I started contacting breeders and it was then that I realized that this was going to be very difficult. First I learned that Silver Birmans were not accepted in CFA, and not only that they were very rare. So the next best thing was to get a tabby (or lynx as they are called in CFA) but the same thing, they had just been accepted in CFA the year before so I was told it would be very difficult for a new breeder to get one. I have to say that I did try and was supposed to get one from a breeder in New Hampshire but I think she ended up getting cold feet and cancelled, I was very very upset that I was having such a hard time. I did not know what questions to ask breeders at first, and I did not know that in order to purchase a Show and breeding cat you had to earn their trust. Most breeders would not give me the time of day. I learned that many people contact breeders wanting to make a quick buck so they think they will breed two cats together and put an ad and sell them, putting the almightly dollar above the cat well-being and health. I soon learned how to interact with breeders and not long after that I got Zinnia, a seal point Birman and Shirley Temple a Shaded Silver Persian. I started showing Zinnia as a kitten and soon found out that many breeders then shunned me because of Zinnia's pedigree. Zinnia came from a very small cattery in Kansas, however it seems that further back in the pedigree there was a breeder that many Birman breeders didn't like so therefore people told me to spay Zinnia and not use her in a Show/Breeding program. I was not so fortunate with my first Silver Persian, but years after getting Zinnia and not listening to those breeders I am proud to say that she was my foundation Queen and that I did use her lines. Her line is now living with my good friend Anne Calabria of Leman Bleu Birmans in Belgium, her name is Chassure Baia of Leman Bleu.

After Zinnia, while still living in Maryland I was blessed to meet a very charasmatic breeder, Nancy Gossage of Jahaad Birmans at a cat show who shared the same likes as me outside of cats (Arabian Horses!). She also had an absolutely stunning Blue Lynx Male kitten she was showing, his name was "Mak" (PAVA Yasmak). We talked all weekend like old friends and I was so happy to have found a new friend. At that show Nancy told me about her close friend Maryann Grumbein of Forgecrest Birmans and said that together they had the prefix PAVA together for their Lynx line. It stood for joining of PA (Pennsylvania where Maryann lives) and VA (Virginia where Nancy lives). Not long after meeting I got a blue girl from Maryann named Forgecrest XO, aka "Kissy". She was a big boned girl with fantastic eye color. She was not show marked but her pedigree was nice. Then a year later, I got PAVA Albemarle Patriot of Chaussure. He was a beautiful show marked Blue Lynx Point male kitten that I got from Nancy and Maryann. He was the same breeding as Mak and was just beautiful.

With my Persian line, it was difficult at first. I had gotten Shirley Temple from what people call "back yard breeder", however I did not know it. I am not saying this to talk bad about the breeder so I will leave the story out, but in the end she ended up going back to the breeder because she was very sick and had come to me sick. It was around that time that I met and became very good friends with Susie Koay and Dino Ding of The Bird and I Persians in Canada. We became friends after I purchased a beautiful Shaded Golden Persian from her named Caress. After Caress I got two three other Persians from Susie and Dino, The Bird and I's Honey Bear (a hybrid, a very "typey" Golden Tabby with green eyes - great for a Silver and Golden program). I also got a beautiful boy named The Bird and I's Honey Bear who came to me from Susie and Dino right before we moved from Maryland to Texas and because he was not settling in very well went back to live with Susie.

Caress and Honey Bear's father was a "Blue Shaded Silver" Persian and that is when I first heard of "Blue Shaded/Chinchilla Silvers and Blue Shaded/Chinchilla Goldens", a color that did go in the category of the Silver and Golden Persians but was "new" due to Colorbred Persians being outcrossed to Himilayan Persians and Solid Persians and those cats then carried the dilute (blue) gene that would then pop up. Once I started working with Silver Persians and learning about color genetics I was addicted to learning all I could about genetics. In my pages "The Silver Birman" and "Blue Golden Persians" I will talk about the genetics behind these colors.

Caress was my Persian "show cat" whom I had originally purchased as a Top Show cat, unfortunately when she turned 1 year she passed away of a liver shunt. It was very very devastasting and this incident was the first bad thing that had happened to me as a breeder and was hard for me to get over. I must say on behalf of Susie, the breeder of Caress and my dear friend that the problem was a fluke and was not genetic. The timing of Caress' passing could not have been worse we were in the middle of moving to Texas, so I ended up neutering Honey Bear. He is now living happily in Maryland.

In 2003 I received an email from an Australian breeder whom I had been corresponding with since I had first seen the Silver Birmans in 2000. I had seen some available kittens on her website and thought that they were the same color as the New Zealand Silver Birmans (they weren't, they were lovely Chocolate Tabby Birmans). After three years of waiting the breeder told me that she had a lovely Chocolate Tabby kitten named Shiki Sweet Adelaide. Of course I said "I will take her". After waiting over 3 years I was so happy to be getting a new line from to bring in the fantastic eye color of the Australian Birmans, another tabby line and my first chocolate. Up until then I had only bred seals, blues, blue tabbies and seal tabbies. It was months before I was going to be able to get my new Australian beauty, and by then I ended up planning to get 4 other Birmans from the breeder, two show marked litter mates, Shiki BondiBlue and Shiki LadyBronte, a male named Shiki HezaJaziLeroy (aka Jazz) and a 2 year old chocolate girl named Shiki Sweet Temptation (that I was told was a Double Gold Grand Champion. and actually was not even titled). All the cats I imported had absolutely stunning eye color and I am happy that I imported them, it was very costly for me and I did get burned because I had many problems with the breeder and with the line itself, but I am to blame for that because I did not get other breeder referrals. If I had talked with other breeders I beleive that I would not have had the problems that I did.. I also ended up co owning the boys, and that was a long hard lesson. I will never offer to co own any cats again, but live and learn. (Lesson to all - unless they are your family - don't co own, even if at first it sounds like a great idea.) Today the only Australian cat that is still in my breeding program is my Adelaide. She is as gorgeous as ever and just a sweet heart. She is also mother to two Seal Silver Tabbies that are with other breeders.

Also in 2003 around the same time I was introduced to Laurent of La Pommeraye Birmans. Since I started breeding and learning the genetics behind Silver Persians I was also researching all the Silver Birman lines in the world. and where they originated from I found 2 lines in New Zealand, one in France, on in Switzerland, one in Brazil and one in Germany. The one in Switzerland was started by Madamme Josette Savary of Saya San. I wrote to Mme Savary using a French trasnslator and she did respond in English but it appeared that language was a major barrier for us. I don't think she understood me and I did not understand her, even though we were both writing in each others native language, the translator did not translate very well. A few months after I contacted Mme Savary, I met Laurent and found out that he had a beautiful Seal Smoke boy named Stanley de Saya San, directly from Mme Savary and he was going to neuter him because he could no longer use him as all of his cats were then related to Stanley. Laurent and I got to know one another and when I went to pick up my Aussie cats I spent a night with Laurent and his family and took Stanley home with me. Stanley is the basis for my Silver Birman program and without him and without the kindness of Laurent I would probably be working on my own Silver line. Stanley still lives with me as a neuter and is the sweetest boy I have ever had. As a stud he was very unusual, he did not act like a whole male, however he did start spraying because he could smell my other stud, once I neutered TJ Stanley stopped any spraying. Other then that he was great as a stud, he would clean all the kittens and snuggle with them, he loves people and would snuggle with them and still does.. He is also a very very large boy, currently weighing in larger then ever at around 15-17 pounds. He was 15 pounds when he came to me and is much larger then that but he is not fat. His head, body and paws are massive and the only reason he is now not a stud is because I wanted to get further down the line. There is a Chinchilla Silver Persian in his 4th generation and I wanted to get further from the Persian.

In late 2004, my good friend Betty Minotti of Stardazl Persians and I imported a Blue Golden Chinchilla Persian from Antje Aouchari of Hohenzell's Persians in Germany. The minute I saw Atlantis online I knew that I had to have her. On October 30 of 2004 she arrived here in Texas. She came in a large carrier on a pillow and her hair was everywhere! She was so gorgeous and had fantastic blue green eye color. She was registered with TICA and in order to register with CFA you need a 5 generation pedigree from the current association. Her pedigree was clear of any exotics (short haired Persians), which many breeders that aren't registered with CFA use. They are allowable outcrosses everywhere but CFA and if there is an exotic in the pedigree then the cat must be registered with CFA as an Exotic Longhair. Well CFA sent me a letter back registering her as a Exotic Longhair. I knew they made a mistake because I had her pedigree and they were all Persians. It seems that in her 3rd and 4th generation there was a cat named No One's Black Jack Magic who had been registered with CFA by someone but that no babies from him were ever registered in CFA and none of his lineage was registered, just him. Well this male was registered as an Exotic Longhair because in his 5th generation there was an Exotic Shorthair used. So in Atlantis' 8th generation there is a true Exotic but because this male had been registered as an Exotic Longhair CFA said she must be registered as an Exotic, they said either that or pull her registration with CFA and wait 2 more generations and then those cats can be registered with CFA as Persians. So we pulled her registration and are working on to get further down the line so that we can go back to CFA and register the kittens. My Persian program is a bit slow but it is progressing with Atlantis.

Thank you so much for visiting my website and feel free to drop me a note to say hello and introduce yourself.

Flower (our Great Dane as a pup) she is a Merle Mantle

This is Pink Ranger. She is TJ's dog.

This is Tessa, she is a bay Polish Arabian, a wonderful mare from Love N' War Arabians.