CH Yesso Breckin (Breckin)
Breckin is Gaelic for 'Freckles', pronounced just the way it looks
OCI b 24 / 73b
Ocicat, Chocolate
(Spotted Tabby)
Inbreeding Co-efficient: 22.9% (10 generations)
D.O.B. 09/06/09
Breckin was supposed to be our foundation Ocicat queen, but we had to be spayed without ever being bred. She came to us from Rita Legget (Yesso Ocicats), in Norwich. Her parents have both been successful on the show bench, her father being the gorgeous blue Grand Champion, Thickthorn Blue Skipper. Her mother is a lovely chocolate girl, Thickthorn Delphinium. Breckin has fantastic Ocicat type, with a lovely wild-looking head and lovely cupped ears. She is a good size and has lovely clear spotting.
When Breckin first saw our Ocicat neuter, Tármus, she instantly seemed to recognise her as an Ocicat, and started calling loudly to her, even though she had ignored the other cats up 'till then. She was rather skittish as a kitten, and unfortunately became less and less friendly towards people as she grew older. We eventually had her spayed, to prevent the risk that she might pass her temperament on to her kittens, and it just isn't what we want from the Ocicats, who should be outgoing and friendly.
Breckin's first outing onto the show bench was a very successful one, taking Best Kitten at the Ocicat Club show, when she was just under four months old. Strangely, shows were the one place where she seemed happy to be handled by people, and indeed was a much more pleasant animal for up to a week after attending a show. For those few days, she would come to greet us, and would actively seek attention and stroking from us, but then she would revert to running away and behaving as if completely terrified. We therefore continued to show her periodically, and she made up to Champion at just a day over 11 months, and then won two certificates towards a Grand Champion title. After being spayed, she took her Premier title in 'straight shows', meaning that she won the certificate at every show she attended, and also won the Grand Premier certificate at her first attempt in that class.
Having been kept in isolation whilst we treated her for Tritrich, Breckin seemed to hate people even more than she did previously, and she really wasn't a happy cat. When we were given the opportunity to re-home her with Grace, to a farm in Aberdeenshire, where she would have the choice whether or not to come into contact with people, we jumped at the chance. She now lives mostly in the outbuidlings, 'working' as a mouser for the farm, and doesn't need to interact with her owners if she doesn't want to.