 Name: Sylvia
Hauser
Location: Hayes, Middlesex
Breed(s): Siamese
Breeding since: Pre-1970!All photos
courtesy of Sylvia Hauser (right).
Tell us a bit about you:
Well, first I have two wonderful sons, Jay now 18 and Scott 17. I am
SO proud that Jay has just been offered a place at Thames Valley
University and Scott has been accepted at Uxbridge College - I have
been a single mum since 1991, so feel I have done a good job bringing
my sons up the right way - in fact I am over the moon :-)))
Both my sons have followed in my footsteps in motor racing, I raced
dragsters from 1973 until I retired in 1986 to have a family.
 (left: Sylvia "The Blonde Bombshell" Hauser in action at Santa
Pod Raceway 1981)
Why did you choose your breed(s)?
I always understood that the Siamese cat was the most intelligent of
the domestic cat species, and wanted one for years; finally in 1970 I
bought my first pet siamese kitten, from (I now realise) an
unscrupulous and unregistered breeder! I never did get the pedigree
and vaccination certificate promised to me and finally went to her
home only to find three siamese locked in a filthy dirty old shed –
without food or water and knee deep in faeces and urine, it was
dreadful.
The
husband came out and started shouting at me, as I had climbed over the
back garden fence when I heard the crying and wails coming from the
back, I thought a cat was hurt or locked in somewhere and obviously
had to rescue it. He told me that his wife had left him and gone off
with his best friend and he did not want the cats, so shut them in the
garden shed and, basically, left them to die.
I asked him what he planned to do about them, he said “Nothing”.
Then I asked him how much he wanted for all three (in a usual moment
of madness when rescuing animals) he said £100 which was a lot of
money in those days, I only had £19 odd and he said I could take one
of them for that so I picked the one that looked in the worst
condition, paid the man and took the poor soul directly to my vet, who
said “Now what have you rescued?”.
 To cut a very long story short, the vet and I called the Cats
Protection League and RSPCA and informed them of the name and address
of the offender, and the remaining two were rescued and re-homed by
the CPL.
Why/how did you start breeding?
Little
did I know when I “rescued” the tabby siamese cat "Tabitha" (right
- from the Beaumaris line of Anne Gregory), who was four years old,
in dreadful condition – and pregnant – OMG divorce immnent … my
ex-husband was not an animal lover, sadly his family had never allowed
pets, not even a goldfish or budgie, very sad.
So regarding the beginning of my breeding – it was totally
unplanned and un-expected!
However, since I was 7yrs old I had bred for colour, type and
temperament – MICE! I had tried for years to breed a pure black
female, all I ever got was black males with nasty temperaments, so
with a bunch of kittens seemingly on the way, I gave up my Mice
program and started getting ready for something a bit bigger – gawd
what had I done! It was bad enough that I had rescued various
animals over the years, many pregnant, but to “buy” a pregnant siamese
– oh dear what had I done?
However, we had 6 wonderful babies and I was immediately smitten
and refused to sell any of them – but was eventually forced to part
with my children by my ex-hubby. I found wonderful homes for all
of them and cried every time one left me – I had to have more!!
Why did you choose your prefix?
 My
prefix, "Sharue", is an anagram of my surname Hauser (my
horse/pony-breeding prefix is also an anagram, "Ashuer" Arabians, and
my prefix with my Pomeranian doggies is “Fluffypups” – which describes
them perfectly).
When were your most memorable occasions as a breeder?
My most memorable occasion as a breeder is when my rescued first
siamese Tabitha waited for me to get home from work and came to
greet me towing a kitten behind her with the placenta still not
released! She ran across the living room, towing this poor baby
behind her - "look what I have got for you!" OMG what do I do
now?! but God bless her, she did it all and my first siamese litter
were born.
However, I guess the very most memorable occasion was when my Sunny
(Grand Champion Sharue Sun Prince - above left, with his
litter mates, and below right), who was only 1 year old, with only
one CC, went BEST OF BREED at the Supreme Show, he was in the
pre-champion class, and took the title over ALL THE MALES AND FEMALES,
GRANDS AND CHAMPIONS – good grief, did it cause a stir! However,
the judge was Pat Neale, who is still one of the best seal point
judges on the GCCF circuit.
 My
other most memorable occasion was when Sunny got his 3rd CC and became
a champion, at the time I was with Margaret and Bill Lord of
Lovinamist Siamese – breeders of Seal Point Siamese for many years,
now retired, lovely people and lovely cats. Sheila Hamilton gave
Sunny his 3rd CC and I was over the moon. Sheila also is an excellent
GCCF seal point judge, so I am proud to receive these awards for my
lovely boy – no brown on my nose!
Who were/are the most memorable cats you've had?
I waited for two years to
import my beautiful Lacota (IC D-Shiva’s Lacota Warpaint,
Seychellois SYS n 03). He arrived at my home in January 2008, and was on antibiotics when he arrived. As soon as he had
finished the medication, I saw that he was losing weight.
He was so sweet and
gentle for a two-year-old stud boy - he lived in my bedroom and slept
in my bed with me, he was a wonderful partner and I thought I had
finally found a cat to fill the big hole in my heart from losing my
Sun Prince (through a veterinary error),
 This
was not to be, and I struggled with Lacota for many weeks, watching
him going downhill. Vets tests showed nothing wrong, poor soul,
but it now seems that all the damage had been done before he arrived
in the UK. The Post Mortem results showed his liver, kidneys and
all major organs were in a dreadful condition, his white blood cell
count was, according to my vet, “in the clouds”, and they found e-coli
in his lungs, my poor little man. He had been given so many
antibiotics whilst with his breeder the damage was irreversible and
sadly my man died on 3rd April 2007.
What are your hopes for the future of your breed/your breeding
programme?
My hopes and plans are to again acquire a Seychellois and breed
wonderful Seychellois Siamese, they are so pretty – and, sadly,
Lacota was an especially stunning example of this new breed. I
cannot replace Lacota, but I can start my Seychellois again hopefully
soon. I have things in the pipeline and have many good friends
abroad, so watch this space!
Is there anything else you'd like to mention?
I am now actively breeding caramel Siamese, which I love the colour
of, it is so pretty and I am lucky enough to own a caramel tabby
female from a caramel/lilac based line, so colour will be good. The
mating with my lovely lilac male produced wonderful babies – see my
website at
www.sharue-siamese.co.uk for details.
Sylvia Hauser
July 2007 |
