Tyana Sileny Lilia

Pet name: Lilia, Lily
Sex: female, breeding queen
Sire: Barishka Prinz Kostenka (Kosi)
Dam: Dbl.Gr.Ch. Barishka Princess Jharna (Jharna)
Date of birth: September 1st 2009
Litter size: 4; 2m, 2f
Breeder: Sally Briton
Exterior:
Approx weight: 3.7 kgs
Strong points: excellent coat structure, lovely short wedge head,
large, vertically set ears, almost straight concave nose line,
extremely well pronounced whisker pads, solid build, firm tail,
sweet, dreamy expression in even colored green eyes,
Weak points: somewhat smaller, deeper set eyes, chin could be
a bit deeper, convex angle could be a bit more pronounced for
our breed standard.

HCM (07-2010 and 07-2011) and PKD free





Lilia was imported from Queensland, Australia to enrich our local genepool with much needed new material. Even though I hadn't bred a litter since 2006, I had been closely watching the lines in use in Europe, and found that to my taste, there was too much of the same in use, with many of the cats being quite related, pushing up inbreeding percentages to unnecessarily high levels in our cats.
Having learnt from my previous experiences, I also wanted the new foundation for my cattery to be absolutely sound in terms of temperament and health.
The search for new genetic input automatically shifted my focus outside of Europe. Because my friend Esther of Mother's Finest cattery had imported two cats with the most amazing temperaments from Australia, I went looking there too, hoping to find that those temperaments were characteristic of the Australian Russian Blues.
I was lucky enough to find two fantastic breeders in Australia; Sally Briton of Tyana cattery in Queensland, and Sharon Bryant of Barishka cattery in Victoria. Their cats had pedigrees that would for a very large part be new to Europe, and their pictures showed very relaxed cats of outstanding type.
These two lovely ladies became my friends who kept the dialogue with me going for over 2.5 years, to ensure they would eventually offer me the best cat they possibly could.
On the 1st of September 2009, my dream finally came true when a little girl was born to two Barishka parents at Tyana cattery.
Sally gracefully let me name her, and I chose the Russian names Sileny,  for the meaning of "moonlight" and Lilia, for the meaning of "bluish", "purity", "beauty" and "of royal descent" - so her name would mean something like "pure / bluish/ beautiful / royal moonlight".
Lilia arrived at Amsterdam airport on the 17th of February 2010 after a 2.5 day journey and she rolled out of her carrier purring her head off -an amazing response considering what she had just been through!
She hasn't really stopped since, and must be the single most affectionate, trusting, sweet and easy going cat I have ever met; a great testimony to the many years of experience, knowledge and love invested in her by her breeder Sally.
Lilia has just settled in brilliantly; from her first night with me, she's has been sleeping in my bed under the duvet, against my stomach, even though I'm sometimes woken up by her kneading it, or her gently pawing at my face while laying down next to it.
She just loves to cuddle and will lay down on her back in my lap to have her tummy stroked. If I don't sit down quickly enough she'll stand against my legs asking to be picked up - no ignoring her then, because she will only ask once and will make her way up into my arms one way or another (ouch). She loves to maker her way up to my shoulders and to be carried around while there, draping herself across my shoulders like a luxurious scarf. She's such an enormous cuddly pie, a gem and an absolute joy to have around. From the first moment she's also been nothing but friendly and trusting towards Yin.
Yin is also quite taken with her and I'll find them sleeping on top of each other - except when Lilia is in heat and "stuck" to Yin 24/7, then her affection can sometimes be a bit too much.
Lilia has picked up the endearing habit of collecting "treasures" which she carries around the house and then hides - in litterboxes, beds, under blankets, etc. Many things are considered treasures; from bottle caps to hair bands to my jewelry.
As a bonus, on top of her outstanding pedigree (as I perceive it) and temperament, Lilia brings some stunning looks to the table too.
I'm so very, very grateful to Sally for entrusting me with her, I really can't thank her and Sharon enough for giving me the opportunity of starting anew with such a fantastic foundation for my cattery .

Part of Lilia's pedigree (in pictures) can be found here
If you'd like any more information about Lilia or my breeding plans for her, please feel free to contact me; her first litter can be found under "Kittens -> B-litter"

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Alyona Bella Barinya

Pet name: Bella, Bellabear
Sex: female, breeding queen
Sire: Gr.Eur.Int.Ch. Glasnost Fengali (Fengali)
Dam: Tyana Sileny Lilia (Lilia)
Date of birth: October 13th 2010
Litter size: 2; 1m, 1f
Breeder: Maartje Schoenmaker
Exterior:
Approx. weight: 2.8 kgs
Strong points: coat of great texture and colour with obvious silversheen
deep wedge shaped head, good convex angle, nice eye shape and
placement, good eye colour, exquisite prominent whisker pads,
nice medium build, on elegant legs with a firm tail that tapers to a point.
Weak points: coat is a bit long along the spine, chin could be stronger,
ear set is moderately flared and overall she's on the small side.


 

 

Bella is Lilia's first daughter and has stayed in the cattery because of her unique pedigree. Not only is her mother an Australian import, her father was imported from England to Germany and already 13 years old at the time he mated Lilia. This has resulted in a unique combination of reputable old lines in Bella's pedigree, which were all fairly rare on mainland Europe to begin with. The pedigree is impossible to duplicate anywhere, ever again. Breeding with cats out of unique combinations of rare lines is obviously what really helps to keep the gene pool of a breed broad, and that will always be one of my goals.
Her pedigree aside, Bella very much takes after her mum, both in temperament and in looks. I thought she was a weird looking kittten and I had no idea what to expect of her, but she keeps surprising me; I like her better every month.
Bella is a tad bit shyer, less dependent on others and more self-sufficient than her mother, so won't be the first to greet visitors, but she loves to be admired at very close range and she'll even grace you with a nibble at your ear. Because she generally isn't the in-your-face type of kitty, she is a good addition to a group that already has such a star (Lilia, obviously) and also a member that is on the more modest side of the scale (Yinny). Both older girls aren't in the least bit bothered by her presence and love playing and snuggling with her, which is of course ideal. She is very affectionate and has the loudest purr you can imagine.
Although she moves in exactly the same way as her mother (almost eerie!), she displays plenty of her father's traits in her behaviour as well, the most notable being her love of playing fetch. Of course she didn't know that Noa knew how to play fetch too and had already taught me, so I got my first lessons from her when she was only 6.5 weeks old. By now, you can throw anything - as long as she is able to carry it, she'll retrieve.
She is also a bit more vocal than her mother (who only meows when in heat), but will only speak when spoken to.
Bella is young and very much still developing but she seems to have taken the glorious whisker pads, luxurious coat and firm build from her mother, while sporting her daddy's concave nose line, eye size and ear shape. I can't wait to see what she'll grow into and what this girlie will contribute to my breeding program!

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Alana Yin of Alyona

Pet name: Yin
Sex: female, spay
Sire: Robushka van de Muizenisse (Robii)
Dam: Isolde de Quetzal (Luna)
Date of birth: October 9th 2006
Litter size: 4; 3m, 1f
Breeder: Maartje Schoenmaker
Exterior:
Approx weight: 4 kilos
Strong points: elegant and high on legs,
fine oval feet, excellent ear set,
nice puffy whisker pads, good eye color,
can display vodka look, well-proportioned,
very charismatic
Weak points: a few white hairs sprinkled through her coat,
rather long wedge, slightly rounded eye shape,
slight pinch, rather weak chin and nose too sloped

 

Alana Yin is one of the kittens from my A-litter, when my prefix was still an affix.
The initial reason to keep her was to continue breeding with her, but she has proven to be a fantastic friend as well.
Just like her mommy Luna ,Yin loves to chat. Whenever Yin enters a room, she modestly announces herself to all who are present, and when you let her know you noticed her, her tail curls right up to her back of happiness.
In intimate conversations she will meow without sound, and (un-cat-like) will try to keep eye contact.
Her mother may be a door opener, Yin really enjoys closing them, however, she never seems pleased with the result, and will meow to have them opened again.
She purrs like no other, her little engine is always running.
This girl is a real lap cat, even if you're crouching while doing something, she will occupy a leg. Visitors won't escape her either; given time to get to know them, Yin loves everybody who can pet (as long as they don't enter the house in groups, then they become a bit impressive). She loves to lay in my arms on her back like a baby to have her tummy stroked, eyes closed, purring and gently pawing at my face.
Her head butts are much like those of a goat, and when the object of her affection is just out of reach, she'll jump for it, her back arched, ready to receive cuddles.
At night, she prefers to sleep in bed, under the blanket or on the pillow - wherever she feels closest to her human mom.
Next to this gentle, soft side, Yin can also get quite feisty while defending a toy, the small balls of colored fur are hers and hers alone and she'll let that be known with a growling mouth full of fluff.
Especially at the age of 4 weeks, this was hilarious to watch. She did get the intended results though; impressed littermates with arched backs and big tails and adults that would take a step backward because of the sounds this critter produced, made sure that this is still one of the favorite tricks in Yin's book. This girl is just posing though, she is actually a bit of a drama-queen...

In January 2009 Yin was given a Suprelorin®-implant to prevent the production of sex hormones and thus heats and pregnancies for at least a year. I chose to give her this treatment because this gave me more time to critically monitor the development of her temperament and her family's health, without exposing my girl to all the ill effects of (natural or induced) hormonal imbalances.
I already had my reservations concerning her mother's character traits, and sadly, my doubts about other heritable factors grew too. By now, there are a few cats in Yin's immediate family that passed away way too young. In one case (of Luna's half-brother) a specialist has diagnosed HCM, and another cat (another half-brother of Luna's) displayed all the typical symptoms before he died. Mesoderm-related defects also run in the family. All in all, I had too many reservations about this one single girl to feel happy and confident about breeding her.
Every living being has its defective genes, faults and detrimental traits, and there is always a certain risk in breeding, since you never know which exact ones are in the animals you breed. It's up to the individual breeder to map out as many of these risks as possible and to make a well informed decision that takes the interest of the individual cats as well as the interest of the breed into account. For me, the scale slid over to not wanting to risk spreading the mentioned problems further in exchange for what little Yin could have offered the breed in terms of desirable traits or rare genes. Yin was spayed in 2010 and has remained here as a play mate for Lilia, Bella and their kittens; a role that suits her well and has thus far benefited her because Yin is very much still a kitten at heart herself.

Part of Yin's pedigree (in pictures) can be found here
If you'd like more details about the factors that influenced my decision for Yin, just get in touch.

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Rehomed
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Luna

Registry name: Isolde de Quetzal
Sire: Jascha von Ramenka (Eros)
Dam: Dolores de Quetzal (Dokus)
Sex: female, spay
Date of birth: March 29th 2005
Litter size: 5; 3f, 2m
Breeder: Marjolijn van Dijk
Exterior:
Approx. weight: 4 kilos
Strong points: beautiful smile, deep green eyes,
good coat and color, nice nose line and convex angle
Weak points: rather long wedge, could be higher on legs,
misses vodka look, chin could be stronger, ears could be set higher.
HCM (2007), PKD and color point free (VGL,2006)



 

Luna was my first Russian Blue girl and my little modest sunshine.
She was always where I was, whether it was on my lap, my shoulder or the back of my seat- as long as she could maintain contact. She has always had a million tales to tell, and did so in a soft voice. As soon as my eyes met hers and I'd blink or pick her up, she would start to purr.
Luna is elegant, agile and smart; when playing with her favorite toys she will make the most fantastic somersaults.
Her intelligence and agility make her a fabulous door opener and enable her to know exactly when she should jump her human mom while she's passing by a higher point that Luna wouldn’t be able to reach otherwise.
All these adorable characteristics were why I thought her fit to become a mommy, and so she got to experience this once.
I don't regret that decision, but in the mean time, I've learned to recognize some things that would have prevented me from breeding her if I had known about them earlier.
Apart from being very sweet, modest and intelligent, Luna has always been shy towards visitors in her domain. Without an obvious cause or reason, over the years this shyness gradually turned into real fear. Because of the many breed descriptions in which shyness towards strangers is mentioned as a common trait of the breed, because of what I'd seen with other breeders and because I had a thing or two to learn about normal cat behavior, I never recognized how detrimental this trait can be. For a cat, not feeling completely safe in its own territory under normal circumstances, is one of the heaviest burdens to bare.
By now, I realize that this shyness or fear of people are not normal cat behavior for a well socialized cat in its trusted environment, that this breed can exist without being shy or fearful, and that a responsible breeder wouldn't risk putting this burden on even more cats.
Thankfully, Luna happened to be an awesome mom at the time, she stimulated her children to explore the world around them and chatted with them all the time as well. She wasn't overly protective, didn't drag her kittens around, didn't bite off their whiskers and didn't see any reason to growl or hiss around her kittens. She raised them well, and I realize I've been very lucky with that.
Her kittens have all inherited her sweet temperament, and do check out every new person they meet.
Luna has been spayed, so won't become a mother again. With the help of a behavioral therapist and the support of Bach remedies I've tried to get her to a point where she could live a happy, carefree life in my cattery. However, all my efforts to get her back to the cat she once was failed, and fear kept ruling her life. In 2009 decided that it would be in her best interest to place her in a calm, predictable environment, with an owner willing to accept her for who she is and slowly build on her self confidence - without the interruptions of queens in heat and kittens that she would have had with me. Even though I felt like I was ripping my own heart out by giving my very special and treasured girl away, this proved to be the best thing I ever did for her. Yvonne, her new owner, is enjoying Luna's affection very much and already has helped her move beyond her fear of visitors.
I can't thank her enough for offering Luna the chance of uncomplicated happiness again!

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Noa

 

Registry name: Horatio de Quetzal
Sire: Jascha von Ramenka (Eros)
Dam: Dolores de Quetzal (Dokus)
Sex: male, neuter
Date of birth: April 3rd 2004
Litter size: 1m
Breeder: Marjolijn van Dijk
Exterior:
Approx. weight: 6 kilos
Strong points: good size but still elegant, fantastic coat,
beautiful smile, great silver tipping
Weak points: pale eye color, low ear set, rather long wedge,
slightly roman nose, "open" eye shape.
 

 

Noa was my first Russian Blue and in fact what I expected him to be from everything I had then read about the breed. He is a huge cat, rather aloof, very, very curious and fond of his cuddles and playtime.
He tends to overestimate his capabilities quite a lot, which makes him seem kind of reckless to the point of getting himself into serious trouble.
When visitors come, he acts like a clown; often, he welcomes visitors from his back, radiating self confidence. Because of his physical appearance and direct approach people tend to be very impressed by him.
Noa has got a serious mind of his own and will always let his owner know what he does or doesn’t want in a way that can’t be misunderstood. His voice might be modest, he knows how to use it effectively, and his facial expressions don’t leave anything to the imagination. This is the first cat that I could actually see frowning (really!) when things weren't to his liking!
He makes a point of telling humans it’s dinner time (even though Noa doesn’t stick to a certain time for that, he will have a meal anytime) or that it’s time to play fetch, a trick he taught himself, and continues to teach other people. It’s his runner-up pastime behind eating and sleeping. He also loves running water, and he thinks it's so much  fun to make his human open the tap for him.
However, Noa is not at all an easy cat, he's got some boundaries which should definitely be respected and which can vary per person.
While gaining years he seems to be developing a growing appreciation of the comfort of a human lap, but it took him a while to get there. Only at age three did he dare to let himself go and be spoiled with cuddles in such close physical presence.
The other cats often felt dominated by him and he didn't have their complete trust. Noa is highly territorial, which likely stems from the same innate fear that also burdened Luna, and would patrol my home to protect it from intruders 24/7. His high alertness often caused tension between my cats, and left him unable to relax or spend his time in a more leisurely way, like through play. As a result he kept gaining weight, to a point where it became a serious health risk. Because I couldn't immediately change his environment adequately, and because he and Luna were so close and so used to having each other around, I decided to let my two first Russians move together when a great new home crossed our path. This new home would provide an environment free of neighborhood cats, with lots of structure in their daily lives - something these cats desperately needed, and which I couldn't offer in a cattery environment. I am so very, very grateful to Yvonne for offering them this structured life, and for making both Noa and Luna happier cats for it.
As my first Russian Blue a big place in my heart will always be reserved for Noa - he will always be the foundation for my love of the breed.

More pictures of my cats can be found in their individual photo albums; to view them, go to my "Gallery" page.