Ann’a: What made you decide to get your first cat and what kind was it?
D’Ann: I got my first cat when I lived in California. It was a tortie HHP and she was a gift to my parents. I made friends with her and have had cats ever since.

Ann’a: When did you get your first pedigreed (show quality) cat and what breed was it?
D’Ann: My first registered cat was a blue point Siamese that I found an ad for in the Dallas Morning News for $75.00. I didn’t know when we got her, what exactly you could do with a cat that had papers.

Ann’a: When did you become involved in breeding and why?
D’Ann: I started breeding in 1981 with the original Siamese female I had gotten plus a blue Siamese make that I had bought from a breeder in east Texas. I wanted to show cats that I had bred.

Ann’a: What breeds have you/do you breed, and why?
D’Ann: I share a household with another "cat lover", Maricia Munden, so we have a collection. There are 2 Russian Blue alters (one is almost 11 years old, the other is almost 10 years old.) We have one 15 year old Abyssinian. The remainder of our 10 cats are British Shorthairs, ranging in age from 4 months to almost 7 years.  We only breed the British. The reason for breeding the Brits is because there aren’t many breeders in the states and the gene pool here has become very limited. The three females we have for our male are all unrelated, not only to our male, but also to each other. Two of our females are imports, one from Great Britain and the other from Australia. The one from Australia is our youngest, at 4 months.

Ann’a: When did you become involved in TICA and why?
D’Ann: Back in 1981 I asked the breeder of my Siamese male " what you did with a cat with papers" and I was told that you "showed them, of course!" So I looked for a show to got to so that I would know what they were all about. The show I attended was the Fantastic Feline Fanciers show in Tyler, Texas. I thought it looked like fun so I went abut finding other shows. Of course TICA was still quite young then so the next show I could go to was CFA. After attending one of each, I quickly found out that the exhibitors were friendlier and more willing to help a newcomer at the TICA shows. Needless to say I stayed with TICA. 

Ann’a: What other associations were you ever involved with?
D’Ann: Like I said earlier, I have attended a couple of CFA shows, but never found it quite as interesting. I seldom exhibit with any other association.

Ann’a: When an why did you decide to become a judge?
D’Ann: When I was a fairly new exhibitor I used to listen to the judges while they were judging or ding their finals. There was one particular judge, Jim Becknell, who always was the most interesting and most informative. I would find myself listening to him well after he had finished judging my cats. I became friends with Jim & Sue Becknell and decided that I wanted to help promote the showing and breeding of cats like Jim. Unfortunately Jim died will before he should have, but many of us "old timers" are involved in the cat fancy because of him. I judged my first show in September of 1988 at the Fort Worth Feline Fanatics show, I was a substitute for Steve Savant because he was trapped in Lafayette due to a hurricane.

Ann’a: What is your fondest memory of TICA?
D’Ann: My fondest memory is when we, Maricia and I, were at the annual in Bellview, WA in 1995. Bear, our blue Brit boy had gotten 2nd Best International Cat. When his name was called and we went up to get the award, I looked back and saw that about 80% of the people were standing and applauding for him. Usually only the Best cat gets a standing ovation, but Bear was perhaps the "Peoples Choice" that year.

Ann’a: Having judged the RB, what advice would you give exhibitors about showing this breed?
D’Ann: From an early age the RB’s should be handled often and by "lots" of people. They should be in areas where they get used to noises, so that they won’t be spooked when they go to a show hall. Practice judging the cats. I have found that this is good experience with any breed, not just Russian’s. Practice stretching them and handling their heads. This is where most of the timid judges will back off if they sense that the Russian is hesitant about being stretched. Know your judges. There are some out there who can be intimidated by a mouthy cat. It only takes one bad experience to ruin a good cat.