Breeders Profile

Doubloon British Shorthairs

Photos courtesy of Maureen Murrish

Tell us a bit about you:
My daughter, Charlotte, and I work together on the breeding and showing program for our British Shorthairs. I work for the HM Courts and Tribunals Service and Charlotte is at college studying to be a veterinary nurse. I started breeding British Shorthairs in the 1980s but had a long break while Charlotte was growing up and then while I retrained for a change of career. Even though I wasn’t involved in the breeding and showing world there was always a cat or two in the house.

Why did you choose your breed(s)?
Originally I took a long time over choosing which breed I wanted although at the time I believed it would be a pet I was looking for. I read book after book on cat breeds then went to all the local shows to see the cats in the flesh. I settled on the British because of their steady nature, hardy constitution and their outstanding beauty. And it all fits together so well in a British Shorthair, doesn’t it?! Once I decided on the breed I phoned the GCCF (no internet then!) for a list of breeders with kittens.

Why/how did you start breeding?
I went to choose my first BSH kitten from Miss Knight and Miss Morton of Mornight BSH. I fell in love with a super blue/cream and a blue girl. You know how it is; which one do I have, should I take them both. Miss Knight said it was entirely up to me, but if I took the blue/cream girl she was good enough to show. Needless to say I took both kittens, with a promise from Miss Knight that should I decide to show she would help me. I loved every moment of showing. Just as predicted little Mornight Primetime did well and from there it was only a short step to asking Miss Knight to guide me in breeding from the girls too.

Why did you choose your prefix?
Choosing a prefix was so difficult; I wanted something that would suggest how precious the cats were to me, how priceless their company was. I didn’t want an anagram of names or a reflection of the area I lived in as all these things can, and as it happened did, change. There was a pirate thing going on then, long before the Pirates of the Caribbean, and someone suggested tongue in cheek that there was nothing more priceless than a chest full of Doubloons. It kind of stuck and for a while, in the family circle, my cats were known as the Doubloon Girls. So I registered Doubloon as my prefix.

When were your most memorable occasions as a breeder?
I could say my first litter ... It was terrifying and exciting and amazing and an experience I will never forget. But that has never changed, each litter is the same for me, though I must say the terror part has subsided somewhat. Luckily! I’ve only recently felt able to keep my own stud cat and without doubt my most recent memorable occasion was when I went to pick up the young man who was to be my first stud boy from Sharon Chance. We were so excited. Apollo didn’t disappoint us; he gave us some of the most beautiful babies before his much deserved retirement.

Who were/are the most memorable cats you've had?
I remember them all, each one of them. Each has their own special place. The first cat experience I had was when I was still at home with my parents - a little stray cat came to live with us, much to mum's disapproval. We called the cat Jenny and she was a little brown tabby. We had her neutered as mum threatened to ‘go mad’ if jenny had kittens ‘all over the place’. It was a less common thing then than it is now so it was quite an event - having a cat neutered, I mean, not having mum ‘go mad’! Jenny would follow us through the fields while we played, or trot after us to the local shops on messages. She would wait in the closest field to the shop and then accompany us home again, never venturing near the road. She was a streetwise little lady and though it seemed so normal then I shudder to think what trouble she could have gotten into being out like that. Thinking about it, I suppose the same could be said for us children! Anyway, Jenny had a way about her and even mum came to love her in the end.

What are your hopes for the future of your breed/your breeding programme?
Everyone seems to know the British blue, yet the other colours remain less well known. When one prospective owner made an enquiry as to whether I had any British kittens and I said I had a cream boy available, she said "No, I want a pedigree British shorthair, you know a British Blue!". I look forward to the day the other colours are as readily recognised as the blue. It has been a plan of ours for some time to branch out into the dominant colours, and we recently achieved that when we acquired a super black boy from Robert and Stephanie at Baritophanie. This is his second season working and he has given us some beautiful black, red and tortie babies as well as our usual blue, blue/cream and cream. We hope to be able to show his offspring at the end of the year.

Is there anything else you'd like to mention?
I have met a lot of people through the cat world, most of whom are friendly and helpful but to some like Miss Knight & Miss Morton, Sharon Chance and Robert & Stephanie Archer I owe an especially big thank you. Thank you for your help and support when I need it and thank you for trusting me with your super cats.

Maureen Maurrish
www.doubloon-cats.co.uk

January 2012