How the catmadness started

When Marcel and I (Dorine) first met eachother, we both had one dog and two cats. So we started our household with a party of 6. One english cocker spaniel (Lajos), one mongrel shepherd/irish terrier/something (Freya) and four european shorthairs (Pukkie, Sientje, Muis en Maya).

Until, in 1994, Pukkie, aged 17, became seriously ill and the vet euthanised him to make an end to his suffering. The death of Pukkie made a great difference in our cat society. Pukkie has always been the undisputable boss and who was going to be his successor? Muis, the second in 'command', did try for some time,but he didn't do very well. There was a lot of fighting both in and around the house,with neighbourcats and among our own cats. After some time we decided nothing was going to change unless there came a fourth cat again, which either would become boss or at least make a difference just being a new family member.

With this thought on our minds we went to a catshow, for the first time in our lifes.  At this show we saw a magnificant Norwegian Forestcat, we had never seen a cat as beautiful as this one. It was love at first sight. Once home we could not forget about the beautiful cat we had seen. The next day we started our search for a Norwegian Forestcat with the same color as the one we had seen on show.(brown tabby)  Of course there were lots of Norwegian Forestcat-kittens,but no brown tabby's. But when we told Dini Weber of the Norwegian Forestcat- club that, given the choice, we would prefer a tiger as a pet, she told us she knew a breeder of Forestcats who had another catbreed that looked like a 'tiger', the Bengal. Was the Norwegian Forestcat new to us, we had certainly never heard of a Bengal cat before.

Pukkie

Freya

Lajos

Muis

Not long after this conversation we made an appointment with that breeder to see the Bengalkittens she told us about. I probably don't have to tell You, catlover, what happend there, but I wil tell You anyway. As soon as we sat down, one of the Bengal kitttens curled up on my lap and fell asleep. And when You have a tiny miniature cheetah sleeping on your lap,any resistance You might have had, disappears as snow for the sun!  We had to have this kitten!

A few weeks later,very long weeks I may add,we could finally take Shuma home. There is no denial possible,having a Bengal kitten in the house is quite an experience,it is just something completely different.  We soon discovered that our house (a two room, groundlevel house) was actually to small for Shuma's crazy antics!!!!     From the first moment Shuma came into our lifes we knew for sure....this was our first Bengal, but for sure it would not be our last!!!!!!

Not long after Shuma arrived we decided she needed a playmate. And when friends told us they had kittens, we huried over to get the first choice.  Gizmo came to acompany Shuma (and us) and Saartje, his sister went to Marcels mother. A few months later Dixie, our second Bengal cat, arrived. She did not stay with us very long because she thought the other cats had no right to get our attention or even to be in the house. Every feeding time Dixie was the only one in the kitchen waiting for her breakfast or diner,the other cats were not allowed in! In this period Sientje became very ill, Muis decided he didn't want to live with us anymore and Shuma got seizures, triggered by stress(After Dixie left Shuma's seizures reduced and finally stopped*)  Sientje was put to sleep (12 years of age) and Muis went to live with this other person,which he, obviously, prefered over us. And Lajos, the Cocker Spaniel, was diagnosed with liver-cancer.  He was euthanized as wel,13 years of age.

Shortly afer Dixie left,Deejay, Dixie's brother, came to live with us.He was 8 months old. When we went over to the breeders to get him, we spotted a beautiful Bengal, sitting in the cattery, such a beautiful color and lots of glitter.  That is probably not our cat,we thought...........But he was just the cat we were alowed to take home!  And such a wonderfull caracter too!

March 1998 we moved to Alkmaar, where we had, and stil have, a complete house and at that time 'only' 4 cats and a dog. But not for long. Soon after moving there we added Rajah (another Bengal) to our collection. Almost 3 years of age and very,very frightened. The first weeks she lived under the couch but after that she soon became best friends with Deejay and with us. That same year Marcels mother was no longer able to take care of Saartje and Saartje came to live with us. And Freya was euthanized after being diagnosed with lung-cancer (13 years)

In the mean time we had visited a couple of cat-shows where we discovered the Maine Coon and of course we still had the Norwegian Forest-cat in our minds! And...because we had enough room now, we decided to take a Maine Coon AND a Norwegian Forest-cat. June '99 came Jango and 2 months later Moro. YES, 5 years after falling in love with the Norwegian Forest-cat, we finaly had one!! That year we had to let the vet put Maya (13 years) asleep aswell.  She had her glance removed (cancer), but her heart did not stop racing and because of that the kidney's couldn't purify the blood anymore.This was the second cat, by the way, wich died after a glance operation (Sientje was the first).

This year (2000) cat number 8 arrived,Izanami, another Maine Coon. Once You caught the catvirus it's hard to stop. Of course, we say to eachother:" As long as we live in this house we won't take more then eight cats!"  But for how long? A second Norwegian Forest cat would be nice and the Somali is a very beautiful cat too..........

Talk about virus: September 2000 we went to a kind of show (for kittens only) with Izanami. Just for the experience and to see what a judge would have to say about our youngest sweetheart. Surprisingly enough we came home with a trophee! Not for best in show,she got excellent 3, but she DID become the judge's favorit!! Result of this experience:october 15 to a show with our Norwegian Forest cat..........

Moral of the story?..Think twice before You take home Your first pedigree cat!!!!!!

Sientje

Maya

Dixie

* We found a nice home for Dixie with no competition of other cats

Lajos& Freya

4 cats tangled together