Yes that is always the problem creating or finding lines that can be used to further the breed. It is never easy
Penny

i know! i was wondering if you can get frozen (e'hem) sperm sent over from abroad!? is that possible!!

If it was, I am having hilarious visions of how you would 'apply' it to the female - now that would be complicated
Em x

Yes you can get frozen sperm. Although I think it is only for the big cats and not domestics.
Penny

Yep, I love the Chausie breed. I did some research on them a while back for my website. I would love to own one myself one day, but I was under the impression that they weren't allowed to be kept as pets in the Uk. What generation are the ones that are bred in France? Do let us know how you get on with your Chause-search.

I think Chausies are considered too wild or too large to be owned here. I guess you'd need a big house with plenty of outdoor space for it to roam (though you'd have to be careful about what havock the Chausie could cause on the local wildlife). Does the breeder in France have their own website?

When bringing over Non Domestic cats to the UK they need to conform to DEFRA standards. If the necessary permissions are not sought the cats can be impounded even destroyed. Penny

Hmm...probably why there aren't any Chausies about these parts, then? Good to know about them having to conform to DEFRA standards, though, Penny. I had been thinking about maybe adopting an Egyptian Mau Shirazi (full of bright ideas, me! ) in the future, which is a long-haired Mau from Egypt that isn't currently a recognised breed in the UK. As far as I know, these cats are allowed in the UK, as the organisation states that they send their cats to the UK after stopping in France for six months, I think. Would these cats have to conform to DEFRA standards, too, do you know? Is the process of obtaining cats from abroad easy?

I would think that as the short haired Mau is a recognised breed their would not be a problem with the LH variety... You would need 2 differnt types of paperwork one to fly from Egypt to stay in France and then the pets passport from france to the UK. You would need to check with France for their requirements. It is not hard if they all get their paperwork correct.Mine was difficult as the US messed up their paperwork i'e wrote it in US date style when it had to be all in English dates then the Belgium vet messed up the pets passport by transferring the wrong dates over US style hence making my pets passport invalid and the 6 months quarantine time incorrect..
The time my cat actually arrived in the country I was exhausted from all of the tooing and froing from vets in the US (different time zone) sending over amended paperwork and then having to get the pets passport redone again in Belgium.It was a week of non stop phone calls and e-mails. Luckily I had the other breeder in Belgium where I could leave her whilst the errors were ameneded.. however the performance on the ferry was ridiculous and the way it was handled on the first error was appalling. Had I have used a different Ferry they would have sorted it their and then.via Fax and a local vet in France.... I would not recommend going any other route than Dover -Calais...Penny