The upstairs outdoor enclosure with pet door to the living room. Scratching posts and cats in their main living area - living room/dining/kitchen....

Shadowheart was a hobby cattery, owned by Pat and Bill Cotter along with help from our daughters. There is debate on whether to be a “hobby” or a “professional” cattery - to us it is fun and a hobby, we didn’t do it to make money and we didn’t spend full time. Our cats are also pets. I have chosen “hobby” but it often feels like a profession too!

We are registered in TICA and sometimes show our cats. Running a cattery like ours is an expensive and time-consuming hobby. We do not make a profit on kitten sales. The prices we charge are to cover veterinary expenses, genetic and health testing, premium foods and supplies and educational expenses. We attend seminars and go to shows to keep current with standards for the breed both in the US and in Russia. We attend genetics and healthy breeding seminars to help us design a better breeding program. We provide our new owners with food and litter to begin, a book on cats any help and support needed. We recently attended a seminar given by a Swedish breeder on breeding for genetic health in Boston and an international Siberian Special show in Lahti Finland in order to meet breeders and learn more about the origins and standards for this breed. We were in Florida (in August - not a vacation) for a conference on feline health and a genetics and breeding seminar in Oct 2007 at Tufts University.

Our goals are to first to enjoy sharing our home with our Siberian cats, a cats who are healthy, have a good personality that have the added benefit of being less allergenic to those allergic to cats. My husband and I now have an almost empty nest. Our cats and kittens are in the house as pets, sleep in our bed. I run a business from my home so they are nearby all the time and gets lots of socialization. However, they also have plenty of room and places to go off and sleep by themselves or play.  See below and in Photo gallery for pictures of the cats and kittens at home.

Our preference is for brown tabbies and we like the classic markings. This means rounded circles of color on their sides - striped pattern is mackerel markings.

Our Siberian cats have proven to be either non-allergenic or hypo (low) allergenic to my very allergic daughter. The adults have also been tested and shown to have lower amounts of Fel D1 than normal cats. This does vary by line and the best thing for those who are normally allergic to cats to do is come here and spend time with cats and kittens from the breeder where you will be buying to see how you do with them. If you are only allergic to cats, you have a great chance of being able to own a Siberian, if you are allergic to all animals, then less chance.  I am able and willing to make my home available for that if you are seriously interested in buying a Siberian from us.

Read about what to expect from us as breeders and other contents of our contract.

Babies are born in our walk-in closet/bathroom - and spend the first two weeks there. Then they are out in a cage, protecting them and letting mom in and out an upper opening once babies can crawl. Later then have a large playpen area in the living room and finally by about 6 weeks, they have the whole house.

Below are some recommendations for products we use - it links to those products on Amazon.com but you can find them many places. If you are buying a kitten from us, we use these products (except the allergy relief product which we have not needed).  I will add more things later.... I put them here because I often get asked for recommendations and if you get a kitten, having familiar food, litter and other items will help at first.

Temp got up to 20 and all five girls went out to the enclosure!