This cattery owes her name to the queen that was supposed to become the foundation of it, and it also refers to my first Russian love; Noa.
"Alyona" is a derivative of "Yelena" (Helen(a) in Europe) which, like "Luna", refers to the Moon goddess.
At the same time the name consists in part of the N, the O and the A.
Cattery Alyona aims to breed healthy, lovable, sweet and easy going Russian Blues, at a slow pace. The interests of the individual cats are put first in this, and second come the interests of the breed as a whole.
First and foremost, the kittens should become gentle, sweet, relaxed pets who can reach a beautiful age in good health. Here, breeding is seen as a fantastic hobby that comes with a lot of responsibilities, certainly not as a "profession".
Combinations are made for health, temperament and maintaining genetic diversity as much as possible. To me, maintaining the dialogue with other breeders is of utmost importance when it comes to this.
My queens are tested for PKD (hereditary kidney disease) en HCM (hereditary heart affliction) before they are bred. As these diseases don't seem to be too widespread in the Russian Blue, it's not standard for breeders to perform these tests yet (as it is in a lot of other breeds), but I like to have that extra little sense of security that my animals were at least free of these conditions at the time I chose for them to have a litter, so I'll know I've done the best I could to guarantee my kittens a life in good health.
Beauty is only at the bottom of my list, however, it's not lost sight of; the cats should resemble the breed's standard as much as possible, and I aim for the GCCF standard, the so-called "English type" of Russian Blue (sometimes also called traditional, or original type).

My cats are occasionally shown to have them be judged independently, so their strong and weak points may become clearer (although results won't be leading in breeding decisions), and to promote the breed with the general public, but cats who do not feel at home at a show or have problems recuperating fast won't be taken again.
A show is done purely in the interest of humans, not the cats, and I am well aware of that and take this into account.
Our results can be found here.

At this time the cattery consists of two queens, Tyana Sileny Lilia and Alyona Bella Barinya, who will be bred only when they are mentally and physically ready for it and when the circumstances in the cattery are optimal.
This is why I don't have a time schedule laid out for my girls and I can't promise when they''ll have their babies.
I do know however, far in advance, which stud they are going to be visiting when the time comes.
I am a member of the registering body NRKV, and breed according to the rules that they have laid down. Next to that I am a member of the breed associations SBR-RBF, RBBA, RACCS and Neocat Russian Blue breed club.

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