This cattery owes her name to the queen that is 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. In this cattery, breeding is seen as a fantastic hobby that comes with a lot of responsibilities, certainly not as a "profession".
Combinations are made for health, temper 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 yet, it's not standard (as it is with a lot of other breeds) to perform these tests yet, but I like to have that extra little sense of security that my animals were at least free of this at the time I chose for them to have a litter.
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.
I will however not exclude other types of Russians from my breeding program just for their looks, as I value the genetic input they might bring.
Because occasionally blue point kittens are born, and because this is not an allowed color according to the standard, Luna so far has been tested for the presence of this recessive gene. She doesn't carry it and thus would only give birth to blue kittens.
Yin will soon be tested to determine whether she received the gene from her father, as he hasn't been tested.
I will show all breeding cats at least once to have them be judged independently so their strong and weak points may become clearer, but cats that 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 the owner, not the cat, and I am well aware of that and take this into account.
At this time the cattery consists of only one queen, Luna's daughter Yin, who will be bred only when she is 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 Yin and I can't promise when she'll have her babies.
I do know however, far in advance which stud she is going to be visiting when the time comes. I am a member of the NRKV, and breed according to the rules that they have laid down. Next to that I am involved in the SBR-RBF and a subscribing member of the RBBA and Neocat breed club.