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 Name:
Helen Dunn and
Brenda Evans
Location: Barnsley, South Yorkshire
Prefix: Elmcoon
Breed(s): Maine Coons
Breeding since: 2002
Tell us a bit about you:
We are Helen
Dunn & Brenda Evans (pictured right with Autumn Spice). We live
in Elsecar in Barnsley, and we both work at the same firm of catering
equipment manufacturers, building and testing catering equipment for
the food service industry. We also have a cocker spaniel called
Apples, and where we live we can walk for miles in the countryside
usually ending up in a very friendly village pub!
We have always loved cats
and having friends that run a branch of the CPL we were never without
several rescue cats. After losing two of our elderly cats I (Helen)
wanted a special cat to live with us.
 Why
did you choose your breed(s)?
My manager at
work gave me a Maine Coon breeder's card that he was given on holiday.
I instantly fell in love with the look of the cats and read all I
could about them. I booked a visit to a breeder that had kittens -
and had the hard choice of ten, all different colours! I chose a red
tabby male called Bungle (Shookatoo Bungle) - he now lives with
Brenda’s eldest son, Philip, as he hated kittens. After Bungle came
Pennicoon Sweet Rosemary and Oltomaine Hercules. These
were our show neuters and we loved taking them to shows and meeting
other lovely cats.
Why/how did you start
breeding?
We decided to
breed Maine Coons because we loved the breed and after showing and
breeding rabbits for twelve years and doing quite well, it just seemed
the way for us to go.
 The
cats are always our pets first and therefore it is very important to
us in selecting cats to choose ones with good temperament as all the
girls live in the house together. We try to mate two girls at the
same time if they are calling, as they always bring up their kittens
together and share duties. We like to see how our kittens grow after
they leave us and we have many pictures from new owners showing us
this. This helps us select the best matings for type, size and
boning. We only let the girls have one litter a year (sometimes two
years) as we show them in between having kittens.
Why did you choose your
prefix?
We chose our
prefix from our old house address which was Elm street and as we were
going to breed Maine coons Elmcoon seemed to fit.
When were your most
memorable occasions as a breeder?
 Our
most memorable occasion as breeders is taking two of our own-bred cats
to the Viking show in Morley 2007 and Elmcoon Sundance Kid
winning Best SLH Junior and Elmcoon Autumn Spice (above left
and top right with Helen & Brenda) winning Best SLH Adult, Best In
Category II and then Overall Best in Show! We were on walking on
clouds for days!
Another memorable
occasion was when three cats from the same litter became champions on
the same day at different shows - we were so happy for their owners
and of course us as we owned one of them.
 Who
were/are the most memorable cats you've had?
Memorable cats
are not always memorable for happy reasons, as cats we have lost
always leave us with painful memories. "Tolly" (Elmcoon
Amitola, above right) was one of those - she was loved very
much and lost her fight
(to an intersusception)
when her kittens
were nine weeks old.
We now have one of her
granddaughters, who has Tolly's wonderful laid back nature. She is
"Hattie" (Mabalakat Tapestry, above left), a lovely
tortie smoke with white.
"Mina" (Dairymaine
Carmina Burana, right) is our most memorable cat as she was
our first breeding queen - she knows she is "Number One" cat in the
house, and woe betide any cat that tries to challenge that!
 What
are your hopes for the future of your breed/your breeding programme?
For the future
of our breed, we hope that everyone will work together and help each
other to keep Maine Coons healthy and continue to have good
temperaments. The type of the Maine coon should not be lost or that
lovely wild look.
We hope to breed some
more solid kittens this year from our Dutch import boy “Bubaloo”
(Ormedon's U'Too Bubaloo, below right) and "Muffin"
(Kassaro Kyanite, left). Helen’s dream is to breed
our own solid tortie without white to show in memory of Tolly.
Is there anything else
you'd like to mention?
 We
hope to continue to show and breed our Maine coons for years to come
as the cats and kittens are always there to make us smile at their
antics and just make everything seem worthwhile.
We have made some great
friends all around the country and when showing we cheer their cats on
every bit as much as our own. This is what a hobby should be about!
February 2009 |
