In the beginning there was Dewie!
We were smitten by Dewie and his naughty ways. Ade, not really being a 'cat man' just loved his dog like temperament and he went everywhere with us. Sadly he hated showing, but loved to travel! In the following years, I helped Fran with litters and caring for her troupe if they took holidays. In one litter there was a tiny black smoke boy, a brother for Dewie! We named him Kato. He was incredible but we had spoiled Dewie in the 3yrs and he absolutely hated Kato with a passion. No amount of introductions worked. He had to be re-homed eventually. It was hard because I had helped to bring him into the world and it was special caring for him for all those weeks. But Dewie came first! I continued to help Fran for many more years. We took a girl cat in for a holiday period and Dewie loved her. A few years have passed now and Ade and I met a couple who bred Bengals, quite the 'new breed' then. They had F1's and they were incredible. We ended up with two beautiful variants and they became our foundation girls. The only kittens we bred went to friends and then tragically, Ade found that he was terribly allergic to their pelts, something that had never occurred to us with the Devon fur, the longer they stayed, the worse his breathing became. It was a heartbreaking time to make a decision but Ade's health had to come first. Eventually, the girls were neutered as no one wanted variants now that the Bengals were a breed in their own right. They went on to live happily with family and friends.
Then along came Boosby
I still had the Rex Rabbits which I had bred and shown successfully for 10 years and Ade wasn't allergic to those either. The Devon Rex breed was still a young breed and I didn't feel confident in those days, being so young myself,to have a Devon Rex girl of my own and I always vowed to wait until I was in a better situation and carried on with my rabbits and horses. Being brought up in a farming community these animals were much more natural to me than selected bred cats with what seemed like 'special needs'. Give me baby goats and barn cats I was in my comfort zone... but Devons, oh my, they seemed a handful.
In 1999, Dewie's Mum, Boosby, came to live with us and we all moved to the West Midlands to bigger premises. Having two cats was just perfect, they tolerated each other very well and we had always agreed that we wouldn't get any other cats whilst they were alive, they just didn't enjoy 'mixing'. It was in June of 2006 when Dewie went to Rainbow Bridge with nasal Cancer, aged 17yrs and two years to the day a very senile 19yr old Boosby followed him. We were devastated and couldn't cope with the loss as also that year, my 36yr old horse went too as did the elderly rabbits. Ade and I found life very hard without our family and it took us a long time to recover, you don't expect to be that traumatised.
In 1999, Dewie's Mum, Boosby, came to live with us and we all moved to the West Midlands to bigger premises. Having two cats was just perfect, they tolerated each other very well and we had always agreed that we wouldn't get any other cats whilst they were alive, they just didn't enjoy 'mixing'. It was in June of 2006 when Dewie went to Rainbow Bridge with nasal Cancer, aged 17yrs and two years to the day a very senile 19yr old Boosby followed him. We were devastated and couldn't cope with the loss as also that year, my 36yr old horse went too as did the elderly rabbits. Ade and I found life very hard without our family and it took us a long time to recover, you don't expect to be that traumatised.
Followed by Slinky
A Rex breeder friend contacted me and said she had her ex-stud boy available for re-home, would I like him to fill the void? We were in Wales visiting family and called in and met Slinky AKA Lexifers Here Comes Trouble. He looked at me, I looked at him... It was love! I was his 'girlfriend', Ade was his 'Slave'. KS is now at Rainbow bridge and had a few health issues but made his 10th Birthday.
Our life was back on track again. I started visiting cat shows again and was stewarding when I saw two cats that made me want to 'wet my pants'. A blue Devon boy and a black Devon girl. 'They would make nice babies' I thought and I would love one like Dewie or Boosby again. It became my passion again to have the girl cat I always dreamed of. It had to be black smoke of course!
Our life was back on track again. I started visiting cat shows again and was stewarding when I saw two cats that made me want to 'wet my pants'. A blue Devon boy and a black Devon girl. 'They would make nice babies' I thought and I would love one like Dewie or Boosby again. It became my passion again to have the girl cat I always dreamed of. It had to be black smoke of course!
Then Mr. zeus
Litter after litter was born and there wasn't one for us. We were picky and wanted that special baby. It was simple, we would just have to wait!
During our wait, a big beautiful black smoke Devon neuter boy had to be re-homed due to unforeseen circumstances in his family, he had a few issues, not unlike Dewie (spoiled) but we were the chosen ones with the experience, so we took him on. His name is Mr. Zeus and a very special character who has become a very happy boy. Due to him being a 'shedder' of the FCoV virus, he now lives with an old school friend a few miles away, where we can keep and eye on him - Mr Zeus is now 13years old..
During our wait, a big beautiful black smoke Devon neuter boy had to be re-homed due to unforeseen circumstances in his family, he had a few issues, not unlike Dewie (spoiled) but we were the chosen ones with the experience, so we took him on. His name is Mr. Zeus and a very special character who has become a very happy boy. Due to him being a 'shedder' of the FCoV virus, he now lives with an old school friend a few miles away, where we can keep and eye on him - Mr Zeus is now 13years old..
and now Faith!
So, what of the girl cat? Well, That lovely blue boy 'GR CH Bountiful Gollum' and that stunning black girl 'GR CH Rexiru Devon Wears Prada' I saw all those years ago... they had an only one love child in 2011! Out she slipped, black and curly with our name on her. Meet Faith, our stunning baby that we have waited virtually a lifetime for and she was well worth the wait. Faith was an excellent mother to her kittens. Our first litter was wonderful and a textbook delivery and we kept Lillibet who was neutered at 11months due to a blood poisoning from a pyometra. Then things went terribly wrong and we lost the following two litters to congestive heart failure and in 2015, we neutered Faith, it was all over before it even began. We had to start all over again!
I still have great aspirations to improve the genepool and incorporate new blood lines into my homebred girls. We are now three generations ahead thanks to Shirley Churches allowing me to have a girl from her girl, GR CH Esperanza Sonya Knows. If it wasn't for this generous offer - I would not be living the dream now!
I still have great aspirations to improve the genepool and incorporate new blood lines into my homebred girls. We are now three generations ahead thanks to Shirley Churches allowing me to have a girl from her girl, GR CH Esperanza Sonya Knows. If it wasn't for this generous offer - I would not be living the dream now!
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