My name is Cécile and I have been breeding Siberian cats since 2000. My cattery name came from a little place in the Maine & Loire (in the west of France) where I lived during 16 years. (from 0 to 16 years old).
It's a warm place located at the edge of Thouet, where my parents did some walks with me when I was a child. This place marked my mind.
Moreover, I wished a short cattery name to be easy to write.


In fact, my cattery name has no relation with Siberia !!

I started to breed after buying my first breed cat in 1998. He wasn't my first cat because I already have cats but all them before him were some house cats. My first breed cat is a Norwegian forest cat Brown mackerel tabby & white : Olav du Bois d'Opio.


Before Olav, I never had some breed cats, and I didn't know the feline world. At the beginning, Olav came at home as a pet. I didn't want to participate to shows with him and didn't all about these cats shows. But one day, the breeder of Olav told me about a show near my town and I did it. I really enjoyed that !!!


And then, after 2 years showing Olav (who sometimes did cats shows again !!), I discovered the Siberian cats on Internet. At this time, no Siberian cats were in France...
I was looking for big cats like Maine coon because I like big cats. I didn't want to breed Norwegian forest cats because when I get Olav, he was big but an ancient type and the Norwegian forest cats wasn't in my heart at this moment. Again, at this moment, the shape and the look wasn't like my Olav... However, the breed wasn't really up to date and now we can find really nice Norwegian forest cats with good shape and a real true Norwegian head.


That's why, at some point, on the net I found something about the Siberian cat.I really liked the look of it, I was able to find big cats (especially for the males). I really enjoy too the different colors we can find in this breed. See the page : http://www.chatsiberien.net/index_couleurs.htm.

My breeding started because some judges told me I have some very nice cats and i t would be nice to breed them. To breed some nice cats to get some good Siberian cats with a wonderful temper. I think if judges didn't tell me to breed, I will not do it ! To breed, we need time, money and so much. But breeding is not my job, I am an Elementary teacher, so breeding cats is just a hobby.

Dourkhann d'Artannes

Doh Kao d'Artannes

In our cattery we just breed one breed : only Siberian cats. We have some classic Siberian cats and some Siberian cats Neva Masquerade (colorpoint). I like to find several colors in the same litter !





I chose the Siberian cat because his temper is like a dog ! All advantages of the dogs without convenient ! We don't need to do a walk with the cat for example.

This breed is natural from farm cats, heavy, almost wild . We can see the Siberia in their eyes !


All the colors the Siberian cat can have too. I like the Ragdolls, the Birma, the Maine coon, the Norwegian forest cat and the Siberian cat can have all these colors from these breeds.
I also like that they are heavy, big cats with a lot of fur like a Teddy bear !


This cat is easy to take care too, not a hard cat. And, I knew it later, this cat can satisfy people who are allergic to cats (and only to cats !!) because he has less FELD1 than other cats. Well, if you look all that, the Siberian cats has a lot of advantages !

My first Siberian cat is Faina. She is born on march 2000.


She's born in Germany but her parents are from Russia both them. Small kitty seal smoke point, the first one in this color worldwide. First Siberian Neva Masquerade cat to enter in France too and it was hard in cats shows because judges didn't see her before and this breed before. When I got her, all Siberian cats known were Brown tabby but not colorpoint. A lot of judges told me at this time, "no, I'm not judging the birma... ". Even if Faina has no white on her ...But, shed id well at shows. Now she's Grand European champion LOOF, Supreme Champion in TICA and World Champion in WCF. She has nothing to proove now ! Now she's 9 years old (we are in 2009...) and she feels ok.


Then, arrived my first male : Irinam in 2001. Wonderful male cream self and it was him the real start of the cattery of Artannes.


Faina, Irinam and Léka who arrived in 2002, are all foundation cats, only 2 generations know, that's all.


It's very interesting to work . These cats are the base of the breed. Those cats are the base of my breeding and now I have the second generation under my affix. Now, I have 9 Siberian cats and I kept all them (retired cats stay at home). I'm proud to live with them every day.

The cat I prefer is Irinam. Cream male (hard color in Siberian cat) born on 2001. He's from a father born in Moscow and a mother born in Saint Petersburg. Little head of a lion who grew very well . He needed to get 5 years to be mature. He's intelligent and he's very cool !! Foundation cat with only 2 generations known.
The judges he saw loved him and it was the same with people who have the chance to meet him.

About breeding, my way is to protect the breed, doing the best mating and keeping the way of the standard to keep in mind these big cats in the Siberian forests with a long coat. Keeping this wonderful temper they have. Respecting as well their life, their need. Of course, protecting this breed against illness or genetic troubles they don't have at the moment. Then, growing their genetic pool to have a lot of different bloodlines to breed better. Each breeder has his way, mine it's what I wrote.
That's why I also founded in 2005 the breed club Club Félin du Sibérien, club affiliated to the LOOF since 2006.


I did a lot of cats shows. That the first thing that I enjoy before breeding.

Breeding stress me a lot. Always afraid when my females give life that a problem arrive. And it's the same feeling at each birth !! But I have a wonderful vet !!
I have participated to cats shows for 10 years and I really like it ! I travelled a lot, did cats shows every where in several cats associations. Most of my cats did LOOF, FiFe, WCF and TICA championship !
I prefer the TICA shows. I find some very nice cats in that shows and the quality is higher than in others shows. I think it ! The competition is hardest.


Moreover, I like to go abroad. I met a lot of people, interesting way to talk and discover the feline world !


Doing cats shows take a lot of time, but I can have a family life and then going to cats shows during the week end. I enjoy that !
Moreover, to present our kittens, so our "work" of selection to judges is nice and we can see if our work is on the good way or not. To present Siberian cats to shows promote this breed too. So people who don't know this breed can discover it at shows. To talk with the visitors, with the breeders or the judges is always interesting.

About cats shows Results : I have 3 cats who have good titles :

• Faina born on 2000 is Grand European champion LOOF, World Champion in WCF and Supreme champion in TICA.
• Irinam born on 2001, has the same titles as Faina but he's also Grand International Champion in FiFe. He started a FiFe championship as his son Uvarok. We hope to select them to the FiFe World show.
• Léka is Grand European Champion LOOF, Champion in TICA and World Champion in WCF.

We have some very nice kittens who are awarded in shows too.
Didie D'Artannes for example is born in 2008 already got 5 Best of Best , one Best suprême in only 4 cats shows !! It's the first time that one of my kittens had a lot of awards. It's a great pleasure to get a such cat ! (2nd generation cat under the Artannes'affix !!).

To finish, I sincerely hope that this small presentation will allow you to know us better. Uninterrupted adventure, I hope for a long time, always in mind to protect, to promote the breed, but also to go in weekends and to do cats shows with friends, to continue being well while handling carefully the cats !
A l twinkle at all kitties of the Artannes'cattery which became nice tomcats and nice pussycats!! We are of course always happy to receive news and to know how they grow and what they become!
Special dedication to Irinam which marked the breed in France.


With Love,

Cécile



You can find our cats in different magazines and books. Here are some books cover : (not exhaustive list).