I grew up with a variety of household pet cats and dogs in my life.  I attended my first cat show as a spectator in 1986 as a spectator and promptly fell in love with at least 20 different breeds. I later welcomed a blue point Birman as my first pedigreed pet and soon thereafter began showing and then breeding Maine Coon cats with my mother, Sharon Cunningham under the Coonyham cattery prefix. After a few grooming mishaps, I became determined to improve my show grooming. I asked every exhibitor with gorgeously groomed longhair cats for their grooming techniques. I put together the most effective or consistently used techniques into an article on show grooming for semi-longhairs which has been published by the TICA Trend twice as well as by club, breed or association publications in South Africa, Germany, the U.K. and Sweden and may also be read here: www.coonyham.com/grooming.html

In addition to writing about show grooming, I have written an article on feline vaccinations for TICA and have contributed various articles on a variety of judging, exhibiting or breeding topics for the TICA Trend, MCBFA Scratch Sheet and Maine Coon International. I was also profiled in an article on Maine Coons in the weekend edition of the Financial Times.

Coonyham Maine Coons has been blessed with over 14 TICA International Winners including two Best of Breed awards.  Our friendships with breeders and exhibitors worldwide give us great pleasure as our breeding program has slowed down to just one litter per year.

As a founding member of Fog City Cat Club, we have put on 9 shows to date in the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to Fog City, I've been a member of a number of other TICA clubs since 1990 and have helped put on over 45 cat shows. I became a TICA Specialty judge in 1999 and am currently a TICA Approved Allbreed judge. I have shown a Siamese and have shown and bred Japanese Bobtails. i enjoyed presenting Maine Coon breed seminars in France (in French and English) and in Japan. I love judging because it gives me an opportunity to handle and enjoy so many wonderful cats.

I'm fortunate to live and work in San Francisco, California with two Maine Coons. I am the marketing communications manager for an aesthetic laser manufacturer and if I could presume to give anyone advice, it would be to wear broad spectrum 30+ SPF sunblock EVERY single day.  :)

Best,
Laura