Interview with Elena Hildebrandt

We have the honour to interview Elena Hildebrandt, founder of the RU* Fialka Cattery (FIFe/WCF registered) in St Petersburg, Russia.

There is no doubt that Elena is passionate about this breed and boy, she loves her cats! We asked her what made her choose the Siberian Cat to commence her breeding with, about her cats' characters, cat shows, nutrition, health, future plans and her definition of a happy Siberian Cat. Elena has always loved cats and she got her first cat at the age of six. One can get the feeling that faith had something to do with her choice of the Siberian Cat as her breed. It's our privilege to share her story with you.

Love at first sight

Walking down the streets of St Petersburg on her day off from work Elena noticed a sign saying "Cat Show". Out of curiosity she went to see the show and fell in love with a beautiful solid black kitten. To her unluck or luck - who knows - the kitten was already sold. Luckily this is not the end of the story. The breeder kindly told Elena about a male kitten she had back home, a classic black tabby.

Elena went to see the kitten at the breeder's place and it was love at first sight.
This little male was Jonathan-Timange, a cat with a marvellous future.
These are Elena's own words about him:

- I saw Jonathan, I fell in love with him - he was not a super star at that moment, but he was big and very funny. I saw his mother and I was really impressed.

Elena had absolutely no plans to show or breed Siberians; Jonathan-Timange would become her pet cat. Anyway, it was so wonderful to have this cat. Only as a souvenir, that's what she thought then.

Cat club Bastet

After joining the cat club "Bastet", a FIFe registered club, Elena's career as a Siberian Cat breeder started slowly but surely. The people at the club were really friendly and helpful. It's so important to support and help the club members. Kindness and honesty are very significant issues, and is something to strive for. To help out new cat owners by sharing info and knowledge builds a solid foundation for the Siberian Cat breed in the world.

Now as a member of the "Bastet" club there was no turning back. Elena had met her instructor - another Elena, Mrs. Elena Zagorskaya, an internationally known FIFe judge. Could one get a better instructor? It really sounds like a fairy tale. Mrs. Zagorskaya liked Jonathan-Timange very much and his first show was soon on its way.

Jonathan-Timange

EC Jonathan-Timange SIB n 22

His first show as a junior resulted to a BIS NOM, not bad for a first timer. Elena said that she got show struck afterwards. This marvellous cat won numerous BIS NOM's. She planned to breed him and after winning the International Champion title it was her intention to end Jonathan-Timange's show career. The auspicious circumstances resulted in prolonging his career in the show ring; this gorgeous star became in year 2004 the fourth Siberian Cat in Russia which received the highest FIFe title, European Champion.
FIFe's 2004 show rating placed Jonathan-Timange as the best Siberian cat in
Russia and he was on the 13th place amongst cats of all breeds in Russia.
In 2005 WCF granted him with the title Grand Europe Champion.

The beginning of the Fialka Cattery

It was time to look for the perfect bride for Jonthan-Timange.
Fialka's foundation female was the beautiful IC (FIFe) Veilchen Prinzessin. Her name contributed to the cattery's name as well. In German the word "Veilchen" means "Violet" in English and in Russian it's "Fialka".
This princess "Fialka" is a graceful blue classic tabby and all of her kittens are blue or carrying a dilution.
Jonathan-Timange and Veilchen Prinzessin became instantly devoted to each other, and they still are after all these years. Fialka has won over her husband twice getting the title Best in Variety.
The second female introduced to the Fialka cattery was CH (FIFe) Din `-Din`iz Fialki, blue/silver classic tabby. The fourth cat was Edelweiss Yurik is Fialki, a black smoke and white tabby.
Elena needed this young boy to enhance her breeding program and he's a good friend of Jonathan.

Elena co-owns with I. Karpova a handsome young male by Jonathan-Timange; CH (WCF) Amour-Timange Fialka. This cat is registered at a club called "Eylur" (WCF).

Inside Info about Jonathan

How is Jonathan-Timange at home and what is his favourite food?

- Jonathan's home name is Kafik or Kafa (it's a short from the surname of a very famous Russian tennis player, a legend in Russian tennis, Evgeniy Kafelnikov.
Elena plays tennis herself and so does Jonathan-Timange, alias Kafik. He loves to play with the tennis balls and watches tennis on the TV.

- Kafik has a strong personality. He is very devoted to me, but at the same time a real macho! He tries to manipulate me. For example, when we are going to the show by train, Kafik was sleeping on the pillow and I on the rest part of the common bed.

His favourite dry food: Hill's, other dry food must be fed by hand or spoon. Now, who's spoiled?

Kafik's love of his life is Veilchen Prinzessin, home name Fufa, according to Elena they are like Romeo and Juliet.

The wonderful girls

Veilchen Prinzessin is the closest to perfect according to Elena. An excellent bride to Jonathan.

It was not easy for Elena to find an additional female, she had high standards and was searching for a rare colour, a silver classic tabby. Which cat could be the heiress to Veilchen Prinzessin?
The sovereign's sister, Din `-Din`iz Fialki is a sweet tempered girl blue/silver classic tabby, but she is often dominated by her older sister.

Experiences about breeding

Elena has recently had her "G" litter.
Din `-Din`iz Fialki and Jonathan Timange got their first litter together on 22.07.2006.

Due to not so happy experiences Elena has become extremely cautious regarding breeding outside her own cattery.

- I don't breed my cats anymore with other catteries. I have only one reason for it, but very strong one: If one day your cat gets an infection it can ruin the whole cattery. I can't afford such risk. It was a very long way to form my cattery and to find both girls.
She says it's all about finding the perfect pair and to weigh carefully the advantages and the disadvantages in every cat. Her young male Yurik for instance was the result of one year waiting. Sometimes it's better to wait some more than to make hasty decisions which might have long term consequences.

- Ask for advice from as many breeders (better from different countries) as you can, about the cattery where you are going to buy a kitten from for your breeding program. You must be absolutely sure about the reputation of the cattery.

By this Elena means to be cautious when importing a cat from abroad. Even if sales agreements are signed it's not a 100% guarantee for fairness. In case something goes wrong, it's costly and difficult to start a legal process in a foreign country. Therefore make sure that you are dealing with honest people.

Outbreeding

In order to minimize the risks with an out breeding, Elena's advice is the following:
To mate your cat from the lines of the new cat you are considering buying. It can give you an hint of the final result.
She did this herself by mating the half sister of her both females with Jonathan.
Yurik's mom and Yurik's father's sister (aunt) were also mated with Jonathan, and in this way she had an idea what the lines will produce together.

Choosing a combination for breeding

Elena looks firstly for a well shaped head. She says if things go wrong with the head shape it's difficult to correct. Coat texture for instance is easier to correct.
She loves the classic tabby colour without white, but still the main focuses are the head and the body structure and health.

Show and grooming tips

There are many of us out there who have never showed a cat or a kitten before. Elena's advice is:

- How to prepare for a show? It's very individual. It depends on a concrete cat: Some must be washed (about 7 days before the show - otherwise the coat will be too soft), but I saw also Siberian Cats which looked great without washing. I know for sure that my cats need washing (breeding males for example have greasy hair, and also some females), and blue and silver cats are the most difficult ones to prepare.

Elena doesn't recommend the usage of dish washing liquid to remove the grease from the coat. It dries out the skin and wipes out the skin's natural protection against infections.
It's good to use shampoos that are suitable for your cat's colour and coat quality.

Coat care brands

IC Veilchen Prinzessin - SIB a 22

* Bio Groom
* All Systems
* House of An-Ju.

A special tip from Elena is in case your Siberian has a really greasy coat: Rinse the coat with a mixture of water and vinegar, 10:1, ten parts of water and one part vinegar.

She uses a hair dryer to dry her cats with, coat polishes, texturizers, anti-static's, sometimes even powder.

- You can only try and see what's good for your cat - in my opinion there is no other way, only practice.

How early can you take a kitten to a show?

Fife has a rule saying not earlier than 3 months; all of the vaccinations must be completed. Elena recommends not earlier than 3,5 months. First vaccination is given when the kitten is 2 months old, the second one after 3 weeks and finally the last vaccination after additional 3 weeks. It takes 2 weeks for the vaccine to reach its full effect. Therefore a quarantine period is recommended.

Elena's advice in making the first show as positive as possible for the young kitten:

- It's difficult to point out exactly what makes the kitten relaxed prior to the show. Even the washing causes stress. Socialisation of the kitten is important, to meet as many kind strangers as possible. Also, the kittens own temperament is an issue too. For instance Din`-Din isn't fond of strangers visiting the house, but is perfectly relaxed at the show. My advice:

1. Start showing regularly at an early age.
2. Better to have a show cage of your own, the kitten feels safer with its own smells.
3. Put out the show cage at home few days before the show. The kitten can go in and out from the cage.
4. At the show give the kitten its favourite food, treat or vitamins.

Nutrition and health

Elena recommends to have high quality dry food and to avoid the ones with low fat. It's not good for a Siberian cat to eat low fat dry food.
Elena's menu:

* Hill's dry food with hair ball control
* Quail eggs
* "Shiny Coat" Gimped canned food
* Raw Meat 2-3 times a week

For pregnant females: Just change the food to kitten or pregnant cats. Many vets say that dry raspberry leaves makes the birth easier. Give one leaf during the whole pregnancy. Kittens should eat kitten food.

About deworming of an indoor Siberian: A clever advice given to Elena buy Hill's vet:

- Don't deworm your cat without reason. Better to make a test in a clinic first. Anti worm is close to poison and it's advisable to deworm after testing. Do it once a year before vaccination.

How to keep the Siberian Cat a healthy breed

- I think we should think over very well what we are doing with the Siberians and how we use inbreeding in our catteries. I know than now many breeders count inbreeding percentage (see www.pawpeds.com). This is very useful, but this is not everything. Even formally the percentage of inbreeding can be rather low, but the same gene pool can be very limited. The first that suffers from hard inbreeding or limited gene pool is the immune system. So, in my opinion we should use inbreeding very carefully in very strict limits, looking through the pedigree in maximum numbers of generations before making up the final decision. The other problem we have in Russia is the absence of reliable HCM scanning - we need special techniques for it and vet specialists in this field. MCO (Main Coon) gene test is practically available, and we hope that soon SIB (Siberian Cat) HCM-gene test will be available too. It will help in avoiding many problems in future.

Elena had heard about a breeder who stopped breeding Main Coons because of their health problems. So she is profoundly concerned about keeping the Siberian Cat healthy.

Elena is very happy about her Siberians. These cats have a high intellect; they are loyal and devoted to the owners just like dogs.

- I'm so sorry that the most popular breed in Russia is Main-Coon. I love the MCO. They are great! But it makes me very sad when I see how few Siberian breeding lines with traditional colours we have in Russia. Very popular are here Nevas (Neva Masquerade), but not Siberian of traditional colours.

A happy Siberian?

- A cat whose owner has a big loving heart.

CH Din-Din of Fialka

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