Have a cat or breed cats are very different ideas. But the second one can't exist without the first. It's always important to want cats, to like cats and to be ready to have cats. Our first option was to adopt one without any concerns about the pedigree or the breed. It would be a common cat.

(All started with a kitten, but we knew that being a breeder - something that wasn't yet in our plans - demanded even more of us. We would have to change habits and behaviors, and to modify a little our lifestyle. But let's go back to our story...)

Ana always have dealt with a lot of cats when she lived in her grandmother's house, in Ilhavo, at the north of the country. Some years later, when we started to make plans together, we found a lovely abandoned kitten in the middle of a construction ground, in Sassoeiros, near where we live now. We brought her to my house, fed her, treated her like she was a little baby. However, Puma had always moments of more agressivity, specially with strangers, perhaps because she did not grew up in her mother's company. When the first of our boys born, and besides she was behaving like a true guardian to him - she was sleeping at his feet and answered to every cry -, we decided that we could not take the chance. And we offered her to whom could take good care of her.

The website, a cat called Big and the beginning of the adventure

Returning to norwegian forest cats, it was when we're searching felines in the internet that we've discovered the breed. We found a tender, big and gorgeous cat. From that day we fell in love with this cat. And we started searching our first one. I've found him, newborn, in Central Cats. His name was Big and we fancy him immediately. And we also changed our direction. It was no more about having a pet, but to breed and help spreading the word about the breed. Not only our mission have changed but also the responsability have increased a lot.

Meanwhile, we started our website's design. In our head the projects were many and we found no reason to wait. We wanted to start our job immediatly, so that people that like us who didn't knew this cat could be reached. We also decided to change Big's name to Brynjolf. This was our favourite from a big list of nordic names. We like it very much, because its sonority is similar to "wolf". March 19, 2006 we picked him up and took him to our home. And nothing was like before. The adventure had begun.

The blog, the afixo and a different attitude

The website where you are is very simple, with simple navigation. But there's algo a BLOG, which is useful to bring you all the news about litters and mating plans. Here you can also see how your cat is doing with life, since birth to the last day with us (with photos). It's there we express our thoughts and ideas, happiness and sadness, and our humble opinion about the world where we live.

Our babies will be delivered at the end of their 12th week, already with the first basic vaccination and registed, with the european pet passport. We don't let a kitten leave this cattery without his pedigree. This document is very important to certify breed's purity, a kind of Identification Card of these animals. The microchip in the kittens for pet or breeding and shows is algo a portuguese law since 2007. No kitten leaves this cattery without this identification tool.

We are members of the Associación Felina Española (ASFE), which is also a member of the Fédération Internationale Féline (FIFe). Our affix number is 1961 and it is part of our kittens' names (Shadow Eyes Ash, for example).

A kind of mission

Perhaps now we can speak a little bit about us. Our main objectiv is to give popularity to the breed and a chance to everyone of being delighted in having a norwegian forest cat at home. We are amateurs, because we have other jobs, but we take breeding very seriously. That´s why we try to get cats from breeders wit excelent references and fathers with good pedigrees. Growing up and becoming adults interacting with other people also helps in our mission. Communication was always been an important part of our lifes.

Our kittens leave the cattery fully adapted to regular family life, with children and other animals. They live inside the house, with us. This cattery can be found in São Domingos de Rana, Cascais, near Oeiras and Carcavelos.

In the end of our blog we have put a kind of statement about what is breeding cats for us. It says this: «Shadow Eyes was born with three goals. Be there for their cats in all moments of their lifes, help to keep intact the breed standard and to spread the word about the norwegian forest cat. We will not comment in a negative way the cats of other breeders, but we will talk about all other subjects.» So it started this way, and it will continue like this.

July 8, 2007. The first Shadow Eyes litter was born. Five kittens to make proud the parents Indra and Bryn and to symbolize the beginning of our presence in this world. Even is the real beginning was several months before. It was of the many starts. And we hope a very, very long walk. Because them, the norwegian forest cats, really deserve it.