Balinan Cattery

About Us

Balinan Cattery is proudly Canadian, located in Kitchener, in the heart of southern Ontario - an hour from Toronto so very convenient for shipping. Balinan Cattery was registered in March 1985 (cattery # 66010) with the Cat Fanciers Association and is owned and operated by Nancy Grandison - my cats are "family", a hobby not a business and live with me not in a separate cattery facility.

I am active in various aspects of the cat fancy; Secretary of the Golden Triangle Cat Fanciers, President of the Toronto Cat Fanciers and Secretary/Treasurer of the Seneca Cat Fanciers. Two are active Clubs holding a CFA Allbreed Cat Show every year. As a show Exhibitor I "work" at most shows I attend as a licenced CFA Clerk and Master Clerk. And I am a member of both the Javanese and Oriental Breed Councils.

Getting to know us...

I always teased my parents that I was a deprived child and that's why I am such an animal nut now! My mother had bad allergies so we couldn't have pets and turtles and fish just don't fill that void. So I was the animal sitter, dog walker (as well as child sitter) for my neighbourhood and it didn't take long once I left the "nest" before I had my first kitten. After convincing my former husband of the value of a cat, he was soon hooked too and suggested we get a second one. Ultimately, Misty, a seal point Siamese was followed by a Sable Burmese named Poncho - both purebred, registered cats. These two were really good sports when at the ages of 10 and 9 they were presented with a new extended family and then the unthinkable, babies!! It was a shock at first but it didn't take them long before they gave in & adopted a "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em attitude.

I had always thought that I would breed Siamese but was tempted by longer haired cats yet not with the Persian body structure. That made the Birmans the likely candidate until I attended my first cat show Easter weekend in 1984 and saw a Balinese. It was love at first sight, the ever elegant Siamese body with that fabulous silky coat and gorgeous plumed tail. By September I had my first breeding cats, in November I attended my first CFA cat show and in early 1985 joined the Golden Triangle Cat Fanciers and was definately hooked! Balinan cattery was registered in March of 1985.

I went along happily showing my Balinese and then a couple years later saw my first Javanese and fell in love with the lynx points. In early 1988 I took delivery of Lissy (GC Tassam's Lady Alyssa Of Balinan) - I knew she was special when the airport official who handed me the carrier said she had been purring and I went along happily showing my Balinese and then a couple years later saw my first Javanese and fell in love with the lynx points. In early 1988 I took delivery of Lissy (GC Tassam's Lady Alyssa Of Balinan) - I knew she was special when the airport official who handed me the carrier said she had been purring andk needing the entire time she'd been in their cargo office! She loved the shows, as indicated by the relaxed pose in the showcage in this photo. She went on to be my first CFA Grand Champion and a CFA National Breed Winner!! My preference for the unusual prompted me to start working with red and tortie points and before long I was breeding strictly Javanese.

Then in February 1992 at a local cat show I saw a solid black Turkish Angora and remarked to a friend that a Javanese would sure be gorgeous in a solid colour like that. At that point I learned about the existance of the Oriental Longhairs which were still not yet accepted for full show status. That didn't matter to me, I looked forward to the challenge of working with a new breed & later that year I purchased my first OLH, Emma (Talisyn's Emerald Eyes Of Balinan), a blue female.

I showed my provisional Oriental LH kittens to help with the advancement of the breed to full status and was thrilled when the Oriental SH breeders voted in favour of accepting the LH's as a second division of the Oriental breed rather than us being advanced as a totally separate breed. This made it possible for those of us working with the LH's to outcross to SH's and still be able to show those "variant' kittens for show wins/points. A variant is merely a physically shorthaired cat who carries the LH gene. Valuable in a breeding program to allow us to outcross to SH's and not become too inbred as the LH gene pool was very small initially.

I was thrilled when my beloved Steely Dan became the second OLH cat to become a Grand Champion and then the very first OLH to achieve a CFA Regional Win (see photo & stats on the Milestones page). He's neutered now and definately the alpha cat in my household - loves to swat another cat occassionally just to let them know he's still the "king" and they'd better never forget it! Over the years I have been very fortunate to grand many OLH cats and achieve a few more milestones along the way.

My Javanese are still as much a joy to me now as my OLH's. I am working very closely with Maureen Davies (Balimoor Cattery, Edmonton Alberta) and we exchange cats and breedings regularly. Regretfully she's not close by so we don't get to see each other in person too often. Recently I helped a dear friend, Scott Strickland (Zinzani Cattery, Seneca Falls NY) achieve a coveted award. His Javanese Male, GC/BW/NW Zinzani St John's Revelation became the first Javanese male in CFA to achieve Distinguished Merit status. In CFA DM status is awarded when a male sires 15 grand offspring and a female breeds 5 grand offspring. St John is the father of my Javanese stud male, Imzadi. And has also been instrumental in my success with the OLH's as he's Steely Dan's grandfather.

I've also managed to work my cats into the households of 2 of my 3 sisters! The third one prefers dogs, oh well I can't blame her as I'd have a dog myself if I wasn't away at cat shows so much. Nala (Balinan's My Cherie Amour, a seal lynx point Javanese) and her son Simba (also a seal lynx point Javanese) are very popular with my niece Nicci - at least when Simba isn't stealing muffins off the kitchen counter. Simba was Nicci's pick kitten after his litter was born there when she was 6 years old. Turbo (Balinan's Turbo Charged Smoke, an ebony smoke OLH) and Puff (Balinan's Puff Of Smoke, a blue eyed white OLH) are a integral part of the household, constantly into the beanie babies of my niece Julia & nephew Casey.

(Left: Nicci w/ Nala and Simba)

My kittens are normally ready for sale at approximately 16 weeks of age and can be viewed in "purrson" after they've had their first vaccination. I'm close to Toronto airport so shipping is easy & at a very reasonable cost when Air Canada has flights to the destination airport. Otherwise I can fly kittens from Buffalo, normally via Delta Airlines. See the Available section for a copy of my sale contract.

Thank you for your interest and feel free to email or call with any questions.