In summer 1986 my ex-husband Thomas and I moved into our own apartment but there was something missing - a little four-legged buddy. After a long search, we finally found a little black Persian male Claudius von Leonrod - "Carlo". He was a pet with a special personality. Unfortunately, he died 8 weeks later of cancer. We were very unhappy and the decision to bring a new cat into our home was not easy.

We informed the breeder, Mr. R. Heckel, about our bad luck and he gave us a new boy. This boy was Falco von Leonrod - "Falco", a blue Persian male. Mr. Heckel told us that "Falco" was a show cat and he wanted us to show him - and this was the beginning of a wonderful hobby. Without any knowledge about showing, we started showing "Falco" but we were not very successful with him. He was shown about 10 times, and we were not able to reach the champion title with him. Nevertheless, we had a lot of fun, met many new people, built friendships, and decided we wanted to continue this wonderful hobby.

Since "Falco" was unhappy alone, we started to look for a girl for him. This time it was really difficult to find the right cat, since we wanted a top show cat. At this time there were very few "extreme" Persian cats in Europe. The charm of these faces inspired us to search for a cat in the U.S. The CFA-Yearbook was very helpful, and we started to send out a lot of letters asking for a top show tortie. Only a few answers came back. But we were lucky and received a letter from Dorothy Persson (Harwood Cattery) together with a photo of a little tortie. A few weeks later EC Harwood's Dream Girl - "Dreamy" arrived at the airport in Graz and with this wonderful, very special girl our show career began. We were very successful with her. When she came into season for the first time, we faced our next problem. It was clear to us that breeding her to "Falco" would not work. We had to find a nice male for her. We first bred "Dreamy" to GC Pajeans Confederate Sunshine - "Sonny" and the next time to Zarewitsch vom Weserbogen - "Andy". Unfortunately "Dreamy" was a bad mother. She had no problems bringing kittens into the world but she didn't want to care for them. So Thomas & I fed the babies and took over the mothering.

Because we were concerned about our females when they had to be bred outside our home, we decided to search again for a new top show male. We had no specific color in mind. This time a very good friend of ours, Rosmarie Schnürch, took me to the U.S. We visited some catteries in Florida and went to a show in Miami. At this show we met Judy and Greg Brocato. They offered us a copper-eyed white Persian male - CFA GC, EC WW94 South Paw Wish Kid - "Kiddy". He was destined to be the highlight of our show career. He reached all reachable FIFe titles. Twice he was Mr. Austria (Best Cat of the Year 1993 and 1994, Cat Club ÖVEK), European Cup Winner 1993 and FIFe World Winner 1994.

A little story about "Kid's" show time you can find here.

At the same time "Wish Kid" arrived in Graz, a little red tabby boy was born in our home: EC Challengers Fire Star - "Gino". We decided to keep him because he had a very appealing look. He developed incredibly well, and we showed him several times. He was also very successful - his only bad luck was that GC South Paw Wish Kid was shown with him all the time.

At the World Cat Show in Geneve 1994, Mrs. Rudolph offered us a black girl GC Very-Sweet von La'Noitan - "Candy", when she heard that Dreamy had died. We were very happy, and one week later we drove to Berlin to pick up our new girl. This little girl fascinated us at first sight. She had a big head with big eyes and no ears. Thomas said, "She looks like a 'Gremlin'". Because of her, we had something special again and it was a big honour for us to own a La´Noitan cat. "Candy" developed incredibly well and was a very successful show cat. We bred her four times, but unfortunately she was not able to deliver without a caesarian. We decided to neuter her and since she always had problems with her eyes (callus) we never showed her again. She has retired to live as a happy lady in our home. We always say "Candy" is the chief (cat boss) at home.

At a cat show in Italy, we met Gabriela Gorini, who showed a wonderful tortie girl "Blueskyeyes Cindy Catford" and her black brother. We were very impressed and asked her for a cat. Together with Jürgen Steinbrenner we visited Gabriela and came home with Blueskyeyes So Pretty - "Pretty". She was a dream come true, because after a long time we owned a tortie again - and what a tortie! Unfortunately, "Pretty" was not happy in the show ring. She had 2 litters and was a wonderful mother. But she was not able to conceive again. and she was neutered in December 2006.

A few months later Gabriela gave us Blueskyeyes Sotto Voce - "Sotto" for breeding. "Sotto" is a very little lady with a funny temper. We always say that she's a little devil, but she was the very best mother that we ever had. She had no problems whatever to produce her babies - on the contrary, we were always disconcerted because she delivered so quickly! She adored her babies, and never wanted to be without babies. But in December 2007, we came to the decision that we had to spay her, owing to her age.

Another member of our family is CH, EP Challcats Knight Rider, DSM - "Jo-Jo". He was already sold and after a few days he came back with a broken backbone. After several treatments, miraculously he was restored. "Jo-Jo" (his nickname, pronounced "yo-yo", originated from his coming back) was very patient and since that time he has also had a special place in our hearts.

In August 1999 CH Challcats Gianna Nannini - "Gina" was born. There was no question that we would keep this lady, because from the beginning she had a perfect body with a head like a male. Gina had only one living litter. Now she lives with us as a happy neuter.

As our lines had become very close, we toyed again with the idea of getting a new tortoiseshell, and we thought it should be a La'Noitan cat. The Rudolph family helped us again and informed us that the Koenen family had a nice litter from a La'Noitan male. We drove to Germany in September 2002. It was love at first sight .... and we came home with our EC Moonwater vom Dachsbau, DSM - "Bonsai".

After an ÖVEK cat show in December 2002, which took place in Graz, Austria, our family suddenly gained another member. Our male GC Challcats Nigel Mansell, who lives with the Rudolph family, had produced a very nice little red male, who touched our hearts at first sight. (He was 14 days old). At the show in Graz, this little male EC Rubin von La'Noitan, JW, DSM - "Mausebär" had a phenomenal show-entrance. At the age of exactly 3 months he was able to win the title "Best of Colour" over all adult cats, even over a "Worldwinner". We are very happy that we are now able to bring a new touch of colour to the Challcats Catworld with this male.

Since South Paw Wish Kid was not the youngest at this time, we kept IC Challcats Star Dust - "Dusty". This boy has the same sweet temper as his father. Another reason we kept this boy was that he was white, and we don't want to lose it.

In August 2005 the first litter of IC Challcats Naomi Campbell and EC Rubin von La'Noitan, JW, DSM was born. Two delightful females saw the light of the day. Despite her dilute color, which is not typical for Challcats, we decided to keep GC Challcats Gloria, JW , because she looks very similar to her father "Mausebär". Even at her first show she was able to follow in her father's footsteps and she beat all present kittens and ended up Best Kitten.

In order to show cats further on and, in addition, to protect the future of Challcats, we once again began searching for a new male. This time it was to be a black male. Paolo Carnevaletti entrusted us with FIFE IC Kuorii Carpe Diem of Challcats (CFA), JW on August 27th, 2006 and since then we have been very proud and happy to have him as new member of our family.

October 24th, 2006 was one of the hardest days in Thomas's & my life. The time had come to let our beloved CFA GC, EC, WW94 South Paw Wish Kid go over the rainbow bridge. We have no words to describe “Kiddie’s” character and charisma. Our “Plapper” brought only happiness and joy into our lives. We will be eternally grateful that we could spend a part of our lives with him. Kiddy – for us you live forever!

In this life, we all age, inevitably becoming weak and frail. Thus it was with our beloved EC Challengers Fire Star. When Gino became blind at the age of eleven years, he gradually became our special needs cat. He was so loving and patient; in spite of his suffering, he was full of the joy of life, and gave us so much happiness. On 12th December, 2007, with heavy hearts, we had to let him go. We will always hold him in our hearts and are thankful that he was with us for a part of our life’s journey.

In March 2008, with heavy hearts, we lost Blueskyeyes So "Pretty" and in November 2008, sadly also our wonderful "mother cat" Blueskyeyes Sotto Voce. Both of them brought so much joy into our home and they made a vital contribution to Challcats' success. We will always treasure the memory of both of them in our hearts.