Breeders Profile

Burnthwaites Siamese, Orientals (inc Foreign Whites & Bicolours) & Seychellois

Name:

Photos courtesy of Ross Davies (right, with Toby).

Tell us a bit about you:
I am 38 years old and I live with my wife and two children in Bolton.  My main hobby is breeding and showing my beautiful cats and I also enjoy photography, and website design and graphics (which as you may have guessed started by building my first website for my cattery).  I am also a committee member for two cat clubs.

Why did you choose your breed(s)?
I grew up with Siamese cats so this was an easy choice for me.  I am possibly biased but in my opinion once you have been owned by a Siamese or Oriental no other breed comes even close.  Foreign Whites, Oriental Bicolours and Seychellois are not what I grew up with but I find them very striking and so decided to incorporate them into my breeding program.

Why/how did you start breeding?
I started breeding under my own prefix (Burnthwaites) about four years ago but in actual fact I have been breeding along side my mother, May Ellis (left)  of Mazpahs Siamese, for many years.  Since being a small child I was always involved with mum's dogs, cats, puppies and kittens and just loved to spend all my time with them.  After years of helping my mother it seemed a natural progression to start out on my own now my children are growing up.  It seems my youngest son has an aptitude for animals as well!

Why did you choose your prefix?
When I was a young child I lived in a cottage called Burnthwaites Cottage and this time in my life was full of happy memories.  It seemed very fitting to use Burnthwaites as my prefix as I hoped my breeding career would also be full of happy memories ... so far, so good!

When were your most memorable occasions as a breeder?
My first litter was very memorable as I was so very proud of my four little treasures.  I had spent great amounts of time trying to decide the sexes of the kittens and then decided what colours they were.  I had numerous visits from the 'sex-change fairy' closely followed by her sister the 'colour-change fairy'!  In any event I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the experience and from that moment on I was hooked!

I will also never forget the day one of my home bred girls won her final certificate and became a Champion (in fact I am beaming from ear to ear as I type!).  Nancy (Ch Burnthwaites Dancing Queen, right) has definitely inherited her father Nic's temperament and good looks.  She is a Lilac Point and I hope on day soon she will give me some beautiful Chocolate Seychellois babies with the help of her husband Toby.

Who were/are the most memorable cats you've had?
Our three stud boys have to be my most memorable cats.  All my stud boys are jointly owned by myself and my mother.  In no particular order my three most memorable cats are ...

Our first stud boy, Nic (Ch Stenic Supersonic, left), is a Blue Point Siamese boy who has the most amazing temperament.  He always jumps into my arms and proceeds to groom my face trying to remove my stubble.  He is such a loving boy who has contributed so very much to my breeding program (not least my first home bred Champion).

Our second stud boy Rus (Gr Ch Mazpahs Taurus, right) was a Chocolate Tabby Point Siamese.  Very sadly he died aged eleven months old and it broke my heart.  I still think about him every day and I miss him so much.  He really was one of those very special cats who was my best mate.

Our third stud boy Toby (TICA SGC Lebreton Fernando JW, left and with Ross, top) is our Chocolate Bicolour Oriental.  He is our first Bicolour and what a boy he is!  We love him so much ... with his amazing good looks and more importantly his temperament which is second to none, Toby really is the purrfect (sorry could not resist) show boy as he loves every minute of it, and also does a quite a lot of winning which is always nice!

What are your hopes for the future of your breed/your breeding programme?
My current ambition is to progress the Bicolour and Seychellois breeding program here in the UK. 

Is there anything else you'd like to mention?
I would like to say a big thank you to the people who have helped me along the way.  You know who you are ... I owe you so much, and I'm very grateful.

Ross Davies
www.burnthwaitessiamese.co.uk

May 2009