Mindeelyn Siberians - Oshawa, Ontario

Sarah

We've had our cat from Mindeelyn for about 10 months now. We also had a pure bred Siberian cat from a different breeder years ago who passed away. This review will compare our experiences from two breeders with Siberians to help you make a decision on this breeder.

Communication with Mindeelyn:
We had good communication with the breeder via text and email. She was responsive and sent us photos and a video of the kittens. Also, when we picked up the kitten it was actually the kitten we thought we were getting. With the other breeder in the past, the kitten we got wasn't the one in the photo we thought we were getting. It was the same colour, but when we got home and compared the markings, it wasn't the same cat.

Pickup of kitten:
The breeder met at a public location and not at her home. I think this is common with breeders, as with our last Siberian we also met the breeder at a public location.

Health of the kitten:
When we got our kitten from Mindeelyn, he was about 10 weeks old. He was healthy. He also smelled fine. I write this because when we got our previous Siberian from a different breeder, that kitten was sick when we got him (to which the breeder denied), and we had to get him meds and a vet check-up immediately as he was very skinny and had diarrhea. That kitten also smelled horrible as if he slept in a litter box or from a smelly home. With Mindeelyn we didn't have these issues.

Personality/Temperament:
The kitten was quite young and very distressed the first few days. He cried and meowed constantly and was terrified of us. It took about 2 weeks for him to calm down. Now about 10 months later he is a happy cat, friendly with people, loves to cuddle and play. However, he is VERY vocal. He meows and talks constantly. This is not typical of a Siberian. Our previous Siberian was very typical with being a quiet cat. Our cat from Mindeelyn is a 'meower,' and meows and talks so much it can be annoying. We've become accustom to it now. He's happier and quieter if he can go outside. We use a leash and have created a way for him to be able to spend a lot of time outdoors. If you don't have this option then I might suggest getting two cats so they can play together. These cats love to play and need a lot of stimulation to be happy.

Size:
Although Siberians are slow growing cats on average, compared to our previous Siberian at this age, this one from Mindeelyn is very small. He's even smaller than your average cat. He's very healthy but small which surprised us as we wish he was bigger like your typical Siberian.

Allergies:
Our son has bad allergies to cats and that's why we've had pure-bred Siberians. Our cat from Mindeelyn has not caused any problems for our allergic son.

Overall experience:
Overall we are happy with our experience with Mindeelyn.

Brad A. J. A.

We love our cat from Mindeelyn, Lily is the most social cat and has the best temperament. My husband is allergic to cats and has very little issues with Lily. Would not hesitate to get another cat from Mindeelyn.

Clarissa R.

I got my cat here two years ago and we love her lots. However, I regret choosing this breeder for several reasons.

First, I believe she was given to us too young. Although they write a lot of stuff on their website to make it seem like they make sure not to take the kittens away too early, I don’t think this is true. We got our can at under 10 weeks and I think she developed a few behavioural issues due to being away from her mother too early in her life.

Second, I found it strange that the breeder did not let us visit her home where she keeps the cats and made us pick up our cat in a parking lot. To me, this is a red flag that they may be hiding something and based on what I read online, I think it is likely they are not treating their cats well.

They also wrote a lot on their website about how they feed the cats such high quality food, but our cat was being fed adult Iams and Purina dry food (ie they did not bother to buy food formulated for kittens). I personally get the sense that the information they write online is not accurate and it makes me question a lot about how they treat their cats. They also seem to constantly have kittens available which is also a red flag to me. I would caution against buying a kitten here.

Vanessa C.

We bought 2 retired four year old mamas from Mindeelyn; we soon discovered that one of them had irritable bowel disease. The breeder acted as if the cat had always been healthy. Perhaps if you have 8 cats you don’t notice that one of them is having diarrhea all the time, I don’t know. We’ve had to give her daily prednisolone for her entire life, and pay for expensive food you can only get from the vet. Then I noticed a lump on her side, we paid for surgery to have it removed, it was determined via biopsy that it was a cancerous tumour.
The other cat was diagnosed with asthma not long after we bought her. We had to pay for puffers for her entire life with us (we had her for 8 years). Then she was diagnosed with incurable intestinal lymphoma, we paid for her to get chemo treatment but it didn’t work and eventually we had to do the right thing and have her put down.
These cats are wonderful, such great personalities, but from this breeder at least, not healthy. I don’t feel that the breeder should be in this business.

Melissa S.

Great communication and support as we chose our kitten. Little Skye is now much bigger, but her temperament and personality make her such a great member of our family, and she loves our dog and toddlers equally.

Emaan A.

We got a Siberian kitten 7 years ago. He had the sweetest temperament and was truly the best cat ever. Yesterday unfortunately he passed away. Out of the blue, he developed kidney stones, kidney infection, and heart problems. The vet said this was caused from genetics. The way this developed and unfolded just made no sense at all so I looked up reviews from other people who got cats from here. Unfortunately similar (and worse) situations have happened to others from this breeder. Just be wary.

Paul R.

We have purchased 3 Siberian kittens from Mindeelyn and the experience was wonderful. I would highly recommend her cattery if you are looking for a healthy beautiful kitten or cat.