The first part of this was written for a yearbook article in 1987.
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When we began showing Himalayans in 1972, it was the
accepted practice to breed Himalayan to Himalayan, with an occasional outcross to a Persian for a "quick fix" on type. Our first few years of breeding we did just that.
Every time we went to a show with our "best kitten yet", the other breeders always had better kittens. At this point we decided we were either going to be relatively successful, or we were not going to be breeders. |
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We studied the breeding theories of thoroughbred horses and cattle because both of these animals have successfully been bred for specific characteristics. Janet studied show reports, yearbooks, and observed people at the shows, looking for breeders who had been consistent in their winning and then trying to analyze their breeding programs so we could put them into practice in our own cattery. We concluded that we needed to use some TOP Persians with our Himalayans, and we needed to purchase them (rather than lease or stud service) so that we could use them repeatedly. This was not an easy task because at that time, many Persian breeders were reluctant to sell to Himalayan breeders for fear their fine Persians would be "wasted" on a Himalayan program. |
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We were fortunate to purchase our first Persian, GC, NW K-Bar-O's MacDuffy, a red male who was 17th Best Cat Nationally '76/77, from Kay L. Barrow. We also purchased his full sister and several related females. A short time later, we added GC Wynden's Stevie Wonder, a black male, whose lines had proven to be compatible with those of MacDuffy. We did many hybrid breedings with MacDuffy, and most of the offspring weren't outstanding in type, but we kept them for pedigree. These kittens formed the base for our Himalayan breeding program and still appear in pedigrees of the Himalayans we show today. |
| Our Himalayan lines were based on Nevah Tep and Ricadoro. Then we added CH Phoenician Sinbad of Fortaine, a CEW male, and several beautiful related females, because their lines were compatible with our Himmies. Sinbad was a pre-protent male for type and can be found in the foundation pedigrees of Fontaine, AnnGee, Windborne, and Can-Do cats. While we acquired Sinbad's line for use with the Ricadoro, we found his greatest value to be when crossed with the MacDuffy line. People always would ask why we used whites with our Himalayans. We chose the line because of pedigree, not color. We love the whites, and having them has forced us to become immaculate groomers, but we feel there is no secret to success in using whites with Himalayans. | 
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While we were convinced that heavy crosses to Persians was the key to developing Himalayans with Persian type, we found ourselves sometimes doing breedings that would give more pointed kittens, rather than what we felt was most advantageous for our breeding program. The reason was that we wanted to have something to show, and color-point carriers were not showable at that time. The acceptance of the color-point carriers to show status made us feel free about doing even more intense hybrid breeding thereby allowing for less fall-off in type on the pointed offspring. We are grateful to Lileen Dunn for allowing us to use GC Mystichill Miracle, DM and produced the most exciting type on his offspring. |
| We very seldom do pointed X pointed breedings and consequently get very few pointed kittens, relative to the percentage of pointed kittens produced by other pointed Persian catteries. Our quality is constantly improving. The ultimate goal of our breeding program is consistency in improvement of complete type, of refinement and sweet expression in our cats. We feel we can achieve these goals through commitment and constant analysis of our breeding program with emphasis on long term success rather than short term glory. | 
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Cacao today...
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Cacao has gone through a lot of changes since the above portion was written. Mike and Janet divorced in 1992, leaving Cacao to Janet and Carissa. In 1997, PKD became a major issue with Persians, and Cacao was one of the first catteries to scan every breeding animal for PKD. Our percentages were high, leaving our pointed Persian program severely limited. We were very fortunate that several of our breeder friends refused to let us go out of cats, and we added to our decimated ranks beautiful "pure" Persians from Caliente and Dalu Catteries. |
| We also received pointed Persians going back to our old pointed Persian lines from Kisan Cattery. The "pure" Persian lines we have are truly excellent, as demonstrated by the multiple Grands we have had from them, the most influential of which is GC Dalu Harbor Lights of Cacao, DM, who became a DM 3.5 years after his first grand. These Persians we incorporated with our pointeds, and we have been delighted with the results. | 
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We have been very pleased to have 4 pointed Grand Champions for the 2003-2004 season (GC Cacao Seabiscuit, GC Cacao Rachmaninoff of Tanglebox, GC Cacao Sophie of Mobelar, GC Cacao Ruffles) as well as 1 color-point carrier, GC Cacao Discreet. These gorgeous pointed cats all have one thing in common - one of their parents is a CPC! We are continuing with our intense outcrossing to "pure" Persian lines, now adding the fabulous lines of Wishstar and Brannaway. |
| We still have an active "pure" Persian program, which continues to consistently produce Grand Champions. Recent Grands from our Persian program are GC, RW Cacao Pachelbel Cannon, GC, RW Cacao Daydream, GC, RW Kittiary Fiesta of Cacao, GP Cacao Dance All Night of Kittiary, and GC Cacao Manheim Steamroller of Pristinekatz.
In Cacao's future there is an old dream - chocolate and lilac Persians - created from our best Persian lines. Look for exciting kittens from this new line - but old dream - in the next few years! |
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