Enchanted Highlanders Cattery

09/03/2026

Oh, you’re doing dishes? 😃

Kittens: “I MUST insist that I help.” 🤪

Loading the dishwasher?
“I’ll stand exactly where you need to put the dishes.”

Putting dishes away?
“I’ll supervise.”

Just cleaned the pasta drainer?

“PERFECT. A BED.” 😌😂

Move me?

Absolutely not.

You clearly don’t understand that this is a team effort and I am helping in EVERY way possible. 😅🤪🐾

Life with kittens: everything takes twice as long because apparently every household chore requires tiny, unqualified supervisors. 😂

09/03/2026

🚩 BREEDER REALITY CHECK

If a long-term breeder tells you they’ve never encountered feline herpes in their program… 🚩

Never dealt with calicivirus, Mycoplasma, or another respiratory infection? 🚩

Never had a kitten wake up with conjunctivitis/pink eye? 🚩

Never dealt with coccidia, Giardia, Tritrichomonas foetus (TF), or another intestinal parasite? 🚩

Breeding living animals is NOT sterile.

Even with excellent husbandry, vaccination, testing, sanitation, quarantine, and veterinary care, things can and DO happen.

Now, there is a BIG difference between something occasionally happening and seeing a constant pattern of illness.

If you’re considering getting a kitten from a breeder and you’re constantly seeing photos of sick kittens, recurring upper respiratory infections, repeated pink eyes, ringworm, ongoing skin infections, chronic diarrhea, or one health problem after another, YES, that should concern you. Occasional illness happens. A persistent pattern is something entirely different and deserves questions.

To me, a good breeder isn’t someone who claims:

“Nothing has ever happened here.”

It’s the breeder who can say:

“Yes, I’ve dealt with things before. I recognized it, treated it, learned from it, and took steps to protect my cats and families.”

And this extends to my families too. If something comes up after your kitten goes home, PLEASE be honest with me and ask for help. Experienced breeders often have resources, knowledge, veterinary contacts, and previous experience that may help point you in the right direction.

THAT is breeder support. My relationship with my families doesn’t end when their kitten leaves my home.

Now, if you immediately come at your breeder attacking, accusing, or looking for a fight instead of communicating and asking for help, that’s a different situation. Respect and communication have to go both ways.

We’re dealing with living animals. Things happen. Patterns matter. How a breeder responds matters.

Transparency. Education. Communication. Accountability. Support. 🖤🐾

09/03/2026

Since someone wanted to be a Pissy Nancy today 🙄😂 this is exactly why I hate social media sometimes. Y’all can be some nasty little keyboard warriors toward breeders like we aren’t actual human beings behind these pages.

YES, the photo of the food was taken while it was in my cart at the store. And YES, that food is now at my house feeding my cats. 😂😭

Good lord, apparently we can’t even take a picture of a grocery cart anymore without somebody trying to create drama out of it.

Not everything is a conspiracy. Sometimes a picture is literally just… a picture. Of groceries. In a cart. 💀😂

09/03/2026

🐾 Did you know?

Some Highlander kittens may continue nursing and not become completely independent from mom until 12–14 weeks of age!

Every kitten develops at their own pace. Some practically wean themselves, while others are eating wet, dry, and raw perfectly fine but STILL believe mom’s milk bar should remain open indefinitely. 😂

This is one of the reasons we do not rush our babies. We allow them time to mature, learn from mom and their littermates, and become confident and fully independent.

And most importantly, we will NEVER push a baby to wean just to make a scheduled go-home date. If that kitten is telling us they aren’t ready, they aren’t ready. Their go-home date can wait.

A date on the calendar will never be more important than the individual kitten’s development and wellbeing. 🖤🐾

09/03/2026

Because life is NUTS 🥜😂 and remember, it’s just me over here running this circus!

Raven is looking like she’ll have a smaller litter, similar to her first. Astria is also looking like a small litter, and Lydia is looking like she may have around five. 👀🐾

Peachy will be our very last litter later on, but I’ll know more about what she’s cooking once she gets closer.

Thankfully, it’s looking like a smaller little close-out for us before the move, rather than having a whole bunch of kittens here at once. 😂🖤

Then it’s BREAK TIME because ya girl needs it.

09/03/2026

🐱 LET’S TALK ABOUT FELINE HERPES (FHV-1)!

Because there seems to be a lot of misunderstanding surrounding feline herpes, especially when it comes to breeders and multicat households.

Feline herpesvirus, also known as FHV-1 or feline viral rhinotracheitis, is extremely common in cats. Once a cat becomes infected, the virus can remain latent in the body for life.

That does NOT mean the cat is constantly sick.

Many cats carrying FHV-1 live completely normal, healthy lives without showing symptoms. Stress can sometimes reactivate the virus and cause temporary symptoms such as sneezing, watery eyes, conjunctivitis, or nasal discharge. Moving, going to a cat show, having kittens, surgery, illness, or other stressful situations can potentially trigger shedding or symptoms.

And this is why I am VERY cautious when I see a breeder advertising their entire cattery as completely “feline herpes free.”

FHV-1 can remain latent without symptoms or active shedding, meaning testing at one particular moment does not necessarily prove a cat has never been infected. Claiming an entire multicat breeding environment is definitively and permanently FHV-1 free is an extremely difficult claim to substantiate.

Personally, I would much rather see breeders EDUCATE and be transparent about these things than make unrealistic absolute claims.

💉 And yes, this is part of what we vaccinate for!

The “R” in the FVRCP vaccine stands for feline viral rhinotracheitis, which is caused by feline herpesvirus.

Vaccination does not completely prevent infection, latency, shedding, or transmission. What it does is help reduce the severity of disease and clinical symptoms. This is one reason vaccination is so important, particularly in multicat environments.

Having been exposed to or carrying FHV-1 does NOT automatically mean a cat is unhealthy or should be removed from a breeding program.

There IS, however, an important distinction.

A healthy cat that occasionally experiences mild symptoms during significant stress is very different from a cat that is chronically symptomatic, constantly sneezing, repeatedly developing significant eye or respiratory problems, or struggling with severe recurring disease.

Those cats deserve further veterinary investigation, and breeders absolutely should consider chronic or unusually severe disease when making breeding decisions. We should be breeding toward overall health, strong immune function, resilience, temperament, structure, and longevity.

There is a BIG difference between:

A healthy cat carrying a common latent virus

and

A cat suffering from persistent or severe clinical disease.

Responsible breeding isn’t about pretending common infectious organisms don’t exist. It’s about understanding them, vaccinating appropriately, practicing good biosecurity, recognizing actual disease, being transparent, and making thoughtful breeding decisions based on the health of the cats in front of us.

EDUCATION over fear. TRANSPARENCY over unrealistic claims. 🖤🐾

09/02/2026

I recently learned that Finn’s daughter will be shown at the TICA Annual in Canada, and I am so excited to see this next generation stepping into the show hall! ❤️

Finn was bred and raised here before going to RadiantGems, and Gwenn did an amazing job showing him all the way to becoming the first Supreme Grand Champion Highlander. Seeing his daughter now continuing that line into the show hall is so exciting for the future of our breed!

I’m sorry I won’t be able to attend the Annual like I had hoped, but I’ll definitely be cheering from afar! Wishing Radiant and the cattery showing his daughter an amazing Annual. I hope she does absolutely astounding!

And if you’re attending, go support the Highlanders! ❤️🐾 I’m so glad to see more of our breed making their way into the show halls and being represented. The more we can get these beautiful cats out there and seen, the better for the future of the Highlander!

https://www.facebook.com/share/1FSBmddwfy/

F🐾 Do you have plans for the Labour Day long weekend? Because we have the PURRFECT event for cat lovers of all ages! 🐱✨

Join us September 5 & 6 for A Whisker Wonderland—the 2026 TICA Annual Cat Show! Bring the whole family to see hundreds of incredible cats, discover amazing breeds, watch live judging, explore cat-focused vendors and enjoy FREE educational seminars. Kids love cats - we have activities for them too!

Best of all, the fun happens rain or shine, completely indoors at Mississauga’s International Centre! ☀️🌧️

📅 September 5 & 6
📍 International Centre, Mississauga
🎟️ Tickets are on sale now at tica2026.com and will also be available at the doors!

Make it a Labour Day weekend filled with cats, family fun and plenty of whiskered wonder! ❄️🐾

09/02/2026

Let’s talk about our health guarantees, pet insurance & why we require it 🐾❤️

This is simply an educational reminder for our families because I don’t think everyone realizes how important the complimentary insurance we provide is or how it relates to our guarantees.

First and foremost, the first 30 days of Trupanion coverage we provide are completely FREE. This is why part of our go-home process includes completing your forms and showing that your coverage has been activated before your kitten leaves our care.

After those first 30 days, most of our families are typically seeing around $33–$35 a month to continue their policy. There is an initial enrollment fee, so that first paid month may be closer to around $70, but after that you’re generally looking at the regular monthly premium.

The coverage we recommend generally covers 90% of eligible veterinary expenses after a $250 deductible.

For roughly a little over a dollar a day, that can make a HUGE difference if your kitten ever needs unexpected veterinary care.

This is also where our health guarantees come into the conversation.

Our guarantees are there to stand behind the kittens we produce when it comes to serious covered conditions outlined within our contract, including things such as FIP, HCM and covered hereditary/genetic conditions.

Pet insurance and a breeder health guarantee are not the same thing. Our guarantee is us standing behind what we produce. Insurance is there to help protect YOU financially with eligible diagnostics, testing, hospitalization and treatment if something unexpected happens.

We highly recommend maintaining your insurance for at least the first year, especially if you want to maintain the protections and requirements associated with certain guarantees in our program.

And here is something I think many families simply may not realize:

Through the breeder program, we are able to verify information regarding the insurance we send our kittens home with.

We can see when coverage is activated, and information available to us can also show when policies have been canceled or allowed to lapse, as well as information regarding claims submitted under the program.

I have noticed that several of the policies associated with our kittens have been canceled or have lapsed after the complimentary period. Guys, please keep your insurance active! ❤️

This isn’t directed at or calling out any particular family. I’m mentioning it because I genuinely want our families to understand that if maintaining coverage is required for a particular guarantee, we can verify whether that coverage was maintained if that guarantee ever needs to be used.

The same goes for documentation in general. If something involving one of our kittens, a health guarantee, or an insurance claim ever needs to be validated, reputable breeders keep records and have ways of verifying the information available to them. This protects both sides and keeps everything transparent.

Hopefully, you will never need to use your insurance for something major. Hopefully, you will never need our FIP, HCM or genetic health guarantees either.

But that’s the entire point of having these protections in place before something happens.

We provide those first 30 days completely FREE. We make sure coverage is activated before your baby leaves. We provide written health guarantees and require that initial veterinary examination. We keep our records and documentation.

Once your kitten goes home, we need our families to continue doing their part too.

Please keep your insurance active, keep your veterinary records, understand your contract and protect your baby. ❤️

We stand behind the kittens we produce, and we want our families to have that same protection behind them if the unexpected ever happens.

09/02/2026

Let’s talk about one part of good husbandry people really don’t see: THE FOOD BILL. 😂

When people complain about breeder prices, I sometimes wish I could hand them my receipts for ONE WEEK.

We don’t feed the cheapest food we can grab at Walmart just because we have a lot of cats to feed. We put a lot into their diet because good nutrition is part of good husbandry, period.

Our cats are fed a raw diet along with quality grain free foods like Nulo and Instinct, including both dry and wet food. We provide raw daily because nutrition is something I have always taken seriously within my program.

And no ill intent toward anyone who feeds Friskies or another inexpensive food. Heck, I’ve had a kitten declining or refusing to eat where I will absolutely grab something like Friskies because at that point I DO NOT CARE. Eat, child! 😂 Sometimes getting calories into them and getting their appetite going again is the priority.

But for our normal everyday diet, we spend A LOT.

Just our dry and wet food can barely make it through a week sometimes. And y’all have seen Highlanders eat. These little gremlins will act like nobody has fed them in approximately 84 years even though they ate 20 minutes ago. 😂

And that STILL doesn’t include all the raw food we provide daily.

Depending on how many adults and growing kittens we have, I can easily spend close to $1,000 in a week on food alone.

Then add litter, pine pellets, supplements, probiotics, cleaning supplies and everything else we constantly go through.

And we haven’t even whispered the word VET yet. 😂

That’s the part people don’t see when they look at the price of a kitten.

You see the kitten.

I see what went into mom before she was ever bred. I see what she ate throughout pregnancy and nursing. I see what those babies are eating while they grow. I see the bags of food, cases of wet food and raw food disappearing every single week.

Good husbandry isn’t just producing cute kittens and finding them homes. It’s the nutrition, health, environment, veterinary care, testing, socialization and daily work that goes into maintaining these animals 365 days a year.

Could I make my food bill a heck of a lot cheaper? Absolutely.

But I’m not going to cut corners on their everyday care just to make breeding cheaper.

So when someone wonders why an ethically raised kitten costs what it does, just know the food bill alone could probably make you cry. 😂