A presentation of me and my cattery.

I was born in 1951, and grew up with Siamese and Siamese breeding. My first cat was a sealpoint Siamese , called Bambi, she was born three months before me and she reached the high age of eighteen and a half year.

 Not only do I owe my good family respect and gratefulness for the wonderful childhood they gave me, but certainly also Bambi. She showed me through her attitude the right way to happiness; I shall keep that in my heart for the rest of my life. It is very important for a child to grow up in a
loving family, which also includes a loving pet.

Shortly after Bambi died, I luckily met my husband to be, Mr Flemming Kristensen, born in 1947.. We got married in 1973, and I was so pleased with my life together with him. We did live with our Sacred Birmans in a small residential development house of 140 square metres, in the harbour-
city of Esbjerg, on the western coast of Jylland. We joined the Cat Club JYRAK in 1972 and we have since then been full FIFe-members.

After 35 happy years together with my dear husband, Flemming sadly passed away the 9^th of August 2004. He had a non-threatable cancertumor in his brain

Flemming was very positive during the whole period of his illness and he really tried to fight the cancer.It was the toughest time we ever have had together, but also a tim where we talked about all our happy moments. We had many beautiful moments together. Almost all our friends came visiting us both helping out talking and taking loving care of both of us. They helped carrying us through this sad period.

Flemming was afraid for my future, but he had so good faith in our friends, that they also would help me after his death and again he proved to be true.

Because I have learned to live alone, as I promised him, with the help, care and love of our friends I am so grateful for all the good life I have had with Flemming. I have accepted to live my life on my own in the spirit of Flemming and with the help and care from my good friends.

My husband did work as a chief accountant for the largest transport (haulage) companies in Denmark, called DFDS Roland Munch. It is a subsidiary company of DFDS. Flemming was employed there since January 1st 1979 and worked there for more than 25 years..

Earlier, in a period of 10 years, I worked as a full-time foster mother for children with behaviour problems and youth-criminals, from the age of 15 to 30. And at the same time I worked as a museum-attendant. I enjoyed both jobs, and still keep in contact. Sadly I had to stop due to illness, but I could not complain, because my husband did take such good care of me!

Our pre-fix is Sofie's, and our last Siamese-litter was born in 1977. The last baby born was called
Sofie's Bambi, as a tribute to my first Bambi.

In 1976 we met Mr and Mrs Ernst and Willy Catshof from the Netherlands. They were breeding under the pre-fix Aryavartha's. We saw their Sacred Birmans and immediately ordered a sealpoint female,to bring new blood into the few Danish Sacred Birman lines.

At Christmas 1980 we went down to Holland to pick up our female, Aditi, but we saw and fell in love with her brother Ganesha as well, and brought two Sacred Birmans back home with us.

Both Aditi and Ganesha had excellent markings. Aditi later became a Champion and Ganesha became an International Champion. It is very interesting to see how certain things are inherited from just Aditi that is what makes breeding so fascinating.

We have many happy cat-memories together, but mostly they are connected to our old cats.
Such as when our very first home-bred Sacred Birman, Sofie's Leonora Christine, was born January 25th 1982. We felt we had waited for so long to receive our first two Birmans, that the happiness for her birth was extra grand. Leonora literally swam into her life, and her proud
mother Aditi just about had time to clean her little mouth before the very lively little Leonora started suckling the warm milk from her mother. That same year we bought two more cats from the same cattery, Aryavartha's Mara, SBI n,  female, and Aryavartha's Candi, SBI a, male. They were from the same litter and born January 21st 1982. In this period our niece, Dorte Sneum, lived with us, and she and Candi fell in love with each other. So when Dorte left home to start her adult life, Candi had to leave us too, even if we did not want him to. But Candi showed me that when a little Sacred Birman heart has choosen, there is no way you can ignore it. Candi simply refused to eat until he was reunited with his chosen mother, Dorte!  We have adopted our niece Dorte, so she is, as she always has been, our girl.
Our Dorte today has her own breeding together with her husband, Lars Bolding, under the pre-fix Sneum.

Dorte did give birth to Kristine the 4-1-1998. Unluckely Kristine has the Di George Syndrom. But Flemming and I have been so blessed by being grandparents for Kristine.

Both my husband and I have been very active in the catfancy for a period of more than ten years,  and we do now consider ourselves as retired. It means, that we do not stand in the way of new breeders and board members, but if they have any problems, they are always welcome to contact
me. I know all the functions, and I am able to jump in with a short notice, if needed. I do it everywhere in the catfancy, not only in Denmark!

In my time as president for a catfancy, I have had several good experiences. One of them was  when Solvenia was recognized at the FIFé General Assembly in Como, 1988, due to my  recommendation. The former Yugoslavia was earlier put forward, but did not manage. So  Flemming and I decided to help them. In 1987 we drove all the way down there, and helped our friends host a proper cat show. The year after the show we could prove at the General Assembly, that they were able and willing to follow FIFé rules. Slovenia was carried forward unanimously. Oh! I was so proud! This was for sure positive cat-work!

Another happy event, was when Solkatten (a cat-club) in the far north of Sweden, appointed  me to be their first honorary member. I am very grateful for the title, they made me so happy and proud!

Back to our cats………..Mara, proudly owned by my dear Flemming, and Leonora grew up as sisters. You can read more about them there.

My saddest memories when it comes to our cats are when an old cat dies, or when a young cat dies without knowing why or from what. But I have learned through my life, that if I do not dare to love, I have nothing to loose, and then life will be totally empty and without happiness.
We all need to be loved and respected, but we certainly also need to love someone ourselves.

About showing: It has brought us the most pleasure to show our old cats. For us it is important to show that it is not only a matter of getting the certificate, but also to show an old well  presented cat with love. We have always been very proud of our old cats, and you should
have seen Mara and Flemming together at shows. When they together did Best in Show, they were for sure both winning

As a judge I also think it is very important to show and be on the other side of the table, so that when I am judging I always remember how important it is for the owners that I treat the cats with understanding, fairness and kindness. We have been winning a lot through the years,  but we have also tried the opposite. Our Aditi one weekend was Best In Show, and then two weekends later she was Very Good 4. It was difficult, but a very healthy experience. And when I think back on the face of the happy owner of the cat that got the certificate - it was in fact worth it!

My husband and I have never been big breeders, but have always been breeding according to a selective breeding plan. And my wish is to be able to have a positive influence on our Sacred Birman, so they stay big, healthy and happy. That opportunity I get as a judge. My motto is: A big, healthy and happy cat, is a beautiful cat.

 I started to collect pedigrees of the Sacred Birman when we start breeding the Sacred Birman. The last ten years I want to collect `every` pedigree for the reason that I decided to start writing a book about the history, the present and also the future of our Sacred Birman all over the world.

Take a look at the archive page, and tell about your SBI’s and send your pedigrees to me!

 I passed my longhair examination in Fevik, Norway in 1985, my semi longhair examination in Linz, Austria in 1989, my Siamese/Oriental examination in Billund, Denmark in 1994, and in 1999 I passed my shorthair examination in Copenhagen and became an all-round FIFé judge. I am in fact the very first lady in Denmark to become an All-round, there is only one more of us in Denmark, and he passed his exam 30 years ago.
I do enjoy being a judge, when I start handling the cats; it is like they give me a vitamin-injection. They give me so much happiness and warm feelings. I judge everywhere in Europe and Russia, and in the last year I have been to Malaysia twice.

When I am out judging I am so lucky to have Hannah-Louise Sonderby Madsen, a young student, who is kindly staying in my home and taking care of my cats. Both Jenny, Georgia and I are very grateful for all her love and care.

Take good care of Yourself and Your lovely cats!

Best regards, Hanne-Sofie Sneum