For more on the Cattery Visit General Information.
Hello there. My name is Terri and I have had a on going love affair with cats my entire life. I truly believe I missed my calling in life and should have been a Veterinarian. Growing up in Washington, Oregon, California, and Colorado I had just about every kind of pet you could think of. Which at various times included, kitties, puppies, parakeets, gold fish, turtles, snakes, frogs, tadpoles, and a pony. Yes, I was somewhat of a tomboy and was not squeamish about playing with frogs or any other slimy creature. Of course growing up in such a large family my folks would never have thought of paying money for a dog or cat. So, we had a lot of outdoor pets. None of which were pedigree animals. I of course felt like each and every cat or dog was my sole responsibility to care for so I spent most of my meaner allowances on food for them. But, when I was about 10 years old my parents sprung for a Shetland pony – Lucky was his name. He was a Pinto and we became inseparable. Lucky was my best friend for many years. We were in parades together and had many riding adventures together. He was always there for me during the good times and the bad times.
As a young adult I had dogs and cats but was busy raising a family and had only a couple Siamese cats and various mutt dogs. In 1998 my oldest son Jason moved out and that left me with only one child living at home, Brandon. Somehow, I found myself with extra time and one day I started buying Persian kittens. I had always wanted a Persian but could never afford one when I was younger. My Persians were a lot of work as I was specializing in the Van’s, a mainly pure white cat. I showed a couple of them and championed them but that was as far as I got. Then in 2000, I bought my first Ragdoll, Keisha and fell in love with these big, floppy, gentle cats. A year later my husband bought me Moody Blues a Seal Lynx Point kitten as a Christmas present and that was the start of Dragon Heart Cattery. I started re-tiring my Persians and really got into my Dolls. I showed Moody Blues with no success. I found it difficult dealing with many Ragdoll breeders as they tend to be a strange group of people. I can not tell you how discourage I was at first. One would think it would be easy to purchase a breeder Ragdoll but NOT SO! I can’t tell you how many times I heard, ” No I don’t sell to Newbe’s” or “No I don’t ship out of state”, or ” No I don’t sell breeders”, the best one was, ” I only sell to established catteries”. On and on the excuses came. But you know, I just kept on looking and eventually got my breeding cats. I found one good person who was willing to work with me and we became friends. Thank You Gaylin for all the years of friendship you have shown me and for all the good advice. Even though you are not breeding cats any longer, I know I can come to you with anything and get honest and good advice. Over the years I kept what I consider to be the nicer kittens for my breeding program.
So, that is how I got started breeding Ragdolls. It’s hard for me to believe that it’s been over 20 years. I guess time flies when you love what your doing and love your pets. I am retired now and want to get back into showing and show my own lines some day. Below are some pictures I would like to share with all of you. I am the tallest one in each picture holding the kitty or puppy.
Thank you for your visit.
Sincerely,
Terri
Me holding Whitie, and my sisters (Darla, Nora, and Lori) and Brother Billy & Me and my brothers and sisters
We are a TICA registered cattery!