Temple Tabloid
Official Publication of the Sacred Temple Cat Club of NZ www.sacredtemplecat.co.nz
June 2014
President’s Report Hi all, Well the weather is starting to deteriorate and it's definitely got colder at nights. How do I know this.....it's because the Birmans’ are hogging the heating and climbing under the blankets. We have a spare double bed that they could use but no, it's obviously not as warm as mums. As you will probably know we have taken our usual July show out of the Wellington area and are combining with Taranaki to have it in their area for a change. This was mostly because our usual venue is not available due to earthquake problems. I hope to see many of you there as this makes it a 6 ring show for us Birman folk. A good chance to get some of those sought after points. Our next newsletter will be our show one and hopefully this time we will have all our Judges’ reports on their top 10s. It's good to be able to read what they thought of our beautiful babies as most of us committee members don't get to see much of the judging. If you take any photos on show day, especially if your cat does well, could you please send them in for the newsletter with a sentence or 2 explaining who they are. Thanks in advance for this Well I'm off to try and reclaim my bed now. Stay warm everyone and I hope to see you at the show. If you don't know me already come and make yourself known. I'll be one of the ones at the back of the hall doing the paperwork, under the watchful eye of our slave driver Janice Cheers
Pam Halliday
STCC Cats’ at Palmerston North Show Recently a number of our Birmans’ did well at the Palmerston North Cat Club’s 60th Anniversary show. Here are some of our beautiful babies and their owners.
Barbie Müller with Belzicatz Sinhfully Sweet
Linda Morgan with Sandylands Charley who got a BIS in LH N/S Ring 2 under Judge Allan Raymond & also achieved Gold in same ring
Rachel Henderson with Birpur Miss Pixie Bee
Rogues Gallery BIS (LtoR): Christine Sanders & Shinoto Stirling Silver – BIS LH Entire Ring 5 under Judge Dr Isobel Johnstone, & also attained Silver Linda Morgan & Sandylands Charley; Raewyn Smith/Pam Halliday & Birpur Iza Stunning Chockie – BIS LH N/S Ring 5 under Judge Dr Isobel Johntone
Birpur Iza Stunning Chockie with Judge Tomoko Vlach
How I Started my Breeding Journey – by Rachel Henderson My love affair with Birmans’ started 9 years ago when I was doing work experience at a local cattery. Boarding there was a cat that was not only lovely to look at with his soulful blue eyes, but he had a personality to match. His name was Max and he was a seal point Birman. I vowed that I would own one of these wonderful cats myself one day. About a year later I got my first Birman, a chocolate point girl Florencia Lady Topaz aka “Topaz”. Well as anyone will tell you, one Birman always leads to another, so I also ended up getting a blue point boy Florencia Prince Titus aka “Titus”, a seal tortie point girl Sceiron Layla aka “Layla” and a lilac tabby point girl Florencia Forever Lillie aka “Lita”. During this time I decided to give showing a go, and after my first show with Titus, I was well and truly hooked. At the shows I met some wonderful liked minded Birman breeders/lovers, many of whom I am pleased I can call friends. One of these lovely people was Barbie Müller, who like myself, held a passion and desire to someday breed these beautiful creatures. So when the time was right, she approached me and asked if I would be interested in going into breeding with her, of course I said yes!! So we both applied and got out prefixes and started our search for our breeding cats. We were contacted by Janice Davey asking if we would be interested in one of her boys, a lovely blue point called Leegrgo Blue Boy. After many e-mails, phone calls and meetings we were pleased to have him come and wing his way down to us in November 2013, where he lives happily in his own stud quarters at my house. He’s an amazing fellow, loves his food and cuddles. Not long after Blue arrived, Janice contacted me again saying she had a seal tabby girl and would we be interested in her. I have always had a love of the tabbies, so it took me all of about 5 seconds to say YES!! So at the end of February this year, I welcomed Birpur Miss Pixie Bee aka “Pixie” into my household. She is the boldest, sweetest thing and has real “tabbytude”. I am looking forward to seeing what wonderful kittens Blue and Pixie will produce and I would like to thank all the wonderful, helpful people who have given me encouragement and advice over the years, and a special thank you goes to Janice and John Davey for allowing me to have such beautiful Birmans’ to start my breeding with and Barbie Müller for being such a lovely friend and fellow Birman lover.
Training Your Human – Author Unknown Training your human is a thankless task. "Why bother with it?", some kittens may ask. The fate of the world is the issue at hand, as felines worldwide stake a claim for their land. Make no bones about it, we cats own the joint. We spray in the corners to drive home the point. Some say the meek shall inherit the Earth, But they've no fangs or claws, for what that's worth. The cat is the ultimate species, you see, We're poised to usurp man's authority. These silly old humans who cannot play nice! We cats are peaceful, we hate only mice. Just what does training your human entail? A host of fun things you must do without fail: The sofas and rugs need a little makeover. The La-Z-Boy's target for kitty takeover. Then sleep on clean towels placed in the guest bath. And make their best clothing a target of wrath. Tear down those new drapes with a quick forceful tug. Then tatter the pile of the new Berber rug. And when they are sleeping, you block off their nose, paw at their lower lip, chew on their toes. Strut on the mantle. If they give any flack, knock down their trophies and all bric-a-brac. Shed on mom's new velvet black evening gown, as she's headed out for a night on the town. If they leave you home all alone for the night, (Any human doing this can't be all that bright), They're telling you by leaving, it's perfectly all right, To totally redecorate 'til dawn's early light. Knock over tables and chew up the fern. Hurry, go faster! Soon, they'll return...
When they try to punish, you mustn't show concern. (All attempts of discipline a pussycat should spurn.) A snide flick of tail will convey no remorse, but they will try harder to scold you, of course! So, hide in the closet until they forget, and then launch out just like an F-14 jet. Tear up their ankle, their forearm, their hand, then when they've had all the pain they can stand, dart from the room while they call 9-1-1, and celebrate victory: The felines have won! To humans, however, the battle's begun, as they steep in their anger and wish for a gun. Pathetic and lumbering and clumsy to boot, My friend, human dominance is really a hoot. Take charge in your home. It's destiny, meow. (The verses above have already told how.) So sleep for an hour, and then grab some chow, And then train your human, beginning right now.
The Funny Side of Life
*
What Made Me Choose Birmans - by Barbie Müller (Sinhiman Birmans) To me the answer is obvious. There was no other choice imaginable! After owning Birmans for only a relatively short time (like 5 minutes!!) I knew I’d never go back to anything else. I’m completely biased, and proud of it. One Birman lead to another and I was happy enough with my pet boys for a few years but always had in the back of my mind that I’d love to breed, and I knew that Rachel Henderson felt the same way. We have our own separate prefixes and queens but decided that what would work best for us was to share a stud boy, so we’ve teamed up on that front. Rachel is a wonderful compassionate person who cares about her furbabies as much as I do, so I couldn’t have hoped to befriend a better person to share my love of Birmans. So after some discussion (it didn’t take much to get us in agreement), about a year ago we were on the lookout for suitable breeding cats, and as a result we’ve met so many wonderful helpful friendly people. I have to say that I expected it to be much harder to get into the game, but people actually went out of their way to help. I was, quite frankly, blown away. Almost out of the blue, and to our great surprise Janice and John offered us Blue Boy. What a sweet boy he is. His bedroom eyes almost have the same effect on us as I’m sure they will on his new 4-legged girlfriends! Santa flew from New Plymouth to Christchurch with my first breeding girl from Diane – Belzicatz Sinhfully Sweet, or “Treacle-the-Tum” as she’s affectionately known. Beautiful seal girl who knows she’s gorgeous. Typical Birman! And now I also have a very cheeky blue tabby fluff-ball from Janice and John – Leegrgo On Cloud Nine. Little miss stripey-pants thinks she’s the boss already. Right now it’s time to enjoy peace (actually peace is only a relative term with two boisterous kittens in the house!) and quiet (and quiet would also be an overstatement with them thundering round!). Hopefully come summer time we’ll hear the pitter patter of tiny feet and purring of several contented babies snuggling and suckling together. I just can’t wait for this new chapter in my life to begin. Scary and exciting in equal measure.
More of our Precious Babies
Jax & Gizmo Stevenson, laughing at Dad’s Joke Submitted by Sally Dennehy
Bliss Kitties – Submitted by Michael Robinson & Pauline Spink
Watch out for our next newsletter. It will be our annual show newsletter, with all top 10 placings, Supreme Awards, Judges’ reports and photos. Don’t forget our annual show is being held on Saturday 5th July in New Plymouth at East End Skating Rink, Nob Lines East, in conjunction with Taranaki Cat Club. The Committee hope to see you there