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Our Review of 2005
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Well that's it; another year over
! As far as breeding kittens, 2005 was a very quiet one for us. We only had one litter of kittens, Freya's third. Northsprite Laufey and Northsprite Mani both gave us lots of pleasure before moving to the North East to live with their new family. It was a lovely feeling re-homing the two of them together. We hope to be able to do this again in the future. Other than that the only other attempt we had was with Skadi. She became pregnant, but had to have an emergency c-section, losing the one kitten she was carrying. This was a real low point for us, and we seriously contemplated giving up breeding. Skadi came through the ordeal well however, and we hope to give her another chance to become a mum in 2006. Besides the two kittens, the highlight of 2005 for us was the arrival of our third cat. Thickthorn Siguna joined our family in late April. She is a beautiful blue-silver cat with a lovely nature. She settled in well and quickly became a playful big sister for Laufey and Mani! It is Siguna that has led us to become more involved with showing cats. To be honest, showing cats is NOT the reason we decided to become breeders. It was never our intention to show our cats; we have taken both Freya and Skadi to shows and they did well, winning Best of Breed each time. BUT, they never enjoyed the experience. Siguna however, settles very well at shows and seems to be very relaxed. This might be because she was still a kitten when we first took her, something we never did with either Freya or Skadi. Whatever the reason, the fact that Siguna did feel at ease at cat shows has led us to take her to four shows in 2005. Each time (three as a kitten and one as an adult) she has been awarded Best of Breed! We will continue to show Siguna in 2006 as long as she remains comfortable with the experience. And talking of shows... 2005 was a big year for Ocicats in the UK, as they were given 'Championship Status' by the GCCF! This meant that Ocicats could now become Champions and Premiers along side other established cat breeds. This began in June and by the end of the year the first Ocicat Champions and Premiers had began to emerge. We offer our sincere congratulations to all of these cats, their owners and their breeders. So, that's about it! The highs and lows of our year. As always, we must thank everyone who we have dealt with regarding Ocicats. Being a breeder is not an easy thing for us as we have many other commitments. Breeding is definitely not a way to make money as some people might believe! However It does have its rewards: the pleasure we all get from our cats and their kittens. As for 2006, we hope it will be slightly more straight forward than 2005! We hope to breed all three cats and see Siguna become a champion. But mainly we hope to have 3 happy, healthy cats, who continue to brighten up our home. All t' best, Michelle and Gavin. January 2006
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