Breeders Profile

Pr-n-Kmt Abyssinians

Name:

Photos courtesy of Bob Fox (pro) and Beryl McMillan (non-pro).

Tell us a bit about you:
My name is John Cunningham (right, with Perseus) and I live in West Dulwich, South East London, with my partner. I am a Hospital Director at a medium secure hospital in North London. I originally trained as a General Nurse, and then moved onto Midwifery and eventually into psychiatry.

I am the Aristocats Show manager and so far have organised two, two-day shows on their behalf with a further two double-date shows planned for both this year and next. I thoroughly enjoy showing my cats and often help out as either chief steward or general steward at many of the other FB Club shows. In 2006 I was FB Steward of the year, and later this year (2008) I hope to sit my preliminary examination for FIFe in Categories III and IV, the first steps on the long route to being a judge.

Why did you choose your breed(s)?
I got my first cat when I finally set up home away from my parents back in 1984, a little black and white housecat from the RSPCA called Cleo. From there things just grew, with eventually five rescue cats living with me. As they all grew older and passed over the rainbow bridge, I thought 'no more'! Then my partner and I discovered Abyssinians quite by chance on holiday in France; by this point we just had our elderly rescued Persian, Claudius. I thought it unfair to him to introduce a kitten (or any other cat for that matter), but eventually gave in and searched for Abys in the UK. We finally took the plunge in 2002 and got our first Aby, Riverfern Jameson, "Domitius" (left).

Why/how did you start breeding?
Owning an Aby is infectious, and with the support of Domitius' breeder, I was firstly encouraged to show him and subsequently persuaded to register a prefix and begin breeding. We had our first litter in 2003. We don’t go in for wide scale breeding, having perhaps two or three litters per year

Why did you choose your prefix?
Pr-n-Kmt, pronounced Per-en-Kemet, means (in the language of the ancient Egyptians), “The House of Egypt.” As a recognition of the elegant yet muscular shape of the Abyssinian cat, which so closely resembles the cats depicted in the statuary and tomb-paintings of that ancient culture, we have chosen this as our cattery name.

When were your most memorable occasions as a breeder?
Where to start?! Getting my first Aby. Domitius was adorable as a kitten and really was the catalyst in getting me into breeding and showing.

My first litter of kittens from Domitius and IC and Pr Pinegrove Nullabor Fleur, "Teti-sheri" (above right), two adorable little bundles called Tuya and Yuya. Being a first time “dad” was so hard!  I'm a trained midwife so I thought there would be no problem with me helping at the birth ... I won’t go into details but suffice to say I was the one needing support, not Teti-sheri!!!  Fortunately I’m much better now (and before anyone comments I am quite capable of delivering humans without any hysterics!).

My first Best in Show, with Tugaki's Blue Apollon, "Apollo" (left), at the GoE show in Maidstone on 10 October 2004. The laughs so many people have had as I have stood following any of my cats at the panel, fingers, toes and anything else crossed hoping for the vote to go my way!

Memorable occasions aren’t always nice! Losing any of my babies has always hurt, but I particularly felt the loss of Pr-n-Kmt Nsw bity Neb tawy Men-Kpr-Re, who died last year. Claudius dying aged 24 years (bit of a record for a Persian) and obviously the girl that started it all so many years ago, Cleo, my first black and white moggie!

Who were/are the most memorable cats you've had?
I mentioned quite a few already. Cleo obviously as she was my first ever. Claudius for being the most loyal and undemanding cat ever. Domitius for getting me going. Teti-sheri for my first kittens. Pr-n-Kmt Men-Kpr-Re for just being him, Sutekh (TICA Supreme Grand Champion Alter, FIFe Grand International Premier & Junior Winner Traum Von FF Sutekh, JW - OSH n, right) for showing me that an Oriental can jump like an Aby (even if in return he has taught all of the Abys to speak oriental) and finally my latest little star Pr-n-Kmt Perseus (below left) who has proved that you should never give up on a kitten (see the show results for 23 & 24th Feb 2008 on my website* to see why!).

What are your hopes for the future of your breed/your breeding programme?
Quite simply to continue selective breeding to ensure development, growth and continuity of the Aby breed within Felis Britannica. I have some unique and very unusual lines within my breeding programme which I hope will achieve this over the next few years. I also hope to look at other breeds in the future - I am particularly interested in the Chartreux. There are currently as far as I am aware no active breeders of these in the UK, and it would be lovely to reintroduce this wonderful breed back here. Then of course there’s the new breeds, Eddie and Rose’s lovely Australian Mists, British Blues, Devon Rex, Cornish, Orientals ... although maybe these are all a breed too far unless I can get a much bigger house and devote all of my time to cats instead of the current 99%!

Is there anything else you'd like to mention?
* Being intrinsically lazy about anything technical, I am delighted to announce (thanks to the immense help of the Aristocats webmaster, Beryl McMillan) that my new, improved website is now up and running at www.pr-n-kmt.com!

John Cunningham

April 2008