Brutus's Family
Brutus was registered as Shibumi Betelguese, born in a litter of 4 on 08/11/2003.
He was a seal lynx point Siamese.
His Mother was Nosreteip Chantilly Lace (Tilly)) and her father Minghuar Dow Nunder (known as Indy).
Brutus was the first of the cats I breed to die.
He died on 17th February 2006 at only 2 years and 3 months of age.
His owner told me the cause of death was congestive heart failure but no post mortem was done so the reason for him going into heart failure was unknown.
His owner Merlene had been a breeder herself at one time so she knew what she was looking for and Brutus was the best of his litter with absolutely stunning blue eyes. He was also almost an identical twin of a boy from the first litter (these 2 litters had the same parents). Brutus went to his new family in January 2004. Below is an extract from the email I eceived about his first days.
Brutus and Merlene
“We had a good trip home yesterday, we stopped @ Warkworth, & had an early tea sitting beside the river , Put Brutus on the table, he enjoyed the fresh cool air his little nose was sniffing new smells, & he watched the seagulls flying, & the sparrows hopping from branch to branch, all the time checking to see that we were there.
He slept from there to Home. David my son came down , & he & Brutus became firm friends!. Had left Brutus in the carry cage on the dineing room floor so Rosie could see him, in her cage, Brutus slept in the Conservatory “his room” for now. on his cuddly rug that you provided, He had soft music to lull him to sleep. Had eaten & drunk so was fairly contented. Cried on & off during the night, missing his Family !
He is certainly very affectionate, yet so gentle ! & so quick, we could not have chosen a kitten that has been so lovingly reared, & prepared as well as you both have done. He now has been within a few feet of Rosie , she hissed , & he hissed back, Rosie then backed off & lay on the floor so she could watch Brutus up on the chair. Round one to Brutus ! He is following us around,purring oh so loudly, & kneeding his little paws.”
I got regular updates of Brutus’s progress right up until his death along with photos. We even talked about showing him.
Merlene herself was not well during this period and the loss of this lovely boy left her desperately sad. We arranged that she would have a kitten from the litter that was due at the time Brutus died and again she choose the best of the litter. Sadly Merlene herself died days before the kitten was due to go to her. Her son David who is mentioned in the email became Euri’s owner. It seems she did not want to tell me how ill she was in case I would not let her have Euri. I wish I had known because he was quite mature enough to go a little early and she would have had great pleasure from him if only for a little while.
When I was told about Brutus’s death I made the obvious inquiries of the owners/breeders of his parents – were they aware of any heart problems in their kittens?, was there any history of health problems? The answers were an emphatic NO. I assumed at the time that this was an unlucky occurance, that maybe Brutus had had some viral problem that affected his heart or perhaps it was a random event. I did some research on the internet and became aware of HCM at this time but all the documentation stated that Siamese and Orientals were not at high risk of this condition.