Our Philosophy
Our Siberian Cats are part of the family. We breed cats simply because we enjoy their company. Being only a small cattery means we have the time to lavish a great deal of love and attention on our furry companions.
All our cats live in the house with us; they like cuddling on the sofa, playing in the garden when it's sunny, leaving muddy paw prints on the kitchen floor when it's not and jumping on the bed in the morning when they think their breakfast is late! We are sure that being a part of the family directly contributes to the affectionate, loving temperament of our cats and kittens.
Having only a small number of litters each year means that all our kittens are very precious to us; we hold Mum’s paw as they are born, watch them take their first steps, play with them and teach them to love cuddles; all the time watching their individual personalities blossom. We believe this is particularly valuable when it comes to finding special homes for the little ones, as we can advise families of which kitten’s temperament will best suit their situation, and can give lots of ideas as to how to make the kitten feel happy and settled in its new home.
The health of our cats is very important to us. We chose the Siberian Cat breed because the standard of points extends from natural evolution (as opposed to excessive inbreeding); an ‘orgainic cat’ if you like!
Above all we aim to breed happy, healthy Siberian Cats, who will give you as much joy as our cats give us.
We are registered breeders with the GCCF.
Future Plans
As our prefix, Alchemist, might imply we enjoy breeding Siberian Cats in a wide variety of patterns and colours; and every kitten is more precious than gold.
At the moment we have only one breeding queen: Poppy, and she is incredibly special to us. We showed her sucessfully over the 2009 / 2010 season, where she gained 7 merits and all several judges tried to put her in their hand bags and take her home! She gave us our first wonderful litter of Siberian Kittens in July 2010 and they all had their Mum's lovely temperement and type.
We hope to keep a girl from Poppy's first or second litter, who will become our second show girl and breeding queen and continue the Alchemist line.
At this point in time we do not intend to get our own stud boy as we don't really have space in the garden to keep him happy. However, that does mean we have much more choice when selecting potential daddy cats and can take into account colour, type, lineage as well as careful matching of personalities. This will hopefully result in kittens that exemplify the Siberian breed and make devoted companions to their adopted families.
Location
We are located in Bedford, Bedfordshire.
Roughly 20 minutes drive from the Junction 13 of the M1 and 15 minutes from the A1(M).
Just 40 minutes from London on the train, we also have good rail links from most areas of the country as well as direct trains from St Pancreas International and Luton Airport.
History
Being brought up in a family that bred Persians I have always had a soft spot for cats. My first ever cat was actually born on the very same day as me and I was able to witness first hand the special bond that a cat builds with its human. I was quick to get involved with caring for the kittens that arrived each year, playing with them, feeding them and actually acted as midwife for the first time at the tender age of 7.
I grew up and went to University, where I met my fiancé Martin - who luckily for me, despite having never having had a cat of his own (his mum being allergic), is defiantly a ‘cat man’.
I graduated from University in July 2008 and moved to Bedford. I knew I wanted to start breeding cats but by this time Easa, my blue Persian, was getting old and I felt it would be unfair to bring a new kitten into the house – Easa was always there to care for me and I wanted to focus my all my love and attention on her in her final months.
Easa died in November 2008 and after mourning her death for a while I started to think about my own breeding programme early 2009.
I knew that I wanted to breed a long or semi-long haired breed, but had decided against Persians due to the many health problems associated with their extreme type. I considered many breeds, almost settling on Main Coons, before I happened across a Siberian Cat site and fell head over heels in love.
Visiting shows and going out to meet breeders, who taught me about their type and temperament, increased my conviction that this was the right breed for me. To me Siberian Cats are a show breed that represents a happy, healthy and, above all, natural cat.
Then started the hunt for ‘my girl’. I had an idea that I was looking for a golden tabby, but things never turn out the way we plan and after seeing dozens of kittens I finally found Poppy, a blue-cream tortie tabby, at the MiaKira cattery. She stole my heart from day one with her pretty face, sweet nature and gentle purr. After many weeks of impatient waiting she came to live with us in July 2009 as our foundation queen.