I GR CH & GR PR Dayjoy Orla (Dàrna)
Dàrna is Gaelic for 'Second', pronounced Daw-rna - so-called because she was our second queen
Also known as 'Doodle', 'Dipsy', 'Dipsy-pips', 'Pipsy', 'Pipsy-pops', 'Popsy' and 'Popsicle'
ALH hs 11 / 68 43hs
Tiffanie, Chocolate Tortie Silver Shaded
Inbreeding Co-efficient: 10% (10 generations)
D.O.B. 26/02/09
Dàrna was our second foundation Tiffanie queen, coming from Joy Wakenshaw (Dayjoy Tiffanies and Norwegian Forest Cats) in Northumberland. Her mother, Leelee (Farash Loralei Lee), is a lovely imported chocolate tortie smoke with burmese restriction. Dàrna inherited her mum's excellent ear-set and nose-break, and also has a lovely clear silver undercoat, complemented by pale green eyes. Her shading is nice and light, but in a rich chocolate, and she also has one of the longest tails I've ever seen on a Tiffanie (or an Asian generally!), forming a fantastic plume. Dàrna's father is Kevona Simply Awesome, who is out of the well known (and gorgeous) smoke boy, CH Kennbury Black Ice.
Dàrna was only a couple of weeks younger than our first queen, Katie, and the two were almost constant companions and playmates growing up. They considered Annas to be their 'Mum', and Dàrna looked to her for guidance and cleaning services! To begin with, Dàrna was much less cuddly than Katie, but as she grew up, she became increasingly cuddly. Now, she has days when you can hardly get anything done for her trying to give cuddles, and she purrs almost constantly! I've never heard a cat with a louder purr - it's incredible. Even better, this has passed on to her kittens, and even their kittens, and we now have three generations of her descendants who share her fabulous temperament.
As a youngster, Dàrna's head was longer and narrower than is desirable in a show cat, but she got better and better as she grew older. She is now an Imperial Grand Champion, and was even Best Foreign Adult twice! She's just as adorable at shows as she is at home, purring and giving the judges kisses. She was the overall winner of the first Supreme Special Kitten Class, which is judged on temperament and condition only. Having won her Imperial title, we decided that she could be spared the hormone swings of being an entire, and had her spayed, and she has now added the title of Grand Premier to her wins.
Dàrna carries non-agouti (self/smoke), dilute, burmese restriction and non-silver, and since she's a tortie, was also able to produce red kittens. She gave us a real rainbow of colours in her kittens, and some of them have won top show awards. We have kept three of her offspring (Fiona, Donny and Small), and now have two grandchildren (Eiteag and Ayla) and two great-grandchildren (Zuko and Hailey) from her as well, plus another two great-grandchildren that we will be keeping from our current litters.
Six of her kittens have been shown:
I GR CH Cagaran Deathach-Donn (Donny) - owned by us
Asian Smoke, Brown Smoke BCR - once Best Kitten, twice Best Foreign Adult
GR PR Cagaran Dòrlach (Quinn) - owned by Tracey Hamilton
Asian Smoke, Brown Tortie Smoke BCR - also GMC Quinn in the HP section
GR PR Cagaran Beinn-Eighe (Tabh) - owned by Lona Johnson
Tiffanie, Caramel Silver Shaded BCR
CH Cagaran Beannachd-Fionn (Fiona) - owned by us
Tiffanie, Apricot Silver Shaded FEX - once Best Kitten, once overall Best Foreign
CH Cagaran Fileánta (Small) - owned by Kati Scott Wilson
Tiffanie, Cream Shaded FEX
Cagaran Briotas (Keela) - owned by Sean McHugh
Tiffanie, Chocolate Tortie Ticked Tabby FEX - twice Best in Show in FIFé, one CC in GCCF
Three of her kittens haven't been shown:
Cagaran Bodachán (Ghost) - Tiffanie, Caramel Silver Shaded BCR
Cagaran Bramán-Beag (B-B) - Tiffanie, Chocolate Smoke BCR
Cagaran Bean-Meala (Sophie) - Tiffanie, Apricot Silver Shaded FEX
Of Dàrna's 'grandchildren', two hold the Champion title, both of whom have also won a Best of Variety award, and a third holds the Premier title. Two of her great-grandchildren are also Best of Variety winners.