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| Sphynx |
| DGC Anleo's Ickaris of WavorgoNaked TICA International 2000 Best Red/White Sphynx SC Regional Best Sphynx Cat and Best Sphynx Kitten |
| TGC Anleo's Ickaris of WavorgoNaked. I still even enjoy just saying his name. Ike was, and still is, a very large part of this cattery's foundation and my heart. He was my first Champion, no matter how many may follow him, no other will ever be my first. Ike is special beyond belief in my world. Ickaris was a showman at heart, Barnum and Bailey never produced an act that could outshine this guy in a ring, he loved going to shows more than anything in life, I believe. He knew we were going to travel if I got out his 'van cage' and even if it was several days before time to leave he would sleep in it from then until time to go. He rode on my shoulder through the showhalls, reaching for people as we passed them, Ike never understood how some might not want to spend time with him. I never understood either, when he reached with that little hand, fingers that actually grasped you, he stole your heart. He also took food from the cat's cage next to him and teasers from the judges, but we won't talk about that. ;-) Ike was what I was building our foundation on. I believed, and justifiably so, that a better Sphynx had never been born. All I wanted was to make more wonderful babies just like this guy, Ike's own little troupe to go out and steal hearts, catfood and teasers all over the world. Then, when he was 20 months old, his first litters just weeks old & his newest litter due in ust days, Ike was diagnosed with a grade VI heart murmur, not HCM as originally feared & reported (that knee jerk, fear factor reaction of a breeder in a breed that carries this!). Two Vets confirmed this condition as "merely" a mumur. Nonetheless, I handed him over to my Vet, with tears streaming down my face, to be neutered. It was what was right for the Sphynx breed and my dreams lay shattered at my feet. When they returned him to me from surgery, my world began to right itself, this wonderful boy was still with me and that was what really mattered after all. As his kittens grew, I canceled the agreements that we had made with other breeders for his kittens, altered all but two of these beautiful babies & placed each in a loving home that knew of the risk from their sire. The two that remained unaltered I kept in my program & bred them cautiously to see if we were going to throw murmurs, Cardiomyopathy, or any other heart problems in their offspring. The answer is yes, we did throw a couple of kittens with MURMURS(!), not the percentage, or severity of heart problems that I had feared, but a couple. This may be due to Ike, or it may just be indigenous in the Sphynx breed, through their history there have been enough documented heart instances that today's breeders are cautious and watching for this or maybe it was just a defect in a living being that sometimes just happens. The offspring of those two kittens, that were kept whole, produced kittens with sound hearts which have grown up & produced sound kittens of their own now. I can only breath a sigh of relief and knock on wood as I do so. We've added other lines, an outcross program, and are working diligently to only produce Sphynx of superior health and temperament. Ike's story has a happy ending. He lives today with his Aunt Debbie and Uncle Dave and they are forever in love (although as I understand it there is some contention as to whose cat Ike actually is between them ... LOL). His heart condition has improved (downgraded from a VI to III!) and he's fat and sassy as a retired breeder should be. I can only smile when I think about Ike taking over Deb & Dave's lives as he did mine! :-) |
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| Katbilou's Mai Blu of WavorgoNaked TICA SC Regional 1999 2nd Best Sphynx Kitten |
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| WavorgoNaked's Geronimo 12/07/03 - 1/2007 Sire - Gailray's Jeremy Dam - WavorgoNaked's CeeAyTee Grandsire - Anleo's Ickaris Granddam - Katbilou's Mai Blu Geronimo was a grandkit of Ike's, he sired many that are part of our breeding program today. They're all wonderfully healthy & almost as cute as he was! We lost Geronimo to kidney failure, we believe due to tainted cat food that cost many in the cat fancy & many pet owners parts of their hearts. Shame on a manufacturer that didn't take all the necessary precautions to protect our babies! :-( |
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| A special thanks to Lynne Daggett, DBarekatz Cattery, we have this handsome man in our breeding program today. "Jugs" is wonderful, sweet & has produced some beautiful kittens in our world! Thanks so much Lynne, for allowing us this wonderful cat & the opportunity to expand our genepoole through the addition of yours! |