Black&Tan cattery information

Cattery Information

Black&Tan is registered with the Cat Fanciers' Association, the world's largest registry of pedigreed cats. Breeding CFA Siamese is our hobby, as with any hobby we do this for our enjoyment and not for profit. We are not a breeding business. Our primary goal is to promote and improve the breed for posterity. By providing the best possible nurturing for our babies to give them the best start possible. Producing strong companion animals that possess good temperament and are attractive. With time we hope to add our own distinctive quality, our breeders touch so to speak, to the line we are caretakers of. A quality that is refinement of beauty and balance between extremes. As can be said of most Siamese, our bloodlines stem from champion lines of decades ago. We spend a great deal of time socializing our kittens to be companion animals and sell only pet-quality* kittens. At this time our kittens do not meet the CFA show standard. and do not have the "bull terrier" head of today's show Siamese. Photo of the Top CFA Siamese cat. Our Siamese have the appearance of the old time Siamese as they were before they evolved into the statuesque show cats of today. I see beauty in both styles and there are many people who love each. Think of show Siamese as an Elite Fashion Model and the old time Siamese as every gorgeous girl who should be a model but just doesn't have that elongated elite look. Both are beautiful and have value to the future of the Siamese breed.

A pet-quality cat is in no way a lesser companion. Very few cats are born with the traits they need to be truly competitive in the show world. Their markings may be wrong, or their coats may not be close enough. Their ears may not be set as their show standards dictate, or their facial expression may not match the ideal for their breed. These exacting traits don't mean these kittens aren't beautiful or loving. As long as their faults aren't health or temperament related, these cats make wonderful family members.

We currently have one seal point breeding female in our home, Grainne. We have one Lilac Point stud. As pets we have our retired queen Keva., The girls have the run of our main living areas and the stud lives on the lower walk out level of our home, having his own stud apartment. We are a hobby breeder as defined by US law.* We choose to stay small for the health and happiness of our cats. Over crowding leads to an increase in disease, dominance, and behavior problems. We are committed to improving the breed for longevity and won't breed cats that will pass on undesirable traits that effect health. We plan our litters to maximize our queens health.

* A hobby breeder can have no more then three breeding females. If more then three females are owned then they are required to be licensed by the the MDAR under regulation 330 CMR 12:00.

We feed only premium cat foods, Our breeding cats eat Royal Canin Feline Health Nutrition. At four weeks our kittens begin weaning to Royal Canin Baby Cat. Depending on the kitten some are happy to move right to the dry food while others want a mix of KMR Milk Replacer and Royal Canin Baby Cat. The milk replacer is then decreased until they are eating dry food. From four to twelve months our kittens eat Royal Canin Growth Formula for Kittens. Our pregnant and lactating queens also eats Royal Canin Baby Cat to maintain her health and milk supply through this critical and demanding developmental time. While the breeding practice of a maximum of two litters in three years (per queen) sounds good it is not always in the best interest of the queen. We factor in the number of kittens in the last litter to determine how much time our queens need off to maintain their health and well being. A queen with a litter of two needs to be bred sooner then a queen with a litter of six. Waiting too long can lead to complications that can end a queens breeding ability. Our basic formula is one month for each kitten in the queens last litter calculated one month after the litter is weaned. At this time the queens health and reserves are assessed to determine if she can be bred during her next cycle.

We provide four large litter boxes for our adult cats use. We like the large hooded box made by IRIS USA inc. When we have kittens they have their own special litter box. We use plain clay litter with all kittens until they are ready to go to homes. Some kittens will eat bits of litter when they first litter train. We keep them on plain clay so kitten owners can make the choice on what litter they want to use. None of our kittens eat litter past seven weeks of age. Having read the extreme stories about clumping litters I tried many of the "natural" litter products. I personally could not stand the awful sour smell of these products. I also had difficulties breathing due to the dust they create. My adult cats will use these other litters but when given a choice they prefer their clumping litter. For our adult cats, who never eat litter, we use a clumping clay based litter. Having had my email inbox filled with too many urban legend stories I have learned to look into any story that seems to play on the readers emotions. I have used clumping litter for over 20yrs. and none of my cats have ever had a problem. There are many Vets that promote and even sell clumping litters. We use Dr. Elsey's. Ultra Litter.

We use Apple Country Animal Hospital, a full service animal hospital veterinary practice to care for our cats. We do not self diagnose or medicate. June 2014 all of our cats PCR tested negative for Bartonella. Our cats are micro chipped and all of our kittens are altered before going to their new homes. We accept responsibility for every kitten we bring into this world for the full term of their lives. No kitten adopted from us can ever be sold to a pet dealer or relinquished to a shelter under any circumstances. We prefer that our Siamese are not declawed. We routinely clip our cats nails and provide scratching posts for exercising their desires. Declawing of cats for non-medical reasons is performed solely for the convenience of the pet owner and not in the cats best interest. Devocalization is also not condoned. On July 21, 2010 Massachusetts became the first state to make it against the law to do devocalization surgery on cats and dogs. If you want a cat that is silent you do not want a Siamese. We believe that a responsible pet owner will provide for the physical, behavioral, and psychological needs of a pet for its lifetime. We share a concern for the homeless and feral feline population and support trap-neuter-release programs for healthy feral cat colonies.

We require individuals seeking to purchase a kitten to participate openly and honestly in our pre-purchase questions. We reserve the right to place kittens in homes of our choice that are in the best interest of the kittens.
We provide support to all of our kitten/cat owners, with no time limit. We are here to answer questions or advise on problems, no matter how long it has been since you purchased your cat.

70 years apart

On the left is our foundation queen Maeve Born 8-18-2004 and on the right Champion Katchina Of Newton Born 3-20-1934

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