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 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, 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.
At this time the cattery consists of only one
queen, Tyana Sileny Lilia, 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 Lilia 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, the RACCS and Neocat breed club.