Current Breeding Queens
There will be no more kittens from us for a while
My breeding line appears to be at high risk of HCM and so it has been terminated.
This site will be used to disseminate information about this condition.
If you have experienced the sudden loss of a Siamese or Oriental cat at a young age I would very much like to hear your story
We have no breeding queens at the moment while we work with
Massey University and Leslie Lyons of UC Davis to try and identify the
gene(s)that are responsible for HCM in Siamese and Oriental cats.
When this happens and a DNA test is developed so cats likely to produce kittens with HCM will not be used for breeding (by responsible breeders anyway) I may think about breeding again
The Girls who are still with us
Silver Double Grand Champion Shibumi Ghanima
Ghanima is an ebony oriental. She was the only survivor from her litter of three and proved to be very precocious, spoilt and demanding. She never takes no for an answer but she is so charming it is hard to say no to her. She did well in shows as a kitten and as an adult in 2008.
In 2009 after the first HCM death was reported to me all my cats were scanned and Ghanima was found to be seriously affected with HCM.
She currently enjoys a quiet life and we make the best of the time remaining to her.
Ch. Shibumi Becrux (Becky)
Beckyis a Chocolate Lynx Oriental . She is from our second litter and we origionally planned to sell her but she hissed at everyone who came to see her so we decided she was meant to stay with us. We are very pleased now that we kept her as she is a beautiful elegant cat (with a very nice nature) She was spayed in 2008 after having 5 beautiful litters. Her heart status remains equivical as it has been since her first scan illustrating one of the difficulties of relying on scans alone to determine the heart status in a breeding cat and the importance of developing a DNA test. Becky was briefly rehomed in 2008 but the people lost her and it took me 7 weeks to find her again so she continues to live with us as she was clearly meant to make an important contribution to the heart research.
Shibumi Mohican
When the heart problems started top appear Mo was just a
baby. It was an easy decision to have her spayed and keep her as a pet.
She is the class clown, clumsy and boisterous and she is unbelievably bossy and has set herself up as the dominant cat in the family. It is lovely to have her youthful vitality and of course we have our fingers crossed that she will be one of the lucky ones that does not develop HCM