaways enjoyed, many new friendships kindled and the show careers of IW SGA Dexter and RW QGA Rockport launched. The die was cast…
Timeline: February, 1998, Ch Cooncreole Magnolia Belle is acquired from Judy Chappetta, and with her guidance, breeds to Ch Broadsway Burnham, "Berne," producing three surviving kittens in June, 1999, including MTNest Jumpin’ Jack Flash (“JJ”). “Bernie’s” breeder/owners, Jennifer Sable and Jean Thompson, immediately become our closest friends and mentors. In January, 2000, Barbara Ray’s prescient advice regarding chin and muzzle structure support David in his desire to keep “JJ” whole. By this time, D’Nette and Dave Musser (Mainette Maine Coons) have joined our very special small group of best friends and mentors, and in 2001, they graciously extend themselves by permitting RW SGC Celticpride Black Irish to live with us in order to breed to “JJ.” Later in 2003, they provide Mainette Into the Mystic, allowing her to live, breed and deliver (the latter, with D’Nette’s assistance) at MTNest, all as part of our learning experience. On August 23, 2003, OD IW SGC Mainette PS I Love You (“Squeaky”) is born, a runt who requires almost two weeks of hand supplementation. Remarkably, she grows into a beautiful young female, possessing (among other things) “JJ’s” great muzzle. In 2004, “Squeaky” is bred to IW SGC Oldestage Doc Holiday of Mainette producing RW MTNest Lone Star.
Timeline: In 2005, “Squeaky” is bred for the first of three times with OS IW SGC Broadsway Redding, producing an amazing litter, delivering by emergency C-section, with six out of seven surviving, including IW SGC MTNest Nevermore, IW SGC MTNest Rive Gauche, RW DGC MTNest Eliza, RW MTNest Brandy Pond of Broadsway, DGC MTNest Sally Elly of Atlastcats and MTNest Otis of Redding, the latter owned by Judge and Amy Reinhold. In the spring of 2006, “Squeaky” is bred to “Redding” for the second time, producing a litter of three on August 3, 2006, including “Cowboy,” RW DGC MTNest Jackman, and MTNest Monticore of Tribalcats. Amazingly, “Cowboy” has better conformation than “Nemo” and goes on to achieve 16th best IW Kitten and 8th best RW Champion wins in 2006-2007, with Karen Stinson awarding his SGC Best Cat at the Coatimondi show in April. In 2007-2008, Cowboy went on to be an International Winner as NUMBER ONE cat of all breeds and BEST MAINE COON in TICA. Since those initial days of showing our cats, we have gone on to have numerous International and Regional winners, most notably IW SGC BW MTNest Dark Side of the Moon “Floyd” who ended up 2nd Best all breed cat, IW BW SGC MTNest Christopher as BEST Longhair and IW SGC BW MTNest Paint to Sample “Sami” who was best FEMALE Maine Coon and International 3rd best all breed cat in TICA. Many of our cats were also both International and Regional Winners as kittens (4-8 months of age). and cats (older than 8 months) Check out the TICA site for past shows and see how well MTNest kittens and cats have done over the years.
Since COVID, we have not been showing as much, mostly due to health reasons, but continue to breed kittens that come from our Regional and International Winning lines.