The name...
The Balinese
The Oriental Longhair
The name...
At the harbour of Singapore, where ships meet from all around the world
stands the lion of the sea, the merlion, as a white, shining statue. He is
an impressive symbol of a lost world, but also of the strong forces that
lies in the wild but tamed animal, the Merlion. Our passion for the ocean is
combined with the beauty of the feline, at the same time it gives
unconditional love it never looses its independence.
The cattery...
Actually, it started in 1988 when we first saw a beautiful, furry and
longhaired balinese boy at a show. He had the most amazing blue eyes and a
gentle temperament. This was before the children arrived (that´s why we
began our litters at C!). When we were a family with three little children
we decided to do a little break in the breeding. Well, it took us about 15
years to get started again, but here we go - again!
S*Merlions cattery is situated in the southeastern part of Sweden, about 200
kms outside Stockholm. Our home town is called Linköping and has about 135
000 habitants. Ulrika is a school teacher and Tomas is an IT consultant and
the children are a bit older now. In the year 2000 we bought the cat who
became the beginning of our breeding a lovely balinese girl, S*Tammeés
Smiling Sunshine.
Today we have our primary goal set for breeding cats with excellent
temperament and in good health. Taking an interest in these lovely breeds
Balinese and Oriental longhair, but unfortunately so rare, requires a great
deal of patience and longterm plans. We show our cats to keep in touch with
the breed standard, to meet other breeders and to promote these wonderful
breeds and our cattery. Our longterm plans are to broaden the genepool,
improving type and breed. To do this we depend on our variants, elegant cats
with the sia/ori look but carrying a longhair gene. This way we can broaden
our lines and try other ways to progress. Our main focus is in black and
chocolate Oriental Longhairs with green eyes and chocolate-, seal-pointed
Balineses. Ulrika´s passion for chocolate is an extra bonus in breeding if
it comes through, you have to have dreams and hopes. Last but not least we
are very much dependent on our good friends who are willing to keep a kitten,
male or female from S*Merlions fertile, for our porpose. We are very
grateful to You ALL!
The kittens in our house are growing up in a home with a lot of love and a
lot of understanding. We want to breed kittens that are very social towards
humans and other cats.We live in a house with plenty of room for the entire
family and raise our kittens as family members (no closed doors). If you are
interested to follow our breeding, or just curious about siamese/oriental
cats, please don´t hesitate to contact us!
Tomas & Ulrika
July, 2009
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The
Balinese
For many things you find the explanation for a particular word in it´s name,
but not when it comes to the Balinese cat. The name doesn´t originate from
Bali but when it moves it is reminiscent of a Balinese dancer (Cat world,
December, 1998). So what does it look like? A good way is to ask the people
if they know what a Siamese looks like: “a beautiful, svelte cat with
coloured ears, mask, paws and tail” (Cat World). And the Balinese? It has
the “same build and type as the Siamese. A medium-sized, long-limbed, long
body with a distinctive wedge-shaped head, large pricked ears and deep blue
eyes with an oriental slant. But in addition the Balinese has a long, fine,
silky flowing coat ending in a tail with a glorious plume” (Cat World).
No matter how it looks like, it comes in various colors like the Siamese, it
will be a true member of your family. It is an independent cat with opinions
of it´s own but dependent on your love and care for survival. The Balinese
doesn´t only talk to you with a loud and demanding voice but also with you.
It wants and needs your attention (in the same way that young children can
be). If you let the Balinese take a place in your home and in your heart, it
will not only be a good companion in life but love you forever…
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Oriental Longhair
Are you looking for someone special? Someone to hold and to care for a long
time? Perhaps a furry little one?
There are four breeds that belong to the same group or category IV in
Sweden: Siamese, Balinese, Oriental Shorthair and Oriental Longhair. Our
main focus is on the Balinese and the Oriental Longhair. The oriental
longhair, also known as the Javanese(FIFE and Sweden), Angora (England) or
Mandarin (The Netherlands) is a beautiful, slender cat. It is the
long-haired equivalent of the short-haired Oriental cat. It comes in as many
colors as the Oriental. The Oriental Longhair appears in the lynx (tabby)
point and tortie point patterns, as well as traditional point colours such
as red and cream. The four breeds share the same elegant type and long body
with slender legs. The head is wedge-shaped with a straight profile and a
firm chin. The eyes are shaped like almond and slanted. On longhair cats the
tail should be long with an magnificent plume at the end. The coat is very
silky and gentle in texture and doesn´t require much care. Usually it´s
enough with the cat´s own care.
The Oriental Longhair is an extraordinary creature, a cat with its own
personality not suitable for everyone. It takes place, literary speaking,
and has needs you must fulfil. But if you fall in love with this wonderful
animal I can guarantee you unconditional love. It is talkative, it is loud
and demanding but between the hours of outbursting energy it sleeps a lot.
The Oriental Longhair will be your true companion through life, someone to
trust when the days are grey and the rain is falling down. It is very
sensitive about your mood and will do its best to cheer you up and get a
smile and a hug from you!
In breeding these cats, both the Balinese and the Oriental Longhair, it is
necessary to cross breeding between a shorthair and a longhair within the
same Oriental breed group (Oriental and Longhair). The reason for this is
that the shorthairs are often better typed and these are bred back to the
longhairs to improve the type. These cats are called Variant cats and look
like shorthair but carry a factor for longhair. The Variants are very
valuable to the Balinese and Oriental Longhair breeders, they get a pedigree
and can be showed as normal shorthairs. The Variants are not allowed in the
shorthair breeding, of course.
There is one important difference between a Balinese and an Oriental
Longhair– you can´t look them in the eyes and lie – the Balinese has deep
blue eyes and the Oriental Longhair has grass green eyes. It´s the true
colors of devotion.
Tomas & Ulrika
Örtenberg
Linköping, Sweden
Contact by phone:
+46 13 131385
or by mail:
tomas@merlions.se
ulrika.ortenberg@merlions.se
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