Rose Garden Resident

Cover Story

Photograph by Kevin White

Finding Homes: Elaine Lyford-Nojima (right), coordinator for Maine Coon Adoptions, sorts through information pamphlets at the volunteer table next to Andrea Pizarro. Lyford-Nojima founded the nonprofit feline rescue group 18 months ago.

Maine coon cats on death row get new life from rescue group

SJ MarketCenter shop hosts feline program

By Mary Gottschalk

Elaine Lyford-Nojima tells you she loves all animals, but it's clear she loves Maine coon cats above all.

"What grabs me about Maine coons is their personality. Mostly they're very people-oriented, very affectionate, very social and they gravitate toward people. That's the personality that draws me," Lyford-Nojima says. "They're like having a little dog around without the work of a dog. Their nickname is 'The dog of the cat world.' "

A community organizer based in Oakland, Lyford-Nojima heads Maine Coon Adoptions, a statewide rescue organization she founded a year and a half ago after breaking away from a national rescue organization to focus on California.

Recognized by their bushy tails and long hair, Maine coons are skilled mousers.

Lyford-Nojima and fellow volunteers stage a Maine Coon Cats Adoption Fair on the first Saturday of each month at PetSmart in the new San Jose MarketCenter at 607 Coleman Ave.

It was here the Woodworth family found Brigitta in May.

Carla and Byron Woodworth and their 5-year-old son Andrew were visiting PetSmart with the idea of finding a pet.

"We wanted a dog, but the problem was once you get one, we'd have to get two because dogs are not independent. My husband wanted a cat, but cats are not very lovable," Carla Woodworth says.

"We saw Brigitta and how pretty she is. We started to handle her, and we saw she was really friendly but independent. That settled it for us."

Brigitta now wears a collar with a rhinestone B for her first name and another W for her last name and has settled into her new home in the Cahill Park area.

On mornings when Woodworth and Andrew leave the house to head for work and school, she says, "He walks over and pets her and tells her, 'Don't worry kitty, we'll be back later today.' "

Brigitta "is kind and well natured," Woodworth says. "She's a lap cat and she loves to be petted. The only time we've seen any aggression has been when there's another cat outside. She's an indoor cat and was declawed when we got her.

"She's just fun to have around."

Between fairs, PetSmart serves as the adoption center for the Maine Coon Adoptions group. There are usually one or two of the cats in residence for potential adoptive owners to view.

"PetSmart has been a huge asset for us," Lyford-Nojima says. "We've adopted about 18 cats out through that location since March.

"We move the cats in and out every week to two weeks to give them a break from being in the store. It's very clean and state of the art, but it's a stressful environment for them. They live in cages with Plexiglas on one side. We try and move them out and into a traditional foster home."

Lyford-Nojima says there are about eight foster homes throughout the state. These are families that take in the cats after they have been rescued to help them readjust to a family situation and to give them a break from being on view when they are up for adoption.

The cats come from what Lyford-Nojima calls "high-kill shelters. We have relationships with shelters and other rescue groups throughout the state. I'm constantly getting emails and phone calls. Some want us to save a cat from a shelter's death row, or a family member may have died without making provisions for their cat's care or people can no longer keep their kitties for various reasons. A number of lost kitties are living on the street."

One of Lyford-Nojima's favorite recent rescues was of Hunter.

"Hunter is a 6-year-old, handsome male Maine coon who was basically forced to live outside by a family in Sacramento. He was living with dogs and it was a very unhappy and dangerous situation living outside all the time," she says.

"A rescue colleague called about him, and we took him into care as quickly as we could."

Lyford-Nojima says when Hunter arrived, "he was a big, solid 15 pounds of muscle. His hair was completely matted. He's a fluffy long-hair, and he had burrs and mats the size of my fist."

The only solution was to take Hunter to a veterinarian clinic and have him shaved, which, she says, resulted in his "looking like he had gone into the Marine Corps."

After the cat had a month of foster home care with two volunteers, Lyford-Nojima posted information about Hunter on the group's website, www.mainecoonadoptions.com.

A woman in San Francisco read about Hunter on the website and drove down to PetSmart to meet him. After her application to adopt him was processed, she took him home.

Families must fill out adoption applications and be interviewed by one of the group's volunteers.

"We do extensive interviews about who is in your family, your history with your animals and your attitudes," Lyford-Nojima says. "We talk to a personal reference, and we want to talk to a vet references if you've had a pet in the past. We'll call and ask about the care of that animal."

Woodworth says she was surprised at the interview process.

"I wasn't used to it," she says. "You think if you want a kitty, an hour later you're taking it home. It was not an easy process, but when all is said and done, I wish more adoption groups would do it that way so pets would have better owners."

The group looks for families willing to do the frequent grooming necessary to the breed as well as agree to keep them indoors.

The group charges adoption fees to cover some of the expenses it incurs with vet exams, testing, vaccinations and treatments for cats before they are put up for adoption.

Fees start with a high of $175 for a pure-bred Maine coon with papers.

Lyford-Nojima says pure breeds are rare, and the majority of cats the group rescues are mixes.

Other fees are $150 for kittens up to 1 year old, $125 for healthy cats from 1 to 8 years old and $100 for cats over 8 years old or those with special needs.

Even with fees, Lyford-Nojima says there is always a need for more contributions to continue rescue operations.

Volunteers are also always welcome.

Lyford-Nojima says volunteer tasks range from transporting the cats from PetSmart to foster homes to helping out at adoption fairs.

One key task is that of a "kitty cuddler, people who go in every day and play with the kitties. Get them out of the cage, pet them or play or sit with them, whatever the kitty wants to do," she says.

These are often folks who cannot have cats at home because of allergies or they just love cats and want to help out.

For additional information, visit www.mainecoonadoptions.com. Adoption fairs are held the first Saturday of each month at PetSmart, 607 Coleman Ave.

Maine coon cat origins

Maine coons are native American long-haired cats, originally prized as skilled mousers on New England farms.

Notwithstanding their working cat status, Maine coons were the first indigenous show cats. During the 1860s, farmers who bragged about the skill and intelligence of their animals started showing their cats at the Skowhegan Fair. Maine coons were also listed in a show held in Boston in January 1878. In fact, a Maine coon was chosen as Best Cat at the first major cat show in this country in New York's Madison Square Garden in 1895.