I was in Melbourne, Australia, 23 years old and a student at the Victorian College of the Arts School of Dance. I was supporting myself by playing piano for ballet classes.
David Graham was the regular pianist at one of the places I worked, the National Theatre in
St Kilda. He invited me for coffee one day. I remember smelling that tell-tale smell as we walked in the front door… and then I saw them - skinny, strange looking, long-legged creatures. These were not like any Siamese cats I had ever seen and, at first, they didn't appeal to me at all. However, David had the somewhat unusual gift of being able to make people see beauty in things they couldn't see before.
Sometime later, David was helping me look for a female kitten for breeding. We found her in the outback.......well Horsham in country Victoria seemed like the outback to me!
Her name was Myrtle (Yarriamba Hinemoa). She was the last kitten in the litter and a little black ball of energy. The breeder Kay Haby had doubts about her suitability as a breeding cat, but reluctantly agreed to let me have her.
In 1990 I decided that dancing was not where it was at, not for me. I went back to Law School in Auckland. I had two queens by that stage and had had a couple of litters in Melbourne under the Edeltier prefix.
We decided to leave the girls in Melbourne for a few months until we had settled back into NZ. Myrtle had a couple of kittens while she was away to David's boy Heathcliff Jones. One of them was Edeltier Black Jack, a beautiful black Oriental (later CCCA GOLD GD CH).
The girls eventually flew over to NZ to join us. But when they got back, they never bred again and were spayed.
A few years passed when I had no cats. But I couldn't resist getting another one. This time it was a beautiful havana neuter boy that was bred by Sandra Perry, a senior all breeds judge with the New Zealand Cat Fancy Inc. It wasn't long before I decided I wanted to get back into breeding and it was blue point Siamese that I wanted to breed. After waiting over a year for a suitable kitten I found a gorgeous wee blue point girl - I lost her on the first night she came home. It was devastating.
I heard through Fiona Taylor that there was a litter of seven blue Orientals, six boys and a girl that had been fostered out. Sue Starrs had reared the girl and one of the boys. The girl Khemosabi Lapislazuli ("Zuli") became my second foundation queen. My partner named the boy Rameses ("Ram"). Poor old Ram seemed to have a death wish. The second time he was hit by a car he died. We were devastated.
Siamese & Orientals
© Tim Jeffcott 2008
Edeltier Plantagenet
Zuli was a remarkable cat. In her fist litter to Sayonara Hell For Leather she had nine ebony Orientals and a havana. The pick of the ebonies, Edeltier Azizi went to Fiona Taylor and went on to do very well in the shows and have some beautiful kittens. Zuli continued to have large litters of beautiful kittens until she passed away in 2006.
I currently have a Zuli daughter, Champion Edeltier Heiss in Lila ("Lila"). She is a beautiful lavender girl with the most stunning pea green eyes. Lila did very well in the shows as a kitten and also briefly as an adult before she began having kittens.
I also have a Zuli granddaughter, Double Gr Ch Edeltier Elfin Maiden ("Elfie") from Iluka Legolas of Pernpet.
My third girl Champion Edeltier Irish Eyes, an Elfie daughter (we rather cruelly call her Paris Hilton), is a beautiful chocolate point Siamese from Gold Db Gr Ch Tomelima That's Amore, Noel and Sue Davis' stunning seal point.
And now I also have Gold Db Gr Ch Yarriamba Kularta (Imp. Aus) (we call him Ozzie), Black Jack's Great Great Grandson!! He is a beautiful ebony boy I imported from Kay Haby in Melbourne. He is the happiest cat I have ever had and just loves the girls and the kittens. He is lucky to have a lovely big run with panoramic views of Auckland built by Terry Frost Jones. Ozzie has already sired a number of beautiful kittens including Edeltier Plantagenet who has gone to live with David, my old friend in Australia. After a break from cat breeding for a few years, David has decided to start breeding again under his Heathcliff prefix.
We are very excited about the future for Edeltier cats and hope you enjoy the site.
Bronze Db Gr Ch & Grand Premier Edeltier Azizi
Champion Khemosabi Lapis Lazuli
Gold Db Gr Ch Zarzuela New Moon On Monday (an Azizi granddaughter)
Biography