Background Information

My passion for cats started with my very first cat, a beautiful calico named Tommytoes who was a Christmas gift when I was 3 years old. I was an only child, so Tommytoes was my sister and playmate and best friend for 15 years when she passed away after suffering and partially recovering from Fatty Liver Disease and senility as well. In the time of having her, and afterwards as well I had 4 other random bred domestic shorthairs. All of them died in not the happiest of ways, one passed away at 2 yrs old from cancer, and another at 5 yrs old from cancer as well, one had to be PTS because of extreme mental illness to which treatment had been ineffective. and my last kitty died after ingesting string when I was not at home. All of the cats had some sort of tempermental issue in one way or another, and the medical issues was quite disheartening as well. Being an avid fan of purebred dogs and conformation shows, I decided to turn to the purebred cats
Since I had never had a longhaired cat I decided I should get into a longhaired breed. I bought a blue male persian that was already a CFA Grand Champion, and a black female that had an entirely titled pedigree and had a few small wins in kitten classes and set out a breeding program for Persian cats. Their temperaments were incredible, I have never known a cat so sweet, forgiving, kindly and charismatic, those personalities along, after being compared to the haughty, sulking personalities that my previous cats had come by so easily, I was hooked on purebreds. It wasn't to long after I acquired the persians that the female became pregnant, however during this short time of owning them I discovered a rather dark side to the purebred world. The suffering these cats had to go through in the name of "typeyness" and "beauty". My grand champion male had a face so extreme that not only did he have difficulty breathing, but he had difficulty eating as well. he sneezed constantly, panted easily and had to sit at his food dish for hours every day in order to consume enough food, his food had to be wet or semi-soft foods, dry kibble was nearly impossible for him. my female was slow to eat as well, but she did not have quite as hard of a time as my boy. but...not only did their extreme faces cause so much trouble, but also their coats. One should understand that there are different types of coats in longhaired cats, some are soft and silky and never need groomed, some are a slightly harsher and need groomed occasionally...and then there is the show persian's coat...bred to be so profuse, so long, and of a very fuzzy texture...it looks awesome when it is freshly groomed and fluffed. but it takes HOURS to get that look that one sees so often in photos and at the shows. and if that coat is not brushed every single day it will matt...every single day. and the breed also seems to have an oilier skin than other breeds, and this oily substance on profuse, fuzzy longhair makes the perfect dirt and smell collector like you've never seen. In short...it was horrible, I enjoy grooming, but this was extreme, and very unnatural, without daily, constant human care these cats would not be able to last a week living alone. After that first litter was born and the kittens sold I decided that I could not abide by such a horrible practise as too breed extreme "show quality" persians. It was such experience that has seriously made me question the ethicality of so called "ethical" show breeders. I had the male neutered and I placed him with a home that was experienced with persians, and the female I sent to another breeder who had wanted her when I purchased her first. So I was catless...and although the persians had left a sad, sour taste in my mouth....I still wanted a purebred longhair, this time I went for a balinese, from a breeder who had traditional and classic type cats. And thus came Avon, an absolutely wonderful little girl. From Avon I discovered a new, enchanting personality of cats, and the wonders of the siamese colors, although having seen them since forever, and never really thinking much about their colors, after having lived with a blue-point Balinese (semi-longhaired Siamese) I have come to appreciate their beauty like none other. And the soft, sweet butterfly like temperament of a cat, she is regal but meek, glorious but humble. She loves her luxuries and appreciates them like I've never seen another cat do. Nearly a month after acquiring Avon, a family friend bought me a birthday gift, knowing that I wanted a purebred cat and had just been so dissapointed by the persians...but not knowing that I had already bought another cat, he gave me a Russian Blue kitten, quite a surprise it was, received with a little trepidition at first, but Maybelline came to fit right in. While I have decided to not pursue breeding Russian Blues, I have found a new companion so incredible I must mention it here, Maybel is incredibly devoted to me to the point she will pine away if I leave, she adores riding around on my shoulder when I come home and sleeps under the covers with me every night, snuggled in my arms, she is like a little monkey with her antics and she loves to play play play, adventure is her middle name, while she is aloof with most other people she is absolutely crazy about me...and I'll tell you, there is nothing quite like the experience of that of a cat who is truly, completely devoted to you and has put their complete trust in you.
Avon and Maybelline are both 3 yrs old this spring of 2007, Avon's coat has never had a single mat....ever. Her coat is incredibly clean, soft and silky (I only wonder why a show persian's coat cannot be like that) Both girls have no aggressive quirks, either with humans, children, other animals or otherwise and they are a complete joy to live with, it is because of them I am sorely tempted to never have anything other than a cat from purebred lineage again.
However, another twist has happened in the last 2 years that has made me change directions once again in my quest for perfect cats (not that mine aren't perfect, they are!) My best friend has developed allergies to my girls (we really suspect maybelline's coat is what is really triggering it) and I have family members who have allergies to cats as well. Because I cannot live without cats, or without my friends and family I had to do something about it. I took my best friend to a Cornish Rex cattery to see if she'd have any reaction, and after 3 hours she was able to determine that she had no allergic reaction to them at all. So I have decided to become involved in rex cats, number one for the comfort of my family and friends, and number 2 to make available more rex cats to more households who experience these same problems. (P.S...in case you are concerned, no, I will never ever give up Avon or Maybelline).
So thus is my start in breeding cats, I am keeping my own stud book, however I hope to find more people also wanting to breed Si-Rexes as well to start an organization and single-breed registry and foundation stud book with and later on apply for recognition from a recognized cat registry.