Donna - I bentrovati

Donna came to live with us in the fall of 1999. She was brought from a cattery in Switzerland to the Netherlands. Actually, we had not planned on another kitten, but the breeder -who had given us Zorro- knew we were looking for a tabby. So when she saw this beautiful kitten on holiday, she had to take it with her. When she informed us that there was a tabby waiting for us at her home, we could hardly believe it. Did we want it? Boy, did we!

We came and picked it up and called her: Donna. Since it means "woman" in Italian, we thought that name very appropriate.

Little kitten Donna sleeping

Donna her first day.

Donna soon proved to be a "prima donna" with a very distinct will of her own. Her nickname came to be "princess" because she is very picky about the things she eats and she never "asks": She "demands".

Surprisingly, she is also the only cat in our household who is actually fond of fish. During her pregnancy we regularly opened a can of tuna for her, which- being the princess she is-she would eat half, leaving the other half for the garbage bin.

She loves to be carried around and Ronald is her "chauffeur". When she is weary of using her own four legs, she gently puts a paw on Ronald's arm and mews softly. This is the signal she wants to be carried around.

She has now grown into a beautiful adult cat.
So beautiful in fact that we decided to try if we could mate her with another Thai cat. Luckily, our Thai-breeder agreed to put Donna together with her Thai tomcat Aladdin, a husky seal point champion. The two cats "met" in March 2001 and although it wasn't love on first sight, it was a successful coupling.

In 2003 Donna became a mother once again. Unfortunatley the delivery did not go as smoothly as the previous times. The kittens were in breech presentation and the first kitten did not survive. Thanks to intervention of the vet the other two kits, a seal point and a tabby, were born safe and sound.

At first we thought the seal point was a female and we really wanted to keep her. During her first inoculation the vet popped our bubble: "Nice cat, but she's a girl with balls". In other words, a male after all. O well, Donna is obviously good in making boys. We just hoped her next litter would contain a girl. At least she did not have to travel anymore to visit her beloved Carino, since he lives with us now.

With her first litter 3 males came into being, two tabbies and a seal point. Real cuties, that grew up to be beautiful cheeky tomcats. In 2002 we had Donna meet with Carino, a stupendous chocolate point male. Carino was a true Casanova who knew how to win Donna's heart. The result: four kittens in March of that same year. Again three males, but this time with the addition of one female. The tabby-gene ruled victoriously, because all kittens were tabbies. This litter was as exemplary as the previous one and we could clearly see that Donna had gained experience from her first litter.

April 27 2004 Donna had a litter consisting of two males and a female. We already had a lovely seal point lady, but now it would be nice to have a tabby of our own as well. One of the three kittens turned out to be a tabby. Hurrah!
And that is how we added Elvis to our household....

August 8 2003 our dream came true: Donna gave birth to three kittens and the vet assured us that they were three healthy daughters. At last, a female to keep for ourselves! Thank you Donna.... The female in question was Niki, as can be seen further along our site.

Donna gives you little "catkisses"; she will carefully nibble your nose. Sometimes she gets a bit overenthusiastic and the nibbling will end in a big bite. Painful. To Donna this is a sign of true love. When she has bitten you she will give you a look of total adoration and purr delightedly. O well, who will complain about such a little thing as a bite then....