Cwmkatz -About Me

My name is Glynis and I live with my husband on the English Riviera in Devon where he indulges his passion for sea and river canoeing and motor biking - he has been to Russia twice on the latter! (Plus a few other places - see his website on my 'This & That' page.) The children have both left home and are pursuing their own lives. Glad and sad, if you know what I mean!

I own, show and breed Orientals, Siamese and Bicolours under the GCCF registered prefix CWMKATZ, meaning in Welsh 'Valley of Cats'. My cats are all healthy, well adjusted creatures of extraordinary beauty and muscle tone with much individualisation of character - i.e. they are wicked but look as if they are pure innocence. I adore them.

I fell in love with Siamese cats in my early childhood in Central Africa when I met my next-door neighbour's Blue Point queen, Ming. Then, when I was 17, I attended my first cat show at the Durban Red Cross Hall, Natal. I spent the afternoon in the Siamese section and, on returning home, spent all evening convincing my parents of the necessity of letting one of these unique cats join our family. Eventually they caved in but with the proviso that I must pay for the purchase myself, I think in the hope that the handing over my own cash would deter my desire, but this was in vain. A couple of months later a beautiful Seal Point queen kitten that I named Mishtah, moved in. Since then my home has never been without at least one of these cats. Years later, when my husband, children and I moved to the UK, the two Siamese who were living with us then came too.

I had always fancied the idea of an all-colour Siamese so, once settled here, I began an eighteen-month period of research and visiting cat shows, asking questions and finding out all I could about the Siamese's all-colour counterpart - the Oriental. I also fancied the idea of showing and perhaps breeding these amazing cats so chose the prefix CWMKATZ in acknowledgement of my paternal Welsh roots.

Eventually, the first two Oriental girls joined CWMKATZ, a Chezs Blue Spotted Tabby (Sweet Izadora or 'Izzi' for short) who turned into a Blue Ticked Tabby, and a Metexa Red (Fleurdelune or 'Fleur' for short). Unfortunately both now have departed for The Rainbow Bridge but I am all the better for being owned by them. Then I discovered the Oriental/Siamese cousin - the Oriental Bicolour. I now have approximately 5 adult cats, usually with various kittens underfoot. My husband is longsuffering through all of this but by his actions I know he loves the cat family as much as I do.

I enjoy showing and have had a fair success on the show bench. I do not keep a stud so am able to breed my queens carefully to produce offspring that are healthy, typy and with a good temperament. I do not believe Orientals and Siamese are either fragile or delicate. Therefore, protected by all the necessary vaccinations, they have the run of the great outdoors. I can't help but feel that it is cruel to keep a creature like a cat, imprisoned within a house. Though they condescend to live with us and accept our adoration, they are, at heart, wild animals. Having observed numerous types of cats, both big and small, in the wild, I am always amazed by the similarities between them and the cats that chose to share their lives with us. Being indoors may be luxurious and safe but, nevertheless, it is still a prison. They cannot have the active stimulation that their nature demands by even a plethora of expensive toys and as for an indoor climbing tree being able to replace the real thing - well … Also, I feel that living in the sterile conditions of our beautifully disinfected homes, we as breeders, do the breed a disservice by not allowing them to develop and improve their own natural immunities. Having said that, of course, my cats have the run of every room in the house!

My kittens are born in a custom-built 'nursery' with a private, enclosed portion, and an open run area (big enough to hold a litter tray, with the space still for small kittens to play), in which they remain until they show an interest in the world outside this, and then they have the run of firstly the room where their box is and then the rest of the house as well, only being enclosed when I am out. The nesting box is in my computer room where I spend much of my day so they have human company from the very first. The queens seem to appreciate this closeness too. The other animals have free rein to come and go as they like so almost from the kittens' birth they experience the daily noises of family life ebbing and flowing around them. The kitz are handled by my husband and I from the word go so they never know a time when humans are not a part of their lives.

The kittens remain with us until they are at least fourteen weeks old by which time they have developed secure, stable personalities. By then, as well, they will have had their full set of kitten inoculations. They are sold registered on the GCCF Inactive Register unless otherwise requested and justified. I also ask prospective families, if at anytime during the cat's life, the necessity arises to re-home him/her, the cat is returned to me. No cat that is going to be a pet may be kept un-neutered either. There are far too many litters born "for the fun of having a litter in the house", causing a major problem with unwanted cats.

What a joy my cats are to me! Loving, talkative, inquisitive, highly intelligent, determined, stubborn, out-and-out thieves, oh, and did I say loving? … in other words, full of character. Together with my two miniature Dachshunds and my husband's fourteen (at his last count!) pond goldfish, we have a really animal-orientated family where we humans definitely play second best, being the slaves to the individual whims of each animal.

I hope you enjoy my website and cats, with the odd foible of the dogs thrown in for good measure so their slightly Roman noses are not put too much out of joint, and if you do not share the passion I have for Orientals and Siamese at the start, I hope by the end of perusing this, you will be as passionate about them as I am!