" From which country are these creatures ? Aren't they beautiful ?... "
"These are our English tigers ! " answers Mrs.Odette Franco, very proud of her splendid small cats...

Cattery "De Hoenrik" is a small-scale cat breeding facility, located in the North East province "Limburg" in Belgium. The ultimate aim of it is to specialize in the keeping and breeding of in the well-known French cat "The Chartreux" cat (CHA #16) and in the very attractive Silver Spotted and Silver Blotched Tabby British Shorthair cat (BSH) (BRI #22 and/or 24). The wellfare and good health of our cats are the first priority in our cattery.

It was in the summer of 1997, when we bought our first female Chartreux, Nahomie du Bois Saint Lambert Lambert, at a cat show in Holland. In the summer of 1998 we received our first litter Chartreux. These were our first 7 healthy male kittens being born in our cattery. Meanwhile all these kittens left our cattery to other feline lovers in Belgium, France and U.K. All kittens were offspring from Nahomie, which we nicknamed "Astrid", and of Narcisse of Espérou, the famous male Chartreux of the even more famous Madame Bock in Brussels, Belgium. Meanwhile we have had several more litters of both the Chartreux and Silvertabby and we hope to continue to produce more such kittens for our pleasure and fun.

Our first encounters with one of the most popular British Shorthair cat, namely the Silver Spotted and Silver Blotched Tabby, goes back to 1997. After a perusal of the book "Cats, visual guide to over 250 cat breeds from around the world" by Mr. David Alderton(1996), we knew that this little English Tiger was the feline species for us to concentrate on. Despite our investigations in catteries and at cat shows in the Benelux, France,Germany, etc.. at that time, our efforts remained unsuccesful because no pure-bred kittens of this race were offered for sale. As a result we decided to go and look for these wonderful creatures in the United Kingdom, the native country of British Silver spotted and Silver Tabby

It was mainly thanks to the generous help of the "Cat Association of Britain" that we managed to get in touch with some well-respected breeders of this cat in U.K. In February 1999, after all necessary paperwork was done, we were able to go and collect our first three Silvers (1 male and 2 females). All were descendants of the International Champion Hoonikatz Mister Micawber. It is now hoped that more such jewels will reach the continent, as more and more cat enthousiats are falling in love with them after visiting our virtual and/or real cattery.

 
It was only by coincidence that we met one of the greatest and one of the very best Silvertabby catbreeders on the European continent, namely, Mrs. Maria Wellmeyer, owner of the Marveilous Silver cattery in Lengerich in German at a Mundikat show in Arnhem, Holland in 1999. this remarcable lady has proven to be one of the most knowledgeable and constructive Silver tabby breeders, we got to know. It is thanks to her that we received our Marvellous Silver Belle Nuit, Silver Chandra and Silver Parko, and others, which were vital in the establishment of our present stock.

At this time cattery "De Hoendrik" is a registered breeding facility being member of the Federation International Feline (FIFe) (since August 06, 1998 under reference number # M98-791). Additionally, Hoendrik is also a member of MUNDIKAT in the Netherlands, of the Club du Cat des Chartreux in France, of the European Cat Fancy on the NET, Felinophile in Belgium and many other organisations interested for the well-being and welfare of feline species in captivity. In the chapter (LINKS) of this website you will find the electronic addresses of the organisations we do join for the moment.

Last, but not least, special gratitude is expressed to Mrs. Marina Raffaud, from Paris, in France, for the many hours of "webdesigning", which has enabled us to show our cats in a personal way to you on the INTERNET. If you are interested to also show your cats on the NET to the GREAT PUBLIC, we strongly recommend you to contact this young and enthusiast French lady, on the below mentioned electronic address. In a nutshell, MARINA owns several cats at her house in Paris, owns and manages the famous interactive website "Les Chats sur le Net" on the INTERNET. She speaks French and English, and has lots of expertise, not only with cats, but also with computers and INTERNET. Our Cats without Marina, would never have become the cats which they are right now !