Creators Cattery

I have always been an animal nut and had always owned domestic cats. In 1988, I purchased my first purebred - a blue tortie point Himalayan. The following year, I bought a stud male and had my first litter of purebred kittens. It was a family affair - with all the chores, with with raising and loving on the kittens, and meeting and greeting with customers. With each cat purchase afterwards, I bought a higher quality & champion/grandchampion lineaged cats to help establish a reputable cattery. I had some very diverse but recognizable pedigrees and was producing some mid to high level quality kittens. Eventually, I became disillusioned with my Persian & Himalayan breeding program - realizing that I wasn't cut out for breeding the "extreme peke-faced show quality" Persians and all the "issues" that came with that, i.e. frequent upper respiratory issues related to the extremely flat faces, frequent tearing of the eyes, louzy bites from the pug nose facial structure, and other such ailments that became way too frequent for my comfort.. So, I then began concentrating on rare and unique colors on my Himalayans & Persians - like chocolates, lilacs, silver calicos, chocolate point bicolored Himis, etc. These colors were so rare and unique that the extreme facial features weren't usually required - so this gave me an way to opt out of that "demand."

In 1996, almost by accident, I saw and ultimately purchased my first Munchkin - named Tuxedo, a black/white longhaired standard Munchkin male from Whiteoakmtn Cattery - Nancy Cardillo. Nancy was very generous with her advice and helped me greatly through that first few years by lending me a couple of different male studs to get a varied gene pool of "foundation cats." I knew I wanted to delve into doing "rare and exotic colors" in my Munchkins since I was aware of the many unique colors (because of my experiences with my Persians). Luckily one of the stud males from Nancy carried chocolate and I slowly began searching out for silvers and lilacs and chocolates and carriers....to build foundation for some unique colors - eventually!

In early 2005, I had phased out my Persian breeding program - keeping two girls that had been born/raised here at Creators (Jamaica - chocolate calico & Havannah - chocolate point bicolor Himalayan). As the Napoleons were trying to become accepted through the cat assocation, I produced my first Napoleon litter late that year. I have now purchased a couple of Persian males to produce a few more Napoleon litters....and see where this venture takes me.

2. Are all of your cats living in your house?

No. I discovered early on that I couldn't have all my cats living amongst the family (at least at the same time)..it just wasn't do-able. Stud males often spray their territory, cycling females can howl and yowl hours on end and may often experience poor litter habits when normally they are perfect house guests, and protective mothers with their young can be very protective and vicious even to other cats....plus, one can only have so many litterboxes (and cats) in the same house and keep the smells down.

My kittens are always born and raised in my house - so that I can be attentive to the birthing as well as provide the vital hands on attention when young - as well as supervise the training as they mature and are weaned. Beyond that, I have a small "guest house" (A/C, heat, 6-windows, carpet, insulated, etc.) and 6 large dog run type kenneling (covered, concrete or bricked flooring, individual housing, perches, flower beds, a bounty of fresh air and farm life to view) that I can rotate my cats into if they aren't in the house or the guest house. I do have a 2 story house with extra rooms here and there which provide places to segregate the cats even within my household. If one has a "breeding program", one has to have more than a few breeders - and thus comes the juggling of providing spacious areas for them to be as much "cat" as possible without running loose or being stuck in small cages, etc. and giving them house time and run of the house....I just get use to juggling - but though I have accepted the fact that containment of sorts is necessary, I have bent over backwards trying to construct and provide large and spacious and roomy and comfortable containment areas - avoiding cages as often as possible.

There were many times over recent history where "shortlegged" cats were noted in various Veterinarian Journals or even short "studies" done on them in other country. In 1983, a woman in Louisiana named Sandra, rescued a mother cat taking her home to her plantation to live...this cat was a shortlegger. The mother cat soon had kittens and some (not all) of her offspring were shortlegged too. They lived happily on the plantation - slowly multiplying...some staying and some being given to friends and family. There became more and more interest by more and more people over these cute little oddities. Sandra coined the name "Munchkins" and so began the process.

Eventually, cat fanciers from the cat assocations became intrigued. A cat geneticst named Solveig Pflueger began an eight year genetic study on these cats - to determine if they were healthy and a viable breed, if they had any health dilemmas, would they have back issues or other skeletal issues, could they reproduced generationally, etc....and after the eight years they were deemed healthy. This study (not attempted by any other cat breed) led the way to the Munchkins being accepted as a New Breed by The International Cat Assocation (TICA) in 1991. So began the slow and arduous process of building up a large & varied gene pool (by allowing the domestic cats to be used as outcrosses - this provided a large healthy gene pool as well as installed health into the lines because of the general overall healthiness of domestics), finding interested and a qualified group of breeders interested in pain-stakingly write a detailed "standard" for the breed (every detail is described determine how large the ears are and which angle they sit or which shape the eyes are), showing the Munchkins in local shows to help get some name recognition and begin to expose cat judges to this new breed (so that the public as well as judges could learn what the breed is suppose to look like and how they act and how qualified the breeders are in supporting this new breed), and jumping through the various hoops and hurdles that the assocation requires any new breed to go through to insure that it will eventually qualify as a Champion Status Official Breed. This was finally achieved in 2003.

Presently, the Munchkins are shown at TICA shows (not CFA - they as of today have not accepted them into their assocation - our next hurdle) in championship status alongside other "official" breeds such as Ragdolls, Persians, and Siamese, etc. Munchkins can be longhaired or shorthaired and are shown accorrdingly. Today there is still "tweeking" of the standard by our Munchkin Breed Committee to eliminate redundant wording or to help clarify descriptions, etc. Every breed is an evolution at some point. The Munchkin that wins in the showhall today doesn't look very similar to the original "first generation" Munchkins. I would like to think that they are a bit more refined (and as I like to term my cats as "purposely bred")
than earlier generations. There body type is much more perportioned these days with their weights ranging from 5-8 lbs. and with each year that passes, there is much more consistensy within the breed.

then came the Napoleons......

Joe Smith is credited for founding the Napoleons. He loved the shortlegged creatures (the Munchkins) but thought that by using outcrosses of Persians, Himalayans, or Exotic Shorthairs (PHE) instead of the domestics, you could produce a "sweet baby doll faced" kitten with the short legs - making their appeal greater (his viewpoint being that the Persians/Himalayans/Exotic Shorthairs are the most wide-spread and popular breeds in the world) plus when you produced the longleggeds in those same litters, that they would in turn look like a pet quality PHE at a fraction of the price - thus being desirable and much more "place-able." So began his trek towards acceptance.

The Napoleons were to be different in several ways from their Munchkin counterpart. And again, a written and detailed standard would be written describing every aspect of the perfect Napoleon cat. The Napoleons would be a larger cat in weight and in body mass (considering the outcross, this is understandable). The Naps would have marble round eyes instead of the Munchkin walnut-shaped eyes. The Naps would have a rounder head shape and a shorter nose placement as well as shorter ear size. Below are four pictures - 1. a Munchkin named Creators Hello Mr. Heartache of Dixiemunchkin who is a Supreme Grand Champion - Highest Ranked Longhaired Munchkin Internationally in 2004....2. a nice quality Napoleon (these are all first and early generational Napoleons were the standard is still weak and type will become more concentrated).....3. a show potential Persian of today.....4. a full blooded but pet quality Persian.

1. Munchkin 2. Napoleon

All four of these cats are seal or chocolate point in coloration to help so the similarities or distinctions. The Munchkin's nose placement is much lower on the face than the three othersas well as the ears being larger. The picture doesn't show the eye shape well but a Munchkin eye shape is walnut - meaning very large, yes, but just shy of being "round" like the marble-shape of a Persian (or in this case, also the Naps). The show Persian/Himalayan's nose is between the eyes with a pug look and very high doming...wherease the Nap and Pet Quality Himalayan have a rounded head and an extended nose placement well under the eyes with very little "break." Joe Smith has emphasized that he DOES NOT want the Napoleons to go the route of the modern day Persian - Himalayn with the extreme peke-faced look - but wants to maintain the health and sweet open expression of the "baby doll faced" old-fashioned Persians (a.k.a. pet Persian look). It will take many years to perfect the face and look of the Napoleons - it took the Munchkins 15+ years to begin to show some consistentsy (and there is a long road ahead still on that front) - so breeding the Napoleons back to typier Naps or typier PHE will help the Naps "look" be more distinctive from the Munchkins.

* A note of confession: Over the years of breeding Munchkins, I have always preferred and selected a slightly rounder face outcross - either in my domestics that I used or in my selection process of keeping one of my own offspring. In fact some of my earliest Munchkins do have some Persian/Himalayan mixed with domestic in their heritage. But my present day Munchkins are show-level Munchkins which mean that they have Munchkin x Munchkin breeding back at least 3 generations. I never wanted my Munchkins to look like a barn cat - I encouraged a softer and sweeter expression in my "line of Creators Cats" faces....so if you look through several of my Munchkins - you can see the line being a bit fuzzy between some of my Munchkins and some of the Napoleons. I would've have preferred a compromise on the Munchkin standard and not found the need for the Napoleon breed...but....there are still many in the Munchkin community that wanted to maintain an extremely domestic look (not refined or polished at all) for the Munchkins.....which left the door open for the introduction and acceptance of the Napoleons. I have produced many show quality and show winners throughout my years....and so even though many of my breeders are indeed "too round" to show them, when bred back to the right mate, I can still achieve some show potentials. Many Munchkin breeders produce kittens that are too wedgy or pointy in the face - and would not make show potential either....so the only difference is that my non-show kittens are a bit rounder than show potential instead of a bit pointier (in the face) than show potential - which again I feel makes for a more eye appealing kitten.

There are in fact several "offshoots" of the Munchkins - where people have crossed the Munchkin with other breeds/mutations....example: The Skookum is a curly coated shortlegged cat crossing the Munchkin with the Selkirk Rex; the Minskins is a no-haired shortlegged cat that crossed the Munchkin with the Sphynx; and the Kinkalow is a "curled-back eared" cat where the Munchkin was bred to the American Curl. I, myself, oppose mixing mutations and do not pursue or encourage these ventures. As of yet, these offshoots have not been accepted through the cat assocation - but are often available over the internet. Note: The Napoleons are a mixing of two breeds - the Naps and the PHE but not two mutations which is why I don't oppose them.

8. Your cattery name is Creators - Why the name?

When I first began my cattery, I knew I needed to pick out a cattery name. I tried to find one that would reflect me, my vision for my cat business, etc. Many great names were already taken. I wanted my cattery to give some indication that I am a believer in Jesus Christ who is the Creator of all things - whether we play with nature or whatever. He is the Creator of my cattery.

9. What are your cattery breeding goals?

I have had many goals over the years. Initially, I was just interested in producing beautiful and loving pets to my local area - kittens that were raised right and handled like they should be and sold to customers who would love and appreciate and take care of my precious babies. As I began to learn more about the whole Persian breed, my long range goal was to produce a few show quality cats. Over a four year period when I had my "best lineage" cats from varioius outstanding lines, I experienced great frustration over the health issues that I saw that I had never experience before; i.e. birthing dilemmas, louzy gum structure, upper respiratory ailments, etc. I was at a breaking point when in '96 I saw my first Munchkin. It was then I was refreshed with "what could be" ... a new breed that was cute and proven on the onset to be healthy.

The thought of getting in on the ground level of a new breed and help develop it was exciting. The Munchkin look was so different that I knew they would be a hit. There was a great need for breeders to show Munchkins in the NBC (New Breed or Color Category) section to help educate the public as well as the judges. I knew that I could breed towards the high standard of a show quality leve with a breed that I could again feel good about. I didn't totally give up on my Persians but opted to switch direction on them as well. I decided that I would breed for "rare and exotic colors" like chocolates and lilacs and bicolored Himalayans.....which then in turn tended to be more of the short but baby dollfaced look - which I counted on would eliminate much of my health issues (and it did).

I then began concentrating on my Munchkins - laying important foundations into the breed such as health and personality first - then combining some unique color genetics so I could produce top quality Munchkins (yes for the showring but mostly to help establish the breed as loving and affectionate as well as worthy to be considered a viable breed. If you look around the website, you see many high winning Munchkins that were produced here at Creators. This is an accomplishment that I feel good about, yes. But, also, I have established a "look" of Creators - a recognizable "something" that is distinct to my cattery. If you look about at many other catteries, you can often spot a Creators creation as well as see that my lines have helped to influence many other catteries - this is what I am most proud of. I had one breeder remark to me after she purchased a kitten from me, "What DO YOU DO to your kittens that make them so lovable and affectionate?" It is a signature disposition that has been stamped into my lines....starting most notably by Andre' - an early cream and white Munchkin male that I showed back in the late 90's. His offspring were most often just like him. Virtually every female cat that I have is related to Andre....helping to grand that awesome personality into future Creators kittens.

Now the Napoleons have been introduced and I have been officially breeding Naps now for a couple of years. I have been pleased with the litters of Napoleon kittens that I have produced thus far and the broad appeal of the rounder and sweeter faces of the Napoleons is evident. I always bred my Munchkin females with a slightly rounder face and avoided the wedgy looks of many of the traditional Munchkins so I have fit right in with the Napoleons and actually I have found it much easier to produce nice Napoleons breeding a breeder quality Persian back to my Munchkins. I, admittedly, am anxious as to the future and direction of the Napoleons since the founder, Joe Smith, has passed the gauntlet on to ?....but semi-retired from the breed pursuit. His wishes were that the breed not go the way of the Persians - with the extreme look of the modern Persian. There are many health issues with the show quality Persians - extremely flat face, noses set right between the highes, extreme doming on the heads, etc. My hope is that this wish remains a constant in the new developing breed called the Napoleons - and I think it will help take the breed to official status through the cat associations. Without a clear leader, I remain slightly hesitant. I also am convicted not to use the extreme Persian in my breeding program as well - in that it makes the short term effect quicker but may lead to infiltrating health dilemmas into this new but healthy breed. My Persians are short nosed - a bit shorter nosed than the Napoleon standard aims for but they aren't so short that they would be able to compete in the Persian shows. My goals are to continue with the standard set before us, and to produce very eye appealing and healthy and friendly Napoleons.

10. Do you have any restrictions for me as a purchaser?

Yes. First, I sell my kittens as either pets (pet means that you agree upfront not to breed or show - to have the kitten spayed or neutered before one year of age - and to enjoy the kitten purely as a pet. When you purchase a kitten - the pricing will be discounted for those who intend to be a "pet only" buyer. Those who are interested in buyer a kitten as a potential breeder or show potential kitten need to say upfront their intentions so that I can discuss aspects of breeding so you know what you are getting into, so I can feel comfortable about the environment and breeding program that my kitten will be placed into. Breeder/show prices will reflect their potential.

Second, my kittens are to go to "indoor only" homes. These kittens have been raised inside and wouldn't be safe in an outdoor setting; dogs, cars, etc.....plus being a rare breed, they would be in danger of being snatched.

Third, a kitten or cat you purchase from me should never find their way into a cat shelter or pound - you will agree upfront to never let that happen...plus I would like notification if you ever end up placing the cat into a different home.