State Historical Society

This is the history of Capitolcats. We started with Persians, then added Chartreux. If you wish to skip ahead to the history of Capitolcats Chartreux that's fine.

HISTORY OF CAPITOLCATS PERSIANS...

We've been breeding ten years. We started in central SD, driving 350 miles (one way) to the NEAREST show and attending 2-3 shows a year. It was difficult to even get information. The nearest breeder (of any breed) was 200 miles away. This was a very rural area and few people knew anything about registered cats; much less a particular breed.

First came Vladimir. (Yes, we know he's not a Persian, but he was our first cat.) Stuart rescued him from a frigid warehouse in the middle of a North Dakota winter. He was so hungry he was eating rat poison! Fortunately, Vladimir was too dehydrated for the poison to work. 24 hours later he had eaten three bowls of food, drank four bowls of water, received a Vitamin K shot (to counteract the poison) and bathed himself so that he looked ready for a show. This was an extremely smart cat who taught us a whole lot about behaviour. He died of kidney disease several years ago. And no, he wasn't a Persian, but without him we might never had had a cat in our home.

Cirrus came to us at ten months of age, (We were his fifth home!) so covered in knots he could barely move. We took him to the vet, who anestheticized him and shaved him. The knots were so tight and large they had caused open sores, which oozed into the knots, further compounding the problem. One week after the "big clip," his sores had healed and Cirrus was playing like the kitten he was.

In spite of the changing ownerships, Cirrus' registration papers had followed, so we registered him. His coat grew out and LeAnn took this photo of him at Christmas. That photo was entered in a contest and won third prize. It was printed in the local newspaper and people started calling us wanting a cat who looked "just like him."

By this time we had attended our first show (as spectators). There was a breeder of nationall recognized white Persians just 200 miles away. LeAnn made an appointment to take Cirrus to this breeder for evaluation; thinking that we needed a "real" breeder's opinion of his quality before we jumped into breeding. The breeder just said that he was pet quality, then took LeAnn into the house and showed her photos of top show cats, but didn't allow her to look at any cats, much less touch them. Had LeAnn actually felt a nose break, we would have neutered Cirrus and Capitolcats might never have been born. But the breeder with her snobby attitude lost the opportunity to educate a new person (and probably sell a cat or two). LeAnn and Stuart vowed they would never treat anyone like this and would go out of their way to explain the standards, what makes a show cat versus a breeder or a pet, etc. Ironically, a pedigree search on Cirrus showed his grandfather came from the cattery who snubbed LeAnn.

SD Tiffany's Marella of Capitolcats was purchased at 4 months of age as a breeder. Her breeder didn't show because of distance, but bought from friends on the East and West Coast who showed. She generally bought grand champion cats to use in her breeding program. This breeder extremely generous with information and encouragement. Marella is the foundation female for her cattery and all but one girl can be traced back to her. Marella is spayed and lives with us. She's the cattery peacekeeper and breaks up any arguments.

SD Tiffany's Tamber of Capitolcats (aka "Squirrel") is Marella's half-sister. Her registered name was Tamber, but she came to us as an adult and knew her name. She was a really sweet kitty, wonderful mommy and really taught Cirrus and us how things should work. She had textbook pregnancies and deliveries but never produced anything as good as she was. She is spayed and living in Minnesota as an only cat...She is a well-loved pet!

By this time it was evident we needed a better male. That brought us to Pooh Bear. Pooh Bear...was TICA's 8th Best Cat the year he was campaigned. He was benched next to Marella at her first show, where he met his owners. When we needed a male, LeAnn contacted Pooh's breeder to see what she would recommend. To our surprise, she offered to let us lease Pooh to breed to Marella and Squirrel. Shortly after the breeding, we decided to more to Minnesota, so Pooh Bear went back to his home in Montana. His mating with Marella produced two show quality female kittens - Capitolcats Marina (blue cream) and Capitolcats Sabrina (tortoiseshell). In Marina's first kitten show she made two finals (Our first finals!) including a Best Allbreed Kitten. Then her legs got longer and longer...too long to grand. We tried breeding her to Ruger, but he "doesn't do" dilutes (light colored cats), so Marina was spayed and is living in Minnesota. Sabrina wasn't entered this first time.

In their next show, both girls were entered, but Sabrina was for sale. Then Sabrina started finaling. There was a buyer who was very interested, and, since we had offered her for sale, we decided we would keep her UNLESS this person bought her at the show. To our everlasting relief, the couple decided not to buy her and Sabrina came home with us. Later Sabrina would become the first cat of our breeding to earn the title of Grand Champion.

A note here...It was evident LeAnn needed to learn more about grooming, feeding, etc. Now that we were in Minnesota, there were a dozen shows each year within easy driving distance (less than 350 miles). This was the point when we really started learning about showing, the development of the breed and, for the first time, were able to join a cat club and see other cattery situations.

One of the biggest lessons we learned was patience. Our lines are very slow to develop. The girls changed radically after having their first litter. Our philosophy has been to improve upon what we have. We prefer to show our own breeding and wait for it to prove itself.

Sabrina was shown once as a kitten. At the time, we intended to keep Marina and sell Sabrina. A couple from Canada kept coming over at the show to see her. On the second day she finaled and LeAnn told Stuart, she's not for sale to anyone other than that couple. LeAnn wanted to keep her, but they were very interested and she wasn't going back on my word. Well, they decided not to buy her. We think we were meant to keep her. Later she would be become the first Grand Champion of Capitolcats' breeding.

As a show cat, the judges were often a little spooked by her. We had taught her to give "kisses" when you put a finger by her mouth. She did that to judges and it took them by surprise. All but one of our females go back to her. Ruger adored Sabrina but she wasn't interested in him unless she was really hard in heat.

Charlie...our first black male whom we almost bought as a kitten and got as an adult. (More on that in future stories!) Charlie had absolutely HUGE eyes, but they were yellow instead of copper. He had fabulous boning, weight and size. Charlie and Sabrina produced one litter...four kittens. One died as a baby. Sabrina didn't have a lot of milk and LeAnn started supplemental feeding. Then she probably overfed and babies got diarrhea and it was an awful cycle. Luckily three of the four kittens lived.

Of the three remaining, two granded and the third is very nice, but managed to get her tail bit as an adult and wasn't showable. Thor, the black male, was neutered and campaigned a little as an alter. He never had much for coat and was really small...about 7.5 pounds. Still, he made a top 50 win nationally. Thor died at age 4 of liver damage...probably caused by overfeeding as a baby. Still, he had a pretty good life with us until then. Thor and LeAnn flew all over the United States to shows. Thor became our first Quadruple Grand Champion and was Fifth Best Persian Alter the year he was shown.

Tia is really spectacular to see. She weighs 10-11 pounds at full weight and is the absolute chunkiest Persian we've ever seen in a female. She had the most beautiful eyes. She didn't have a really deep break, but had this short, very wide nose. You can see every millimeter of her nose...nothing went back into her head. Unfortunately, we never got anything but pets out of her. Even bought Sugar Cube (white male) for her. He was in the house 2 days before she got pyo and had to be spayed...another bad vet at work...refused to do prostglandin therapy. Tia lives as an only cat in South Dakota with two people who absolutely think she is the smartest, sweetest cat ever born! Tia is the mother of black female Destiny, who has been petted out. Tia is a Grand Champion.

Tia and Thor's littermate was Cinder. Granted, not an inspired name, but we didn't intend to keep her and she learned her "baby" name so well we didn't change it. She should have been Cinderella officially, but we didn't think of it. Cinder is a great mother. She and Ruger produced Shotsie, the first cat of our breeding who was granded by someone else. In fact, Shotsie was second Best Cat in Canada in just three shows in 1994. Cinder HATES to have her picture taken. She has marvelous eyes, but they are a little light in color. She has great weight and runs 9-10 pounds.

At the time we were going through the overfeeding problem, we were lucky enough to receive Ruger from Crosspaws cattery - the same one that bred Charlie. The photo shows his wonderful earset and the size and width of his head and dome, plus the wonderful boning. Ruger has charm, poise and personality. He has wonderfully round eyes, but he hates to open them, especially if girls are around. They are a deep, deep copper. He throws absolutely gorgeous eye color.

Ruger became our first Grand Champion. The next day, Sabrina became our second Grand Champion. What a momentous weekend that was! All in all, we had shown for five years (although the first four were only a couple of shows per year) before we granded our first cat. Within five months, we would have five Grand Champions to our credit, three of them our own breeding. (Ruger, Sabrina, her son Thor, her daughter Tia, and a Chartreux named Grace.) It appeared that patience and diligently improving the lines was working. Best of all, when our cats appeared at a show, we were starting to see a "Capitolcats" look.

This is Tamber, daughter of Ruger and Sabrina. Tamber was bred back to her daddy and produced Snuffles. Snuffles was 17th Best Kitten in our region last year...in just 2 kitten shows! He is now a Grand Champion. Snuffles is a permanent resident in our home. He's the official babysitter. He absolutely adores babies and washes them, keeps them warm, teaches them to play, etc. He does everything but nurse them and he would do that if he could. And yes, this is a baby photo. I need to get another taken. He's 2 years old now and weighs 12.5 pounds.

Along comes Sugar Cube. Sugar Cube was a regional winning kitten and a grand and proven sire before we bought him at age 3. He was a really sweet boy. Unfortunately, he apparently jumped off the top of one of my six foot cages while running in the cattery injuring his spine. We ended up euthanizing him. Sugar produced two litters. One with Destiny, and another with Cinder.

Sugar Cube and Cinder produced Capitolcats Spun Sugar (now known as Sugar) and Capitolcats Coal Miners Daughter (aka Mina). Both are nice girls. Mina is working on her Grand Championship. She has wonderful weight and fabulous pumpkin orange eyes. Sugar might be grandable, but absolutely detests having her face washed, so she won't be shown. These girls are our first Persians with absolutely perfect bites. In this photo, Mina is on the left and Sugar is in the middle.

The tortie pictured is Burr Oak's Cheyenne, the daughter of Jomaire's Billy Blue Jean Kid and Travico Pfieffur of Burr Oaks. Cheyenne was purchased in 1995. LeAnn had handled a half brother of hers a year previous during judge's training and got goosebumps he was soooo nice! Cheyenne is the first female Persian purchased since Marella and Squirrel. She's very nice, great size, boning, eyes and head type. She's a BIG girl...probably will get to 10-11 pounds maybe even 12 when she finishes growing. Cheyenne recently earned her Grand Championship.

Here is Forty-Four Magnum, aka "Maggie," the daughter of Mina and Ruger. Born in 1996, Maggie will be joining the cattery as the 5th generation female of Capitolcats breeding.

There will be more history as time goes by!

History of Capitolcats Chartreux

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LeAnn Harner, Capitolcats, capitolcats@starband.net

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