Breeders Profile

Rumtumtugger Maine Coons & Australian Mists

Name:

All photos courtesy of Bob Fox and Mary Stuart.

Tell us a bit about you:
I grew up in London and moved to Somerset with the family in the seventies. I'm married to Mitch, with two grown up children (do they ever?)  I used to nurse but now I have the luxury of being at home with the cats all day!  Apart from cats, I enjoy horse riding and holidays ...  Australia being my favourite place but we also love boating holidays on the Norfolk Broads and I am currently learning to play violin, although I am still at the pretty awful stage.

Why did you choose your breed(s)?
Maine Coons: I didn't choose them, they chose me.  I wasn't looking for another cat ... I already had a moggie but I saw a picture of a Maine Coon in a glossy mag in the dentist's waiting room in around 1994 and I was completely hooked.  It took a while to persuade Mitch that we needed one but after about a year I got Lionel, a beautiful red silver tabby boy (left).  Three months later he was joined by Harry, a big silver tabby ... that was twelve years ago. 

Australian Mists: In 2005 I was on holiday in Australia visiting Maine Coon breeder friends and quite by chance met Dr. Truda Straede the breed founder of the Australian Mist.  She invited us over to her property to see her cats and we just fell in love with them. Two further visits to Australia ... and we now have the first Australian Mists outside of Australia. (below right - our first AM queen, Linny, with her first litter of kittens).

Why/how did you start breeding?
Ha Ha ... this'll make you laugh ... it was my vet's suggestion!  I was bemoaning the fact that there were no maine coon breeders in the West Country and she said 'Well, why don't you breed them, tnen?'  We did a great deal of research and phoning around and eventually bought Kassaro Anastasia, a lovely brown tabby.  She was joined about a year later by two more girls from Kassaro and our first stud boy ... Nijinsky.

Why did you choose your prefix?
Easy!  From my schooldays I have loved poetry and T.S. Eliot's 'Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats' was always a favourite.  The Rumtumtugger Cat was my favourite character and when I at last managed to see the musical he even looked like a Maine Coon, and had the attitude as well!

When were your most memorable occasions as a breeder?
That's a difficult one ... memorable happy occasions fortunately outnumber the memorable sad ones.  Our first litter was pretty special, seven wonderful black classic tabbies from Anastasia, sired by Willowplace Buccaneer. That first litter gave me my beautiful girl Natalya who since the day she was born has shared my bed and my heart. Natalya became my first home bred champion, that was quite a day as she did it on my birthday. She is in the pedigree of some pretty successful show cats all over the world.

I guess it would be remiss of me not to mention Tatiana, who snuck out of the bathroom window after curfew and had a  memorable wild night with the local tom!  Her resulting pregnancy of ten kittens was delivered by caesarian section and we had to bottle feed them.  They were delightful kittens, full of hybrid vigour and all ten are still alive today ... some five years later. I just love owners who stay in touch.

Who were/are the most memorable cats you've had?
All our cats are and have been memorable in their own way but obviously Finch (left, with a doughnut ... and Mitch!)  is *the* most memorable (if a little strange) cat we are ever likely to have. Most people already know him, but briefly .. he was born with a liver shunt, spent three weeks in intensive care at Bristol University veterinary hospital at Langford and was given about six months to live.  Six years on he is still with us and although he requires daily medication we are hopeful that we will have him for a good few years yet.  He is slightly brain damaged and seems quite oblivious to the fact that he is a cat.  He adores jam doughnuts and going to the beach ... I told you he was strange! 

Ch Rumtumtugger Lara Croft (right) holds a very special place in my heart too, she was just two years old and seven weeks into her second pregnancy when she died very suddenly.  She was an incredibly affectionate girl and her death nearly broke my heart.  A post mortem examination showed a twisted uterine horn and my lovely girl had died quietly and all on her own, I will never forgive myself for not being there for her when she needed me.

What are your hopes for the future of your breed/your breeding programme?
At the moment we are concentrating on the Australian Mist which is a new breed to the UK.  These cats are the first to be exported to Europe for breeding and we now have a UK population of 11. Our goal is to get the Australian Mist fully recognised with FIFe and TICA and at the moment we are busy exhibiting them at as many shows as we can.  My first love, however, will always be the Maine Coons and my hopes for them are simply to continue breeding happy, healthy and confident kittens.

Is there anything else you'd like to mention?
I should mention our show cats really ...  the ever entertaining and delicious Int Ch Yaheska Lemony Snicket (right), who has won so many BISs that I've actually lost count, Ch Rumtumtugger Romneya an elegant blue tabby & white, Ch Navarri Elle Macfurrson and young Rumtumtugger Bridget Jones (above left), just a baby but with several BISs under her belt already. All four, over the last couple of years have been great ambassadors for the breed with their laid back nature and show presence - thanks, girls!  We have some new youngsters joining the Rumtumtugger clan shortly and are looking forward to seeing them on the showbench too.

Mary Stuart

September 2007