| ABOUT US & THE HISTORY of Willabelle Maine Coon Cattery |
| Well my cat endeavor started in the spring of 1984 when I talked to a lady at a local cat shelter looking for a female mitten toe, better known as a polydactyl. As I already had a male and thought I had something special and wanted to breed them. She quickly corrected me and scolded me about reproducing unregistered cats, and that Polys were not all that rare. Then she began to tell me about a registered breed she was currently breeding called a Maine Coon. She invited me over to see her cats, so over I went- love at first site! Then she invited me to my first cat show spring of 1984, I was 20 years old and newly wed. On our way home after the show she informed me that she didn’t breed much but had some young adults available, hence came our first male a brown mac "CH Lanterns Dandy Mocka Mocho", our first girl "Lanterns Candy Tuff" a tortie and "Lanterns Calamityjane" a brown patch tabby. No longer in Maine Coons she just celebrated her 90th birthday on Halloween thank you Ruth Lane of Lantern Cattery for a very special start. Well we had the show bug and were off! We next met a grand lady and her husband the late Ruth Morris and her husband Bob of Nephrani Cattery the friendship grew very quickly they came to visit, stayed a few days and decided to have a few outcross kittens when I bred my first litter. So in the spring of 1984 Steve Miller and family established "Willabelle Cattery" with CFA. The name Willabelle stemming from my grandfather and grandmothers names combined. The spring of 1985 my first litter was born which included a solid black male called "Willabelle’s Carbon Copy", who Nephrani Cattery spoke for immediately. When they came to pick him and a female kitten up, they brought me two Nephrani females, and much to my surprise grand champion "Nephrani Dallas" a son of their first grand champion "Ciamaine of Nephrani". Next we met the late Dick Frantz and his wife Mary Jane of Franmar Cattery. Another quick friendship developed, still in contact to this day with Mary Jane, thank you so much for your friendship and the type and quality the Franmar bloodline brought into our cattery. Next my dear Kay Sukeeforth of Kitcor Cattery we traded cats back and forth and really helped each other out. Probably the most famous cats for me was a red and white cat that Kay got. Topping the CFF best Maine Coon award in 1989 "Willabelle’s Grand Slam Sam", thank you Kay for everything. |
