Kollam: After years of long waiting, searching and legal battle, Nishad and Noufal finally owned three kittens of Maine Coon breed, the rare and largest cat breed in the world. The giant beautiful cats have already grabbed eyeballs.
A network engineer by profession, Karunagappalli native Nishad is the state president of the Ken Cat Fancier Association. Kannanalloor native Noufal is working in Haritha Keralam Mission. They used to bring Maine Coon cats from other states for the pet shows organised by the association.
This is a highly expensive and difficult process. So, they decided to buy Maine Coon cats. Nishad and Noufal searched for Maine Coon cats at many places in India, they could find only hybrid breeds. With this, they sought help of the World Cat Federation and searched in other countries.
The duo found the Maine Coon cats in Russia with the help of a Bengaluru native man who has license to import pets from abroad. After this, they had to run for many documents including pet passport, medical certificate and the papers to prove that the climate of Kerala is suitable for cats.
Finally, the cats were brought from Russia to Malaysia and then to Chennai. The cats were carried in specially arranged vehicles to the residences of Noushad and Noufal. The cat pair named Vanya and Dasha were owned by Nishad and Rimma was taken by Noufal.
The cats weigh about 8 kilograms each. About Rs 4 lakh was spent for bringing them to Kerala including travel expenses. All three of them are accommodated in air conditioned rooms. They are fed with special foods.
Maine Coon is the largest cat breed in the world and is rarely found in Kerala, said Dr D Shine Kumar, assistant director of Department of Animal Husbandry. He said that cat rearing has become one of the most popular hobby with huge opportunities.
