About Us
I've always had cats, from being a little girl, but it wasn't until the 1980's, when I was given a pregnant Persian cat, rescued from a local breeder who had too many cats to cope with, that I experienced the birth of a litter of kittens. Unfortunately it was a baptism of fire, as Heidi had nine tiny kittens, and between us, we only managed to rear six of them. I then bought my first pedigree Persian queen, a red smoke girl called Rowena, but decided not to breed her, as I did not like the way the Persian breed was developing. I had already seen pictures of Devon Rex, but in 1986 I went to the Supreme Cat Show, and saw them firsthand. It would be fair to say that I was smitten!
It was not until 1996 that my first Devon Rex
arrived home, a red smoke boy called Gizmo, and his tortie sister Siani, both
bred by Jackie Green of Rexivel Devon Rex. I had never experienced
anything quite like it, but it was the start of my love affair with the Rex
breeds. I went to my first Cat Show, encouraged by my close neighbours
George and the late Mary Franks of Pejxu Devon Rex, and a little while later,
one of the Pejxu Devons came to live with me, a little black smoke boy called
Ferdy, who grew up to become Grand Premier Pejxu Verdala. Later came
Jasper, a cream smoke Cornish Rex, who had a very successful show career.
After the birth of my first litter of Devons, I
decided to look for my own stud boy, and so Mickey came to stay, from Andra
Barber of Nivandra, followed by Leto, who went on to become my Grand Champion
Stud boy. Both are now retired and living in wonderful pet homes.
I have spent many happy days out showing, and have met some super people and some fabulous cats. I would like to thank Sandra Humphreys for all of her help and support over the years, and for the lovely cats she has entrusted to me - Mollie, the foundation of my old lines, Fleur, whose grandaughters can be seen on the Show Bench today, and of course my wonderful Max, who now lives a life of luxury with Dominic Phillips of Rexintons - thank you so much, Dom! Also a very big thank you to the man in my life, my husband, without his encouragement and patience, none of this would have been possible.
In 2007 I learnt that Leto had sired several kittens with either Luxating Patella, Hip Dysplasia, or both. I had already neutered him but as these can be hereditary conditions, I decided to also spay his daughter, Bella, even though she did not appear to have passed the defect to any of her offspring. I reluctantly began to believe that my involvement with Devon Rex was drawing to a close. I was wrong, 2008 has opened up a whole new chapter for me, and I am looking forward immensely to the future of Rhagorol Devon Rex.
