CH Rushbrooke Airgead Cagaran (Katie)
Airgead Cagaran is Gaelic for 'Silver Darling', pronounced 'Arket Cakaran'
Also known as 'Katie-Kitten' or just 'Kitten'
ALH ns 11 / 68 43s
Tiffanie, Black Silver Shaded
Inbreeding Co-efficient: 2.6% (10 generations)
D.O.B. 06/02/09
Katie was our first foundation queen, and was a half-sister to our neutered UK & Imperial Grand Premier girl, Annas. We will be forever grateful to her breeder, Amanda Colgan (Rushbrooke Asians, Burmese and Bengals, Cambridgeshire) for letting us have this lovely girl. Particularly so, considering the fact that letting us have her meant that Amanda had to wait another two litters to get a girl for herself! Katie was out of Amanda's gorgeous Black Silver Shaded stud boy, Bullet (CH Rushbrooke Silver Bullet) and a delightful outcross girl, Dulcie (CH Merinda Chica deRushbrooke), who is a Black Smoke.
Katie was one of four kittens (two Black Silver Shaded, one Black Self and one Black Smoke), and the only girl. She was every inch the 'typical' Tiffanie, with a lovely short, straight nose, fantastic slender limbs with the cutest little spoon-shaped paws, nice eye shape, and a flowing, silky coat with a beautiful clear silver undercoat. She was a lovely wee girl, who liked to curl up under the covers with us and would follow us around 'creaking' at us to tell us that she needed a cuddle. She had a very sweet temperament, and was very gentle and loving. She was also very playful, and was affectionately known as 'Katie-Kitten' even once she had been a mother twice! She was very close to both Annas and Dārna, with whom she would curl up on the bed most afternoons - we have lots of cute photos of them curled around each other!
Katie was generally well-received on the show bench, starting out by beating her brother for Best of Breed in their first show (aged 14 weeks and 1 day), going on to make Champion at 13 months, in only four shows, and then winning one of the three Grand certificates need to win the Grand Champion title. She loved shows, and when her cage door was opened, would climb straight out onto the table and up the judge to give them kisses - an excellent ploy in my opinion!
Katie gave us two beautiful litters of Tiffanies, and was a fabulous mother. Her first litter was to CH Rushbrooke Chico Moreno, a black ticked tabby Tiffanie, and included Lona Johnson's Lainni, GR CH Asgaidh-Àlainn, whose first PC (Premier Certificate) was the first certificate for our prefix, and who has since become the first Cagaran to win an Imperial Certificate. Katie's second litter was to CH Kagura Shogun, an Asian Spotted Tabby (shorthair), and included CH Cagaran Cailin-Anizz, mother of our Tilly, who is spookily like her granny.
Unfortunately, when Katie was pregnant with her third litter, in 2012, she contracted a bacterial infection. As a result, she was unable to push hard enough to have a natural delivery, resulting in the need for a C-section, producing two still-born kittens. Even worse, she rapidly went downhill after the operation, and had to be put to sleep herself a couple of weeks later. This is absolutely the worst case scenario for a breeder - losing kittens is bad enough, but to lose one of your girls in the process is an absolute nightmare. She left a huge hole in our 'family' when she died, and although Tilly can never replace her granny, it is lovely to have a little piece of Katie back in the house. We miss you Katie-Kitten, sleep peacefully. xx
Four of her kittens have been shown:
GR PR Cagaran Asgaidh-Ālainn (Lainni) - owned by Lona Johnston
Tiffanie, Black Silver Shaded FEX - also has two Imperial certificates
CH Cagaran Cailin-Anizz (Cailin) - owned by Anita Bryce
Tiffanie, Chocolate Silver Shaded FEX - five times Best in Show in FIFé (including the All-Winners show)
Cagaran An-Sųlair (Rafa) - owned by June and Tony Gill
Tiffanie, Black Ticked Tabby FEX - shown twice by us as a kitten, 1st and Best of Breed both times
Cagaran Aileag (Alek) - owned by Fiona Grant
Tiffanie, Black Shaded FEX - shown once as a kitten
Two of her kittens haven't been shown:
Cagaran Aithreachas - Tiffanie, Black Silver Ticked Tabby FEX (died in the nest)
Cagaran Cannach (Clooty) - Tiffanie, Black Ticked Tabby FEX