Past Queens

To cinnamon Elaine (known at home as “Gapa,” roughly “Silly Goose”), we were bound by a very special connection. I was the first person to hold her after she was born, and the last to stroke her as she drifted to sleep before her final injection. Ten wonderful years together.

She was the daughter of Brave Brownie, the only cat in our cattery’s history to earn the prestigious National Winner title (awarded annually to the 15 most successful show cats), and Full Faith, a stud who at the time lived in a friendly cattery near Berlin, the same cattery where our very first cat, Usza, had come from. When this pairing of two tabby cats produced a solid-coloured kitten in my favourite colour, there was only one possible decision: she was staying with us.

Elaine became a FIFe International Champion, although a quick glance at her show record is enough to understand that her title was earned more through frequent travelling to shows than through exceptional show-ring beauty. Oriental cats are judged within their colour category, and the chances of meeting another cinnamon Oriental in the same show class, especially 9 or 10 years ago and anywhere other than a World Show, were close to zero. As a result, almost every show Gapa attended brought another certificate towards her title. Of course, like every cat, she had her own strengths when it came to appearance: an exceptionally even coat colour with very few “ghost markings,” which is far from common in cinnamon cats, an elegant figure (at least for a while!), a good profile, an excellent chin, and above all, those mesmerising green eyes.

At first she was our great breeding hope, and later our greatest breeding puzzle. For the first three years of her life, despite repeated attempts with different males, she simply would not become pregnant, for reasons we never understood. Everything changed when we decided to keep one of our own stud cats. Ginger Giroud became the father of her first litter, the Highness litter, and interestingly, that was his one and only success as a breeding male. After that brief moment of glory, he stopped producing pregnancies altogether, was eventually neutered, and found a wonderful new home in Kraków.

Elaine’s story as a mother could not have been more different. From that point on, she conceived effortlessly. She gave us four litters in total: Highness, Irresistible, Kind Of, and Lucky. She delivered her kittens without complications, raised them with complete devotion, and later, after her own retirement from breeding, played a major role in helping to raise the eight kittens born to her daughter Koko (Kind Of Khloe).

Her enormous tenderness towards kittens contrasted sharply with her attitude towards other adult cats. She shared a deep bond with her daughter Koko and her granddaughter Muriel. Neutered cats were tolerated without issue. Our black girl Lubcia, however, was considered her personal enemy, and we often had to protect Elaine from confrontations, which was not always easy. Like her grandmother Usza, she had inherited the remarkable talent of opening doors. After both girls were spayed, tensions eased somewhat, but they never became friends.

We are heartbroken that our Gapa could not stay with us longer. Ten years is a respectable age, but far too short for a cat. During a routine examination in November 2025, several mammary tumours were discovered. They turned out to be an aggressive, inoperable cancer. Thanks to carefully managed palliative treatment, she remained in good condition for nearly ten more months, and for that we are deeply grateful both to the veterinarians who cared for her and to our brave little girl, whose strength carried her much further than we ever dared hope.