Elfentanz Marit - 67 20 Brown Tabby - 16 June 1994

Elfentanz Marit is a brown mackerel tabby - 67 20. Marit was the very first Forest Cat that we bought.

Marit came to us on the 1st of October 1994, a tiny timid creature. She spent her first few weeks hissing at us and running away, she was impossible to handle. She had me in tears as I loved cats and was used to them liking me. I could not understand this cat at all. A number of weeks later after much time, persistance and patience she finally came and sat with me - I had made a breakthrough. From this point on Marit was MY cat - she was my shadow. As both David and I went to work, we decided that Marit needed a companion. We spoke to a number of other breeders but couldn't find another kitten that was ready. We made contact with Marit's breeder again and were eventually told that we could have Elfentanz Sonja, who was a much more outgoing cat. So a few weeks later (12 November) we repeated our previous trip and brought home Sonja, Marit's litter sister. Marit and Sonja's breeder suggested that although we had bought them both as pets we might like to have a go at breeding as there were no breeders in our part of the world. At the time we lived in a house that I didn't consider was suitable for breeding in, but the house was up for sale and we had seen another house that we were hoping to buy. (In hindsight I realise that our house was in fact perfectly suitable, but I wanted much more for my babies and obviously wasn't ready to breed `just at that point in time). We actually moved in late December to a large detached property with large gardens and I decided that I could now think about giving breeding a go.

Marit had her first litter in December 1995, by Hakon Rein Felis Jubatus, a Danish import who is an odd eyed white and at the time lived in Devon with Eileen and Brian Hancock (Kyrrekatt Cattery). (There were no local stud cat owners) Marit and Hakon produced four kittens. Three of the litter were girls; two were white and one was brown mackerel tabby, and the one and only boy was a brown classic tabby.

The litter was:

1 * Klatringkatt Megan Rowena (aka Tullami, Tully) - 67 14c. Her first name is Celtic in origin and means "the strong", her second name is Anglo Saxon in origin and means "friend with white hair".

Champion * Klatringkatt Megan Rowena is the only Klatringkatt who has ever been used for breeding (although she was originally sold to her first owners as a pet/show cat). Proving that age does not matter Tully became a Champion in May 2003 - aged 7 and a half.

2 * Klatringkatt Matilda - 67 14c. Her name is Teutonic in origin and means "heroine/brave little warrior".

3 * Klatringkatt Haldane - 67 20. His name is also Anglo Saxon in origin and means "half dane"

4 * Klatringkatt Imogene - 67 20. Her name is Latin in origin and means "image of her mother".

Marit and Hakon produced another litter that were born on 30th October 1996. There were just two large kittens, both white, one girl and one boy.

The litter was:

1 * Klatringkatt Solveig - 67 14c. Her name is Norwegian in Origin, I am told that it means "Sun power" or "Heat of the sun".

2 * Klatringkatt Merlin - 67 14a. The meaning of his name was not relevant, as David and I could not agree on a name for him, so I made a decision on my own of what I felt suited him (and he has indeed turned out to be a magical cat in more ways than one!).

* Klatringkatt Solveig and * Klatringkatt Merlin made their show debut at the Norwegian Forest Cat Club Show on the 8th of February 1997. They were also the youngest entries.

Marit had a change of suitor in 1997 - Champion N* Zorbas Bastian. Bas lives in Southampton with Kate and Doug Campbell (Maelstrom Cattery). In late 1997 Marit gave birth to:

* Klatringkatt Caradoc - 67 31t. His name is Celtic in origin and means "beloved".

In June 1998 (just AFTER I had returned to work after taking maternity leave) Marit visited another imported gentleman (one of us must have a thing about foreigners) - Champion Othello Fracci av Hulder, a brown tabby just like her. Othello lives with Carole Smith (NORDLYS Cattery) near to Scarborough. At the end of August Marit gave birth to 2 kittens, 1 girl and 1 boy, both brown tabby.

* Klatringkatt Tarka WotWot - 67 20 - Female - Tarka's name was made up from some personal family memories. Tarka lives locally.

* Klatringkatt Thorbjorn - 67 20 - Male - Means Thor's bear, because he reminded me of a brown bear. Thor (aka Harold on the Photos page) lives with Charles and has had a successful show career.

Marit was mated in early 1999 to a cat called Skogens Gudrun Blasolv (a blue silver tabby). Goody also lives in Southampton with Kate and Doug Campbell (Maelstrom Cattery). On Friday May 21st 1999, Marit had 2 kittens. Unfortunately we lost one of the kittens at 2 weeks of age. The other one - a male blue silver tabby grew in leaps and bounds. * Klatringkatt Harbard now lives in County Durham.

As Marit had to have a 'C' section to get the second kitten out in her 1999 litter I was reluctant to risk Marit again I had her spayed in early 2000.

Marit who will be 11 later this year still continues to give us lots of pleasure. We are very proud of her and all her offspring whereever they may be and who ever they be with. After all they are first and foremost still Klatringkatt's.

Visit Marit's photo Gallery for photographs of her and her kittens.

* All registered names on this site that include the prefix Klatringkatt are the copyright of Mrs Vanda Clunas.