Freya |
Lajos |
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 the 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 became boss or at least
made 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)
Ofcourse 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
housecat,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 |
Sientje |
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.
Muis |
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!
Maya |
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. 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 ofcourse 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).
Dixie |
This year (2000) cat number 8 arrived,Izanami, another Maine Coon.
Once You caught the catvirus it's hard to stop.
Ofcourse, 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!!!!!!
* We found a nice home for Dixie in a family without competition
of other cats.
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