About Us
Dark Moon is a hobby Maine Coon Cattery located in Muizenberg - seaside suburb of Cape Town, South Africa . We are registered with The Southern Africa Cat Council (SACC) since 2015.
Our cats play very important part in our family and share our home (and beds) with us. All of our cats are living in harmony with each other in loving and stress free environment. We alternate the time between our working boys and girls so each of them gets the run of the house, catio and garden. Our garden is safe and secure and provides extra space for our cats to run, climb trees, roll on the grass as well as catch butterflies and other creatures. This way we make sure our cats get enough exercise and mental stimulation so they are happy and healthy at all times.
Kittens are born in one of our bedrooms and receive lots of love, cuddles and attention from early days. We take great care in socializing our kittens from early age so they go to their new homes confident, loving and trusting towards humans and other pets. This process of socialization starts from around 3 weeks of age, and lasts until they are ready to leave for their new homes. Kittens get the run of the house, play in the catio, meet our other cats, dogs and family members. They receive lots of cuddles, get used to different sounds and "playmates" so they settle really quickly and easily into their new homes.
Our goal is to breed healthy and beautiful cats who comply with the Maine Coon breed standard - cats with excellent substance, strong legs, long bushy tail, shaggy hair, large ears with lynx tufts and most importantly - calm and loving temperament.
Breeding requires constant education and gaining new experiences on ongoing basis. We attend cat shows regularly, webinars and seminars whenever possible, and share breeding experiences with other breeders - locally and internationally via online forums.
Health of our cats and kittens is very important to us - all of our felines receive required vaccinations and examinations by our trusted veterinarian Dr Liam Bebbington from Blue Cross Veterinary Hospital. Our breeding cats are genetically tested for HCM (Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy) SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy), PKD (Polycystic Kidney Disease) and/or PKDef (Pyruvate Kinase Deficiency) at Inquaba Biotec laboratory.
Our cats play very important part in our family and share our home (and beds) with us. All of our cats are living in harmony with each other in loving and stress free environment. We alternate the time between our working boys and girls so each of them gets the run of the house, catio and garden. Our garden is safe and secure and provides extra space for our cats to run, climb trees, roll on the grass as well as catch butterflies and other creatures. This way we make sure our cats get enough exercise and mental stimulation so they are happy and healthy at all times.
Kittens are born in one of our bedrooms and receive lots of love, cuddles and attention from early days. We take great care in socializing our kittens from early age so they go to their new homes confident, loving and trusting towards humans and other pets. This process of socialization starts from around 3 weeks of age, and lasts until they are ready to leave for their new homes. Kittens get the run of the house, play in the catio, meet our other cats, dogs and family members. They receive lots of cuddles, get used to different sounds and "playmates" so they settle really quickly and easily into their new homes.
Our goal is to breed healthy and beautiful cats who comply with the Maine Coon breed standard - cats with excellent substance, strong legs, long bushy tail, shaggy hair, large ears with lynx tufts and most importantly - calm and loving temperament.
Breeding requires constant education and gaining new experiences on ongoing basis. We attend cat shows regularly, webinars and seminars whenever possible, and share breeding experiences with other breeders - locally and internationally via online forums.
Health of our cats and kittens is very important to us - all of our felines receive required vaccinations and examinations by our trusted veterinarian Dr Liam Bebbington from Blue Cross Veterinary Hospital. Our breeding cats are genetically tested for HCM (Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy) SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy), PKD (Polycystic Kidney Disease) and/or PKDef (Pyruvate Kinase Deficiency) at Inquaba Biotec laboratory.
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What we feed
Correct nutrition is the key to a happy and healthy cat; and we believe a raw and natural balanced diet is the best one we can offer to our Maine Coons.
Cats are obligate (true) carnivores which means their diet requires nutrients found only in animal flesh. While obligate carnivores might be able to ingest small amounts of plant matter, they lack the necessary physiology required to digest it. As cats are predators, their natural diet consist of birds, rodents and even small rabbits. We feed a "prey model diet" by following 80:10:10 ratio.
* 80% boneless muscle meat
* 10% bones
*10% organs (from which at least 5% is liver)
We also add additional natural supplements such as whole eggs, pilchards or fish oil, milk kefir and wheatgerm powder to our raw meals.
Benefits of feeding balanced raw diet:
* healthy gums with shiny teeth
* glossy coat with minimum shedding
* optimal weight with visible muscle tone
*stronger joints and improved mobility
* sufficient water intake with minimal drinking from water bowl
* smaller, firmer, less smelly stools. Raw fed cats pass stool only every 2-3 days
* Better health and increased life expectancy as issues such as food allergy, obesity, diabetes, urinary infections and kidney disease can be prevented by feeding balanced raw food
Feeding unbalanced raw diet can seriously harm your cat and that's the reason why vets discourage raw feeding. Vets are on receiving end of raw diets done incorrectly, having to deal with patients with nutritional deficiencies. Please do your research properly or buy from reputable pre-made raw food suppliers. Luckily there are several companies producing balanced raw food so correct raw feeding is no longer a problem in South Africa. We like to purchase our pre-made raw food from Chefs4Pets who offer a nice variety of premium quality frozen pet food delivered straight to your door.
Correct nutrition is the key to a happy and healthy cat; and we believe a raw and natural balanced diet is the best one we can offer to our Maine Coons.
Cats are obligate (true) carnivores which means their diet requires nutrients found only in animal flesh. While obligate carnivores might be able to ingest small amounts of plant matter, they lack the necessary physiology required to digest it. As cats are predators, their natural diet consist of birds, rodents and even small rabbits. We feed a "prey model diet" by following 80:10:10 ratio.
* 80% boneless muscle meat
* 10% bones
*10% organs (from which at least 5% is liver)
We also add additional natural supplements such as whole eggs, pilchards or fish oil, milk kefir and wheatgerm powder to our raw meals.
Benefits of feeding balanced raw diet:
* healthy gums with shiny teeth
* glossy coat with minimum shedding
* optimal weight with visible muscle tone
*stronger joints and improved mobility
* sufficient water intake with minimal drinking from water bowl
* smaller, firmer, less smelly stools. Raw fed cats pass stool only every 2-3 days
* Better health and increased life expectancy as issues such as food allergy, obesity, diabetes, urinary infections and kidney disease can be prevented by feeding balanced raw food
Feeding unbalanced raw diet can seriously harm your cat and that's the reason why vets discourage raw feeding. Vets are on receiving end of raw diets done incorrectly, having to deal with patients with nutritional deficiencies. Please do your research properly or buy from reputable pre-made raw food suppliers. Luckily there are several companies producing balanced raw food so correct raw feeding is no longer a problem in South Africa. We like to purchase our pre-made raw food from Chefs4Pets who offer a nice variety of premium quality frozen pet food delivered straight to your door.
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This article by a US vet provides excellent overview on raw feeding for cats.
Our research sources:
Cat Nutrition
Dr Lisa A Pierson
Dr Karen Becker
Cats Completely Raw And Proud
We Feed Raw S.A.
LittleAngels Pet Nutrition
Our research sources:
Cat Nutrition
Dr Lisa A Pierson
Dr Karen Becker
Cats Completely Raw And Proud
We Feed Raw S.A.
LittleAngels Pet Nutrition