Breeders Profile

Bhanacoyne Maine Coons

Name:

Photos courtesy of Anne Cullen (right)

Tell us a bit about you:
I have always been an animal lover, mainly horses and dogs. I usually had 3 or 4 dogs, a horse and a couple of cats. The cats were all moggies, apart from a wonderful Siamese girl I had when I lived in Italy. She was completely convinced she was part dog and part human. She never used a litter tray, always the toilet, where she would sit with great dignity. She also came for walks with the dogs, and could out walk all of us.

Why did you choose your breed(s)?
I think it was just fate that started me breeding Maine Coons.  I had finished my Honours Degree and I was looking for another interest when I happened to see an advertisment for MC kittens in a pet shop window.

I knew nothing about the breed, not even what they looked like, but I decided to go and have a look. I did not find the kittens very exciting and I was about to leave when a red ball of fluff marched in, tail held high, full of confidence. It was love at first sight, but the breeder said she was not for sale, and I left, very sadly, leaving my phone number in case he changed his mind.

A few weeks later he phoned to say I could have her. I was so happy and I couldn't wait to get her home. That was the start of my addiction to these beautiful cats, and how my Rozee (Rozeecoonz Fire Princess, above left) entered my life and took over.  She was a wonderful introduction to the breed, big, gentle (except when she has babies), and with the loudest purr.

Although not the best type, she has produced some wonderful kittens, such as Bhanacoyne Isadora, (Izzy (above right)) and TICA Grand Champion Alter Bhanacoyne Maggenpye (Aston (left)), and her grandchildren are doing very well at the shows.   Karma ('Sweet Pea', below right) and Kiz ('Honey Bee', below left) are good examples of the grandkids!

She is now spayed and enjoying her newfound freedom. She really enjoys meeting all the visitors, especially the men, and manages to give them all new hairstyles, but gets a bit worried when there is no hair to arrange.

Why/how did you start breeding?
My daughter bred Bengals and Snowshoes, and I so enjoyed being involved with the kittens (and found the showing very exciting), that I decided that was what I wanted to do. It was a very steep learning curve, and I am still climbing.  I learned a lot from some very kind experienced breeders, going to shows and earwigging the judges comments and, of course, reading and researching the breed. The Maine Coon is the perfect breed for me big, beautiful, loving and funny.

Why did you choose your prefix?
My prefix is a mixture of two Irish names, Bhan being woman, and Coyne a river in Ireland, having grown up on a farm in the west of Ireland, almost completely surrounded by Lough Corrib.  I have always had a love of water, and I wanted it somewhere in my prefix, so that is how Bhanacoyne was born.

When were your most memorable occasions as a breeder?
When I first saw Rozee ... her first litter of 8 red kittens, memorable because they were my first litter, and all red balls of fluff like their mum. Dad was GIC DK Guildfakse's Phoenix. Two of those kittens made Fife Grand Premier.

Some huge babies born last year to Inky (Dotcom Incanta, right) and Yaheska FionnMacKool, 165-170 grams at birth, very much a case of push and pull, fortunately she is a very big girl and had no real difficulty (Aston is one of those kittens - 8 kg at 10 months!).

Seeing a tiny flat chested kitten finally take some food, at the age of 7 weeks, and seeing her at the age of one year, big and beautiful. I called her Dinky Toy, DT for short (below left), because she was so tiny and ran around so fast, she looked like a tiny clockwork toy.

Who were/are the most memorable cats you've had?
I find it really difficult to pick menorable cats, they are all menorable in their own way, but I suppose DT and Rozee stand out.

What are your hopes for the future of your breed/your breeding programme?
I hope, in the future to produce healthy, beautiful, typeful cats with wonderful tempraments.

I love blues, especially blue solids and smokes and this I hope to be able to achieve when my beautiful blue solid boy arrives early next year.

Is there anything else you'd like to mention?
I would like to thank my breeder friends, Mary Stuart for all her help and support and advice; Jean and Ron Brown for all their help, and the use of their beautiful stud boys when I really needed it; Rose and Eddie Kitching for letting me have Rozee, and always being there at the end of the phone, and too many others to mention.

Last but certainly not least, thanks go to my partner and best friend Josie (below right), she keeps me going when things get tough, she's always there for cat and kittens fostering, and is a dab hand with a brush. She also deals with all the admin work, which I hate, and really enjoys taking the cats to shows. I can't imagine how I managed without her in the past.

I would just like to add, that I am very aware of the huge responsibility involved in the bringing of new life into the world, and how important it is to find the right homes for the babies, also making sure the breeding cats live a really natural life, hence my enclosed garden.

Anne Cullen

www.bhanacoynemainecoons.com

August 2008