In Search Of White Thai Cats

[ayshazen]

Hi all

I live in England and have committed myself to preserving the Khao Manee breed, which is essentially the white cat of Thailand. I came across them almost three years ago, and like most people outside Thailand, had never heard of them, despite having bred Burmese (Suphalak) and Siamese (wichienmaat) for several years. I fell in love immediately, and now have 6 much loved Khao Manees.

I started the Khao Manee Cat club ([khaomaneecatclubcom"]khaomaneecatclubcom in 2009, and my friend Tina also imported some Khao Manees. We are actively working toward recognition in the GCCF (The Governing Council of the Cat Fancy). Some of our cats are Thai born and some were bred in the US from Thai born parents. We exhibit our cats at both GCCF and TICA shows, and are doing our very best to raise the profile of these stunning and very loving and intelligent cats here in the UK and around the world. We have recently sold 2 kittens to experienced English breeders, and have other reputable breeders waiting (we always check the background and reputation on anyone taking on a Khao Manee for breeding). We are very careful to ensure that they only go to experienced, ethical and committed breeders, this is NOT a money making venture.

I know that these cats are dwindling in Thailand. And I applaud Khun Preecha in his efforts to conserve the traditional Thai cats. The Siamese, Burmese and Korats are well established throughout the world, but the Khao Manee, until recently, was unheard of outside Thailand.

Obviously it is extremely important that we have a healthy and wide genepool, and so it is crucial that we find more white Thai cats (irrespective of eye colour). There is growing awareness and interest in the Khao Manees here in the UK, and I hope that if we can establish the breed over here, we can help to conserve these beautiful cats for further generations.

So please, if anyone knows who else I can contact, in Thailand, who breeds these white Thai cats (they do not have to be pedigree, but they must be healthy and not outcrossed to foreign breeds, I would love to be able to contact them. The future of one diminishing Thai breed could depend on it.

And if anyone would be kind enough to translate this for me, and post it wherever they see fit, please do! My Thai sadly is limited to three sentences!Attached a photo of my odd eyed Khao Manee girl ChaWee, who was the first KM in the UK. :-)

Chrissy

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Chrissy Russell

Aysha-Zen Burmese & Khao Manee Cats

Hampshire UK

ayshazencatscouk"]wwwayshazencatscouk

Secretary Khao Manee Cat Club

wwwkhaomaneecatclubcom"]wwwkhaomaneecatclubcom]

Edited April 9, 2011 by bina
URLS removed.forum rules

[waikiki]

Aloha,

I saw an ad on www.pantipmarket.com for white cats that looked similar to the cat on your webpage. You can go to that page and click on the Union Jack in the upper right corner. Pet ads are under the lifestyle category. I hope that helps. Good luck!

[Sheryl]

Oh where were you 2-3 years back when I had 3 Khao Manee strays in need of a home?!

Plenty of them about in rural Thailand. They also pop up in shelters from time to time.

But how are you going to deal with the strict quarantine requirements for bringing cats into the UK?