Doug and I have always had an abiding love for cats. He grew up with at least 3 family cats in the household at any time. I, on the other hand, had to admire them from afar, because of a superstisious maternal grandmother. When I finally had a house of my own, and a partner that wasn't allergic to cats (my first husband was, which is how I got into ferrets...but that's another story), I got my first cat. Taliesin is a ticked brown mackerel tabby and white domestic shorthair. She's not named for the ancient magician, but for the homestead of Frank Lloyd Wright (I'm an avid collector of Arts & Crafts pottery and furniture). Tally, aside from being one of the clumsiest cats I know, is the 'perfect cat'. When she was young, she'd even go to the litterbox to throw-up! She was soon joined by Carioca (Cari) a black shorthair, with a white 'bikini' on his tummy. Cari came from a pet store, and was my introduction to the horrible illnesses that cats can have. He had been exposed to distemper, a strain virulent enough to infect Tally, who was 3 months older, and had all her shots. Several hundred dollars later, and after many sleepless nights of force feeding every 4 hours, Cari was alive and well and recovered. Over the course of the next few years, we added several more cats, and I added a new husband (Doug). Things were pretty peaceful when we decided to get a purebred to round out our numbers (we had 7 cats at the time). We did some research and concluded that a Birman would be the ideal cat for us. At the same time we were persuing this, and getting involved with the Petsforum on Compuserve, one of our beloved cats, Maddie, a calico SH, became very ill, with what was finally diagnosed as FIP. Of course, we panicked, and had everyone tested, and bleached the entire house. None of the original cats have ever shown any signs of being affected by her illness, but we again gained invaluable experience and insight into what can go into keeping cats.

Eventually, a few months later, we purchased our first purebreds in 1991 from Chuck and Laura Hoyt; 2 sealpoint Birmans,Kajoti Olympia Gold du Soliel and Kajoti's Omega. We had only intended to get the boy, but Olympia came and snuggled on Doug, and we just couldn't bear to break them up...so, we came home with 2 cats rather than one. Chuck and Laura talked us into showing Mega as a premier in CFA. He became our first show alter and attained his Premiership in CFA at his first show, in May of 1992. Since the show was small, on the first day, he made all three specialty finals. This pretty much spoiled me <g>. The next several shows were lessons in reality, until the Mid-Wisconsin Cat Fanciers show in DePere, where Mega was probably Best Premier in show. He made every final and earned 40 points toward his Grand Premier in CFA. We lost Mega this past year to cardiomyopathy. He was 5 and a half years old. At Mega's second show, I found the 'birthday present' that Doug asked for, a red classic tabby and white Maine Coon, Coonsboro's Darby O'Malley. We have also shown Darby in premiership (he is a CFA Premier) but he is retired now, as he REALLY doesn't like to show.

By the end of 1992, we decided that we wanted to try breeding Birmans, and registered our cattery in CFA. Our cattery name was decided by committee, by the regular members of the Cat Breeders World section, on Compuserve's Pets Forum. Doug, I and some of the others came up with a list of choices. Doug's was Hunters Glen, and everyone, but me liked it best (I thought it sounded like a kennel or stable). It wasn't until I actually started showing cats of our own breeding, that I decided I liked the name. It is unique and that has made it easy to register it in all the associations.

Since we wanted a birgirl from a specific breeding, we waited until March of 1993 for our first breeding queen; CH Kajoti Queenanzlace of Hunters Glen (yes, that's just exactly 34 letters), a blue point out of GC Pleasantview Oceanna Blue of Kajoti and GC Chat Botte du Maoucha of Kajoti. Our Lacey has since had her first litter, all blue point kittens, out of GC, RW Pleasantview Parnter in Crime. We have kept her daughter from that breeding, CH Hunters Glen Sassafras (Sassy). Sassy is a champion in both CFA and TICA, gaining her TICA CH with a Best LH Cat from Judy Chappetta at her first and only TICA show. Late in 1995, we added a seal point girl from Sandy Nigl (My Apogee Birmans, Oshkosh, WI) to our Birman breeding progam. My Apogee Stormcloud of Hunters Glen is the littermate to Sandy's SGC/RW My Apogee Striker, a sealpoint male who Supremed in 3 shows and who was gain a 6th best cats GL Region in TICA in 1996. The last member of the Birman clan is CH Dunnydeer Sibelius of Hunters Glen, a seal point male, carrying blue, bred by Val Rhodes. Bailey is a Bean (Tamandria Tagar Torre of Dunnydeer) son. Bailey and Sassy had a litter of 2 boys, in 1997. After several years of frustration trying to get my girls to cycle and be bred, we've placed or altered all the breeding Birmans, except for Sassy and Bailey's son, Hunters Glen Untamed Heart, Usi, who will be shown as an alter and possibly as a premier.

My interest in American Curls developed from meeting several Curl breeders on Compuserve and from seeing my first curl at Cindy Geving's cattery. We got our first Curl, Earendil Narnya of Hunters Glen, a green eyed white longhair, from Deb Karasik in September of 1993. We showed Narnya as a kitten and Championed her in CFA. By the time she was an adult however, she made it known she wasn't happy showing, so after an abortive attempt at a TICA show, we decided to breed her. In the spring of 1994, we had 'b' tested for FeLV/FIV and FIP before she was to go to a sire we'd decided on. We were horrified when the lab results returned showing her 'positive' for FeLV (she had been vaccinated for it). After a lot of tears, and testing ALL the other cats in the house, we concluded that it was a false positive. Her FIP status was negative, and she's never tested positive since, but it was another object lesson in what having a cattery can mean. After that scare, I resolved to get my own stud for the curls, I acquired another female from Deb Karasik, Earendil Luinariel (Ary), a blue-cream, and eventually Ary's brother,CH/DGC Earendil's Beorn the Bear- a black LH male. Bear has several 1994 TICA regional awards including Best American Curl Adult in the Great Lakes region, and 3rd Best American Curl Kitten International. Bear is now retired and living in IL. Since Deb wanted to show Bear to his TICA grand, I didn't get him until he was an adult. I picked him up at a show in Raliegh NC, where I first showed my co-owned stud boy, CH/SGC,RW Daywarhim Kismet ofGhattiscurl ('Adam') - a red tabby and white longhair male.

Adam showed very successfully for us as both a kitten and an adult cat. He became our first Supreme Grand Champion and first Regional Winner and International Breed Winner in TICA ( Best American Curl Kitten, GL Region in TICA, 1995, Best American Curl Cat, Great Lakes Region, TICA, 1996, Great Lakes Region 5th Best Cat, 1996 and Best American Curl International 1996). He was also the Best Longhair American Curl in Championship at the CFA International Show in 1995. In 1994, I also joined TICA as a full member, and in 1996 joined both the TICA American Curl Breed Committee and the CFA American Curl Breed Council.

Narnya and Bear turned out to be an awsome breeding pair. Narnya's first litter, born in July of 1995 produced 3 TICA grands: Hunters Glen Fair Bianca of Dixipaws, Hunters Glen Alchemyst and Hunters Glen Sir Thomas Lipton. SGCA/RW Hunters Glen Sir Thomas Lipton ('Thom') is not only a supreme grand alter in TICA but a Grand Premier in CFA. He granded in CFA in 3 shows, which included a Best Cat in Premiership from Kim Everett. His complete list of accomplishments are on the Award Winners page. Narnya's second litter also produced a TICA Quad Grand Champion, Hunters Glen Mary Rose of Sarcenet ("Rosie") owned by Lisa Aring and Mark Hack. Her third and final litter we hope will give her the 5th grand needed for her TICA Outstanding Dam in Hunters Glen Chrysler Imperial ('Chrys').