About Us
Like many cat breeders, we started off our involvement with cats in the welfare world. We were very lucky to be involved with the work of Kitten Adoption, a small cat welfare organisation with a focus on quality and best practice. We learnt so much as foster carers for kittens and cats in need, gaining valuable hands on experience. Jan, who ran Kitten Adoption, taught us a huge amount in too many areas to list here and the lessons from that time remain the foundation of our attitudes as breeders.
Our first pedigree kitten was Grizabella Xerxes, a show neuter Devon Rex from Bella Challis in England. To say we were hooked is an understatement! The personalities and affection levels of the pedigree cats we have had is totally different to the standard moggy. I don't want to knock moggies in any way but rather to emphasise that owning a pedigree cat is usually a very different experience.
I knew a wanted a Sphynx long before I saw one in the flesh. At the Supreme Cat Show in Birmingham in 2005 I saw my first Sphynx and began looking for a pet Sphynx straight away. It took a long time and we eventually decided we felt ready to begin breeding cats and Gemma Wheldon allowed us to have a very pretty girl, Adsetsh Lil Daddyo as a breeding Queen in 2007. And that was the start of it! We registered the first Irish born Sphynx litter with both the GCCFI and GCCF and are currently expecting our fourth Sphynx litter in May 2011.
We spent two years as committee members of the Midlands Cat Club of Ireland and again, we learnt a lot about the cat fancy and the behind the scenes work of holding a cat show. During this time we were also instrumental in getting the GCCFI (Governing Council of the Cat Fancy of Ireland) to recognise the Sphynx breed and allow them to enter cat shows at Preliminary status. Sphynx are about to progress to full Championship status in June 2011 and this is wonderful for the breed and also for us personally, after pushing for the initial recognition of the breed by the GCCFI.
We are members of the Midlands Cat Club of Ireland, the Siamese and All Breeds Cat Club of Ireland, the Ulster Cat Club (GCCF), the Erin Cat Club (GCCF), The Sphynx Cat Association (GCCF) and the Sphynx Cat Club (GCCF)
We are small hobby breeders and our cats are first and foremost members of our family. We take our responsibility for any kittens we breed very seriously after seeing so many suffering cats in rescue. We are absolutely committed to do all we can to reduce the risk of HCM in our cats and will never intentionally breed cats who do not have a recent, normal heart scan. We urge people looking for a Spynx kitten to make HCM scanning a key feature in selecting a breeder, please do not support those breeders who do not care enough for the breed as a whole, and the kittens they create, to scan regularly.
Ronan and CharlotteYou can email us on daddyocats@gmail.com