Canada Graceland of Prairiebaby
[Picture] [Pedigree]
Nickname: Canada
Foundation: F1
Color: Black mackerel tabby-white (n 09 23)
From Rural Brandon, Manitoba, through country vet: Canada is a beautiful, first generation (F1), foundation female with Manitoba, Canada origin.
She presented a strong building block during the 3rd wave of Maine Coon foundation breeding and is present in many of nowadays pedigrees.
I was really getting tired of writing stories in 2003 but was finally able to kick start my memory to complete Canada’s details.
The purpose of my 2021 update is also to put some of the “guessing games’ of Canada’s heritage to rest. Here goes......
The staff at Grand Valley Animal Clinic, at the outskirts of Brandon, Manitoba, was keenly aware of my Maine Coon foundation projects at the time. No wonder as they did hundreds of Felv/Fiv tests, stool samples and CBCs for me! :-). So one day, one of the vet technicians, either Angie or Peggy (?), called me and said:
“Judith you have to come and see this cool cat we have at the clinic for you!” So here I went and yep, Canada definitely was a good one!
Unfortunately, she was pregnant at the time of adoption and delivered a litter of short haired kittens at my house, obviously from some random short haired tom cat. All kittens found good homes, at which time I was able to do some intentional F2 breedings with Canada. Canada was bred to one of my full foundation males and also to a pedigreed male.
Despite the fact of being a small kitty with a cobby little body and tail, Canada had wonderful type for an F1 and produced some REALLY nice babies. This was the reason I decided to share her with a couple of my close breeder friends. This ensured a more diverse distribution of her lines. In fact, I liked her babies so much that I kept three of her daughters from one litter.
Even now, after my breeding break, I still love working with pedigrees that have Canada in the background. I even love it when she is doubled up (or quadrupled) in my current pedigrees! Several of Canada’s offspring were shown in ACFA.
A collegue of mine, Allegiancelove Cattery in Bulgaria, has produced marvellous F4 and F5 offspring from one of Canada’s granddaughters, Prairiebaby Grateful for Eternity (Hazel).
Side Note:
Much controversy has been stirred up over Canada’s origin over the years. This is understandable, due to her typey head and lynx tips. Looking at my explanation above, the possibility of a connection to our existing breed would have been possible but seemingly low. A vet-signed letter was provided when Canada’s offspring was shared with breeders in later years.
