About me!
Breeder and exhibitor of British shorthair and longhair cats, based in Ware, Hertfordshire. Aklisbb is named after my late grandmother, Aklis Bibi.
My prefix Aklisbb is registered with The Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF). I abide by the code of ethics set byGCCF.
I am a committee member of the British Shorthair Club, the Northern British Shorthair and Longhair Cat Club and the Breed Advisory Committee for the British longhair. I am also an accredited GCCF Breeder Scheme member and currently a reserve for the GCCF Investigation Committee.
My cats are provided with the best care possible. I feed them a complete, balanced diet consisting of raw food. Please see feeding guide for information.
British shorthair
British Shorthairs have dense, plush coats. They have expressive large round eyes, widely set and can be a variety of colours, depending on the coat colour. Copper or gold colour eyes are found in the selfs, bi-colour and torties and blue eyes are found in the colourpoint series and some self whites. Their heads are round with full, chubby cheeks. They are large, sturdy, and muscular in build; the breed has a broad chest, shoulders and hips with short legs, round paws and a plush but not fluffy tail that ends in a round tip and shall be shorter than the body length.
Temperament wise, the British Shorthairs are independent, yet extremely affectionate cats. They are very alert and enjoy following you around the house. The males, in particular, are extremely people oriented, usually downright mushy! This is an extremely quiet, little talking, no-nonsense, breed of cat. They are easy to groom, as their fur does not tangle and should be combed very lightly. They make ideal pets for less active people as well as the busy households.
British longhair
British longhairs have the same body structure as the British shorthair, except the coat, which is medium length. The coat stands away from the body and is not flat lying or flowing. A full ruff and britches are desired. The coat is medium long with a dense undercoat and has a plush-like texture, which may be slightly different between the various colors. Compare the head of the British longhair with that of the British shorthair, and you will not see any difference, except the coat length. Also the ears and eyes have the same shape, size and placement. The neck is short and thick. The breed is medium to large in size, the body is short (cobby). Shoulders are broad and muscular, the chest is broad and rounded. Legs are short to medium long, strong with large, round paws. Bone structure is very solid.
Historically very little has been written about the British Longhair, they have always been around and appeared in many
shorthair litters. As it was common that British have to be shorthaired, the longhaired kittens were sold as pets for many years. Thus, the breeding history as a separate, distinctive breed is very young.
The GCCF recognised the British longhair as a separate breed from January 2017, instead of them being known as the variant of a British shorthair. The breed is now at championship status and can compete for the awards like all other fully recognised GCCF breeds,
Temperament wise the British longhair are independent, yet very affectionate. They follow
their human companion around the house to make sure that everything is done right. Males are very people oriented. They are very quiet, rather little talking, and very gentle. Everything is done cautiously, they are not seriously in a hurry. They make ideal pets for less active owners as well as for rather busy households.
Grooming wise the British Longhair is an easy going cat, their coat has no tendency to get filthy or knotted. They do not need to be excessively groomed. Their coat should be combed once or twice a week to get rid of old and dead hairs.
British longhairs have the same body structure as the British shorthair, except the coat, which is medium length. The coat stands away from the body and is not flat lying or flowing. A full ruff and britches are desired. The coat is medium long with a dense undercoat and has a plush-like texture, which may be slightly different between the various colors. Compare the head of the British longhair with that of the British shorthair, and you will not see any difference, except the coat length. Also the ears and eyes have the same shape, size and placement. The neck is short and thick. The breed is medium to large in size, the body is short (cobby). Shoulders are broad and muscular, the chest is broad and rounded. Legs are short to medium long, strong with large, round paws. Bone structure is very solid.
Historically very little has been written about the British Longhair, they have always been around and appeared in many
shorthair litters. As it was common that British have to be shorthaired, the longhaired kittens were sold as pets for many years. Thus, the breeding history as a separate, distinctive breed is very young.
The GCCF recognised the British longhair as a separate breed from January 2017, instead of them being known as the variant of a British shorthair. The breed is now at championship status and can compete for the awards like all other fully recognised GCCF breeds,
Temperament wise the British longhair are independent, yet very affectionate. They follow
their human companion around the house to make sure that everything is done right. Males are very people oriented. They are very quiet, rather little talking, and very gentle. Everything is done cautiously, they are not seriously in a hurry. They make ideal pets for less active owners as well as for rather busy households.
Grooming wise the British Longhair is an easy going cat, their coat has no tendency to get filthy or knotted. They do not need to be excessively groomed. Their coat should be combed once or twice a week to get rid of old and dead hairs.
Kittens
Happy, healthy bloodline
I aim to produce healthy, confident British shorthair kittens and British longhair kittens. I want them to go to special pet or if suitable to a show neuter home where they will be indulged with every attention, kindness and comfort they enjoy when they are with me. They are born in my bedroom, where I can keep an eye on mum, as most births happen during the night. Once the kittens are a few weeks old they are moved to the nursery and are allowed supervised freedom, so that they can get used to daily life. I breed the following colours: blues, whites, lilacs, creams, blue cream torties and lilac cream torties.
All my kittens are:
- GCCF (non-active) registered
- four generation pedigree
- fully vaccinated
- a health guarantee
- microchipped
- PKD negative
- they leave from the age of 13 weeks
The kittens are available for viewing from the age of 7 weeks. By this time, they are on their feet and exploring their surroundings. Please make your visit your only visit of the day. This helps to avoid cross contamination from other cat household.
A Furever Friend
You will no doubt be very excited about bringing your new British shorthair kittens or British longhair kitten home. However, taking things slowly will make the transition for you and the kitten pleasurable. If you have no other household pets, integrating a new kitten into your home is a fairly simple affair. You will automatically want to make the kitten one of the family and will no doubt spend a great deal of time bonding and spoiling your feline companion. However, you need to keep in mind that your home is a strange, new place to your kitten, away from it's litter mates and it's mother. The kitten will need time to adjust and explore the new surroundings.
Before bring your kitten home set aside a private area, with a bed, food and a litter tray. A separate room is the best, but can also be a corner screened off from the room's normal activity. Give your kitten space, lots of loving attention, but remember not to overwhelm the kitten and soon the kitten will feel at home.
When integrating with other pets, put your kitten in a separate safe room for a couple of days. After a few days, you can open the door a little, to allow the other cats to sniff and peek. Rub the new kitten with a towel to impart scent on it, then put the towel in the sleeping area of your existing cats, so they'll become accustomed to the new smell. Reverse the tactic by giving the new member a towel or blanket with the scent of your older cats. In a few days put the kitten in a carrier and allow the other cats to come in and sniff. Expect a bit of growling and hissy-spitty behaviour at first, which is instinctive.
Try not to rush things, but provide occasions where the other cats and the new kitten can share pleasurable activities. Within a week or two, they should settle down and be getting along just fine. The key is not to rush things, and to give both sides a lot of individual attention in the interim. In no time at all, your kitten will be part of your family.
Where there are young children in the household the integration should also be done slowly. Be mindful that a the kitten has left it's litter mates and mother behind and any sudden activity from a enthusiastic child will stress the kitten.
Feeding
An obligate carnivore
The starting point for a cat or any living organism for that matter is to have a healthy diet for health and well-being. Cats are obligate carnivores and their systems have evolved from thousands of years of eating a raw food diet in the wild.
A raw meat diet will closely approximate the food your cat would get in the wild. Cats' digestive systems are finely tuned to handle things humans are unable to process. They have very strong stomach acids, as well as very short digestive tracts that are made to efficiently process raw meat and bone.
In the wild cats sometimes eat some pretty putrid stuff with no ill effects. Wild cats die more often from infection due to injuries than from food poisoning. In Nature cats eat their prey whole. Cats are naturally equipped with strong jaws and very sharp teeth that are made for ripping and tearing meat, and crunching through the pliable raw bones of small animals.
Cats eat a varied diet in the wild, including organs, brains, and occasionally, stomach and intestine contents of:
- mice and other rodents
- small mammals
- birds
- fish
- snakes and other reptiles insects
However, for various reasons most feline caregivers do not have the resources, nor the time to offer live prey to their cats; others may feel squeamish at doing so.
Cats fed a prey model diet of whole raw foods are compelled to use their jaws and teeth for the purpose they were designed. This slicing and tearing action of ripping apart whole, raw meats and raw meaty bones provides a scrubbing and flossing action that helps to keep gums healthy, teeth clean and white, and jaws strong. And a healthy mouth is vital to the overall health of any animal.
Feeding whole raw meaty bones, which require gnawing and jawing to consume, means that cats must do some work to process those foods with their teeth and jaws before it’s swallowed.
This working of the food not only allows ample time for the cat’s naturally acidic gastric juices to be adequately excreted, but in fact actually stimulates the excretion of these juices, giving the cat’s system the best chance of properly digesting the meal.
The increased digestibility of whole raw foods also makes for smaller, less smelly stools that are completely biodegradable. By contrast, commercial, and even pre-ground raw food, require no such time or effort to consume on the part of the cat, and so are generally gulped down, eliminating the necessary time it takes for the stomach to properly prepare to receive the food.
This gulping of food can result in an improperly digested meal that may end up as an unpleasant revisiting of that meal on a carpet or sofa in the form of vomit, or perhaps even an abnormal stool.
In addition, because commercial pet food often contains so many starchy, plant based ingredients like corn, soy and rice, that are completely unnatural for obligate carnivores like cats to eat, it isn’t nearly as digestible for cats as raw food.
As a result, the consumption of such manufactured products often makes for unnaturally large, extremely smelly stools that take a very long time to decompose. I feed my cats and kittens only a raw food diet, This I feel gives the kittens the best possible start in life.
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