Our Story
As a child, my heart’s desire was to have a cat. Since my mom was extremely allergic to cats, I could only enjoy my friend's cats when I would visit. As soon as I was in a position to have my own cat, I adopted a domestic long hair cat named Fancy. She was always at my side, sitting in my lap or beside me, playing with any writing tool I happened to be using, sleeping next to me every night. I loved her and was so happy to finally have a cat in the house. Fast forward into my twenties and thirties and our family had several other DSH and DLH cats, all of which caused me allergic reactions. Like many people, as an adult I had developed a cat allergy. Willing to clean extensively, have mild symptoms, continuously wash my hands, as well as suffer through the occasional round of hives or runny, watery eyes and nose if they licked me, I suffered through the annoyance so I could enjoy their company and my kids could have the opportunity I didn’t have as a child.
A few years ago, when we found ourselves almost kitty-less, after our beloved 15 year old woodpile-born “Monty” died in our arms from congestive heart failure, we knew we needed to find a cat that we could love like we did our beloved “Mon-toes”. The search began. We considered a rescue, the majestic Maine Coon, the exotic Bengal, and others. As we considered their general temperament and needs of each type of cat, I couldn’t help wondering if there was an “hypoallergenic” cat that might allow me to have a closer relationship without the associated discomfort of allergic reactions. My dream was to be able to nuzzle my next kitty without a reaction. In my search, I stumbled across the Siberian. The more I researched, the more I became convinced that the Siberian would be my family’s next cat. We have not been disappointed.
Our first Siberian, “Digby” from Basilic Blessings West Coast, came home in the summer of 2021. He has so many names because of his silly antics, “Digbert” that vacant stare reclining against the wall, “Luffer” when his big floof stretches up to my waist asking for some love, or the “Aaahhhh, Digs” when he comes to us talking about his day. He's such an expressive cat. His favorite of all positions is leaned up against the wall with one paw on his hip and the other in his lap saying, "just havin' a break folks". While he is altered, he deserves his own introduction as he is our initiation into the world of our beloved Siberians.
Later in the summer, Kent and Shelley from Basilic Blessing gave me the opportunity to show and breed one of their beautiful, sweet-natured traditional females. I was honored and she proved worthy of her name, BasilicBlessing St. Helena, with early success as a kitten in the show ring and the sweetest natured cat. She loves to play fetch with her magic wand, or do back flips high in the air to catch her “bird”. She has an unrivaled intuition and knows exactly what her humans need or how to encourage or reassure the other cats when they are less than pleased about being groomed. She is a very attentive, doting mother.
Well, if one has a Siberian queen, one must also have a Siberian king. We agonized over decisions about conformation, genetics, health testing, genetic diversity, travel arrangements, and finally imported a male, Amulet Sibella, from Anna Biryukova, whom we believe will produce babies with great temperament, good conformation, and ultimately, healthy, beautiful kittens. We didn’t think we could find a better disposition than we already had in Digby and St. Helena. We were wrong. Amulet (“Lil Buddy”) is a very confident, strong boy, is also the sweetest lap cat that will allow us to hold him in just about any position. He’s happy to play and race around the house like crazy, then almost flies across my desk to get to my lap while I work, instantly purring. He is doing well in his early show career and takes all the chaos of the show ring in stride.
Tika is our Bouvier des Flandres that oversees all things cats...or bunnies...or dishes...or cooking...or vacuuming. She is an ever present "help" with all the household chores and my walking buddy and foot warmer when the weather turns cold.