Rantz 'n Raves

This is a letter of reference sent to a prospective client. WOW. Who could ask for more?

To begin with, I've never been asked to compose a reference for something like this. For that reason, you'll notice that I "carboned" Jean on this. If she doesn't like my comments, she'll know not to ask me again.

I've never met Jean Motas personally. We "met" over the phone in October of last year. Actually, considering what we went through to get my kitten into my arms, it seems like we met a long time ago.

I had only a few questions to ask in my first phone call. It was essentially an exploratory phone call. Her answers to my questions were immediate, concise and obviously came from a lot of experience dealing with people like me. The most important thing that happened in this first call was that she dispelled any idea that I had that shipping an animal was, somehow, inhumane. She, at one time anyway, had a link on her website to a picture of the compartment in which animals ride and I thought... I'd ride in that. That was about it for the first call because, Jean did not have kittens "until Spring".

Wait a minute... she lives in Texas... I live in Wisconsin... what does she mean by "Spring ?"

So, I called back.

At that time, now November, she had three kittens available. This was because of Hurricanes Rita, Katrina and to a degree, Wilma. Her clients simply could not accept these kittens. So, I put my name on one and that was largely because of a digital photograph she sent. This kitten was too cute.

Then... the drama started.

Texas whether vs. Wisconsin whether...I mean WEATHER... whether or not... whatever...

I'll spare you all the details about how many times it seemed absolutely certain that my kitten would travel... based on the weather. I mean, simply, to inform you that Jean worked with me on an almost weekly basis trying to second guess the weather. You may know that the airlines will not allow an animal to travel when it is too cold (or too hot for that matter). As the weeks went by, I had to let kittie #1 go to a good home because Chicago was still snowed in. During this time, however, I had more than one very pleasant phone conversation with Jean during which time, we talked about a lot of things other than cats. I can say with some certainty that Jean Motas is a lovely woman and, once my kitten arrived, this belief was fortified just because of the way this kitten behaved. Someone absolutely lovely raised him.

It was not until mid March until I had my kitten. I looked into the carrier and thought, this cat is BEAUTIFUL. I had no idea ! I wanted a Burmese because of one I met some years ago and my idea had more to do with its personality than its looks. Brown is not a color one gets emotionally involved with. Yeah.. I know its Sable but, brown... This cat is gorgeous!!

I drove back to Madison from Chicago and, he still didn't have a name, "kittie" just sat in his carrier. He never whined... he never "freaked".
He may have slept all the way, I don't know.

Once home he was more than willing to explore. My sister was visiting me at this time and, I must admit, she catered to his every wish.

He had to sniff everything. Some things he had to kill, rend or shred.
Mostly, though, he made a nucience of himself demanding attention that my sister was only too willing to provide. One night, the three of us watched television. I kid you not. We had to put a chair near the television so he would stop trying to jump on the screen. We were watching a show about birds. He still likes to watch television !

He is now just six months old and has been in perfect health. We did make the obligatory visit to the Vet. once he arrived. When I mentioned that the Vet. here did a test for parasites, Jeans tone of voice, when she expressed her opinion about the necessity of this test, did not require much interpretation. That anyone would even hint that her cats were "sick" insulted her. The nurse at the office paid Jean another compliment when she held Fek'lhr in her arms. She said: "Home raised !".
I will fail if I try to describe how loving Fek'lhr is and it is, again, because of Jean. Some cats, when you try to pet them, will wince. Most cats will NOT allow you to hold them in your arms "belly up". Fek'lhr might be stupid. Maybe thats it but, this is the most trusting cat I've ever met.

In closing...

He has shredded several rolls of toilet paper despite my best attempts to keep them "safe". As he has gotten older, I can see that he still sets, and achieves, goals. He can now get up on the kitchen counters.
This sounds good but, some of those "cute things" are beginning to annoy me. I mean that, of course, in a loving way. The fact that he "helps me"
clean the sink is still cute. He is no longer afraid of the garbage disposal and... get this... he now chases the vacuum cleaner. Best of all, he ALWAYS sleeps with me.

I hope this narrative communicated what a joy this "being" is and I hope it encourages you to work with Jean until you are satisfied that she is a good source for your next Burmese cat(s).

Truly in closing, I must express my condolences over the loss of your two old friends. As I'm sure your know, Burmese are traditionally long lived and I hope Fek'lhr and I have a long a happy life together. I also hope that, someday, he'll stop putting his butt in my face.

Please contact me again if you care to do so.

Regards

Greg Shurtleff

P.S.

"Fek'lhr the Famous Feline" adorns the Casa Del Gatos web site in no less than two places.

Suzy,

I thought I'd write to let you know our kitten is doing great! We decided to name him Cairo. Monday he went to the vet and received a clean bill of health.

The vet was impressed with the letter you sent for me to give to him and even made a copy to keep in Cairo's file. He agreed with all of your recommendations and said you were very well informed.

Well, Cairo came out of his carrier purring and has barely stopped since! When we got home he played for 2 hours straight in my bedroom which I set up for him.

That meant the whole family stayed up until after midnight. He hasn't had any adjustment problems except he still is not liking the dog,but we are still keeping them separate with short introductions now and then. He doesn't seem to eat a whole lot,mostly because he never stops moving.( I make sure he gets his vitamins every day ) Then he is worn out and sleeps hard. The first night he was right under the covers and has been every night since---can they really breathe in there? Any time we can't find him, we look for the tell-tale little lump in the covers at the end of the bed. Then the second you pet him starts purring and rolling on his back,etc

He is already perching on my shoulder to ride around. One cool thing was the second night i was looking at the kitty pictures on your website when Cairo came off my shoulder meowing and when right up to the screen and started pawing at the cat photos! Maybe he recognized someone?

Our only concern is that he plays really hard with us --like biting and scratching. If the kids are in bed , he jumps on and goes under the covers and bites their feet. He bites feet alot. The worst time is in the late evening-so if that happens we leave him alone a while. We also work on giving him a rolled up sock or toy to chew on when he starts biting...any other suggestions? We have a scratching post and he took to using it right away.

Thanks for a great kitten...he is everything I was looking for and more.

Lisa

Ms.Motas,

. . . . . .Bubbles (Bubs, as we call her) and Blue (Mr. B) are doing just fine. They are a little over 2 yrs. old now. They are the light of our lives! I can't tell you how much we love those kitties. And they are soooo spoiled. People kid us all the time because we treat them better than most humans.

Bubbles is a tiny little girl, very vocal and is the "purring queen". She loves to jump up on you and perch on your shoulder. She rides around everywhere with you.

Blue is definitely the "alpha" and lets Bubbles curl up in our laps when he thinks she should. He is such a jealous little toot. He has a ritual every night....when the lights go out he chows down and then jumps up on the bed, roots around and licks you in the face until you lift the covers for him. Then he sprawls out underneath til he gets hot at which time he moves up, lays out flat with his head on the middle pillow and body under the covers...between Rusty and I. When Bubs jumps up he must give her a look cuz she won't sleep with us. He sometimes chases her off the bed. Poor baby! Now, he does let her sleep under the covers in the winter when it's cold, although they've had a spat about that one on occasion.

They have beds all over our house...a basket in Rusty's closet, one in the kitchen window for sunning, one in the study that was their first bed and their favorite....one on top of the refrigerator. They sleep in all of them...I think they rotate when they get bored.

Bubbles has a thing about "strings". HA! Rusty and I laugh becuz every night she cries for you to get it down and play with her. If you ask her if she wants the string, she runs into the closet and paces until you get it down. Rusty laughs and says she must be saying "My life is the string!"

Anyway, we can't tell you how much we appreciate you blessing us with such sweet kitties. This breed is everything they say about them. They truly are the most "people oriented"... very affectionate, smart and wanting to be near you all the time. And we are so glad we got two of them because one would have been too lonely. They are great company for each other and love to chase each other and play.

Kim, Rusty, Bubbles and Blue

Lady Godiva is an absolute joy to us and is very spoiled. She is not happy unless she is sitting and purring in someone's lap. She is so playful and loving. I never knew a cat could be so affectionate and adorable. We would like for her to have a playmate. We would like another female champagne.

Thanks again for being an honest, caring, breeder who brings joy to so many families.

Gus is amazing. He alternates between thinking he is a person and thinking he is a dog! He is so affectionate and has bonded with Herb to the point that he thinks Herb is one giant sibling and meant for constant play time. Herb made the mistake of letting Gus sleep with us when he first came to us - thinking that he could later ban him from the bed. Ha! Our vet laughed out loud at that! Gus starts out on top of the comforter, but around 4:00 a.m., he snuggles under, usually between us, but sometimes at Herb's feet! Nothing is too high for him to climb, he loves water out of the faucet, paper bags and cardboard boxes were created exclusively as playthings for him, he loves socks and we can usually find one in his food dish, he eats less now [couldn't believe how much a kitten could eat!] but still manages one can of Sheba and a good bit of dry food each day. He never sees a stranger. When the doorbell rings, he runs to see who has come to visit him! He is just the best little companion ever. Although, I am quite allergic to the little guy. Much more so than I was to his dear departed Uncle Moose the Maine Coon. Good thing I take allergy meds everyday! He loves being "massaged" with this knobby little "brush" I bought at Pets Mart. When I pick it up, he flattens himself on the floor and immediately starts purring. He is also part monkey, I think. His antics are just amazing. He tears through the house sometimes like a streak of lightning. He sometimes runs from bath tub to bath tub [they are completely across the house from each other - quite a long way]. He starts out in one - jumps out, runs like the wind all through the house, into the other tub, out again and back to the other one. [Of course there is no water in them!!] Oh, and by the way, he is not afraid of water. We tried the water spritzer to train him not to get on the counters and when he was teething and wanted to chew our hands - but, he liked it so much we had to switch to an alternate Gus Buster - a can of air that you use to clean your electronics with. The Vet recommended it - we just have to pick it up and spritz the air - not even directed at him. But I never knew a cat could love water so much - he likes to play in it, doesn't mind being wet, and you give him an ice cube in his water dish and we have a mess all over the kitchen.

He was just the best little kitten - our vet was very impressed with how socialized he was, and as they had never seen a blue Burmese, he is quite the popular kitty when we have to go for nail trimming! I'll be in touch with the altering information - and I'll send some recent photos. Thanks again for such a wonderful creature! He is just the best.

Just wanted to let you know a few things. First Mike and I have moved. It's a much bigger place with hard wood floors. The immense entertainment we get from watching Minkie slide across the floor to get Mr. Mousie was worth all the moving hassle.

Minkie (or Minkie Weasel as she has come to be known) is an absolute joy! We had her spayed in February (laser surgery, IV, the whole nine yards) and she came through with no problems at all (need to send you the paperwork). Her fur has already grown back completely. The vet's office LOVES her.

They called to check on her after her surgery and said she was "an absolute doll" and everyone there was in love with her. Who can blame them? Bast and Brindle love her most of the time. But as they are both 10 years old, her constant playing does get to be a bit much at times. But they've each established hiding places as their Minkie-free zones. They are both picking up some of her habits however. They've both become more vocal and Bast, who was never fond of being picked up, is now quite amenable to it.

Unfortunately, they've both also taken to climbing on the kitchen counters while I'm making dinner and try to steal off with food---just like Minkie taught them! Oh well.

If you ever need a reference from this part of the country or anyone is worried about shipping one of your beautiful kitties, just refer them to me. I'll sing your praises and vouch that Mink suffered no problems

from her plane ride. I'm including my latest favorite shot. Talk about an under the covers kitty! Take care,

I'm just now getting around to sending you proof of Oscar's spaying. Oscar's doing really well. He loves our new house. The previous owners were serious dog lovers, so the house's flooring is over one-half ceramic tile, which is good for Oscar when he starts going with his mouse. I read the letters from other Burmese owners on your website, and I am assured that Oscar is 100% Burmese (not that I suspected he wasn't!). He does all those things - helps me load the dishwasher, type e-mails, etc. All my friends want a Burmese now. Thanks for everything,

Jean:I appreciate and love the way you talk about your babies and that you love them so much - your job (if you can call it that) must be very rewarding. Thanks again and we will be in touch. S. Bender