Ambar Grands and Other Brags

In addition to the Maine Coons and Turkish Angoras who occupy our lives, we have shown and titled alters of other breeds, as well as household pets. (We recommend this as a great way to get acquainted with cat showing!) Some of the cats listed below still live with us; most don't, but they are all fond memories. We hope you enjoy this walk through our show career.

GP Ambar's Arnold Beckoff

[Arnold, a Turkish Angora] GP Ambar's Arnold Beckoff is our first Ambar-bred Turkish Angora grand, a handsome black and white neuter. Arnold is sired by GC Ashmanor Ditto Head, and out of CH Silverlock's Torch Song of Ambar. Like his six-pound mother, he believes his proper place is on my shoulders. Unfortunately for me, he weighs a touch more than six pounds. Arnold granded in September 2000. This picture was taken in April 2000, showing Arnold at eight months. It doesn't do him justice, but very little does -- Arnold is a big personality.


GP Ambar's Sunwheel Dance

[Snickers, a Maine Coon] The first Ambar-bred Grand Premier: GP Ambar's Sunwheel Dance, a red classic tabby and white Maine Coon neuter, owned and spoiled by Cynthia Cotton -- who takes him jogging! "Snickers" is sired by GC,GP,RW Yanikat Sunny Beau, DM, out of CH,PR Kanab's Luanne's Dorable of Ambar. [Ribbon]

"Snickers" got an unexpected compliment recently, being named fourth best longhair premier in the FBRL Virtual Cat Show. That's his rosette... go and check out the competition, and make plans to enter your cat next year!

GP Ambar Dancing In The Dragon's Jaws

[Jawsie, a Maine Coon] GP/GCA Ambar Dancing In The Dragon's Jaws is our second Ambar-bred grand, a handsome red classic tabby Maine Coon neuter known as "Sancho" to his family. He is the baby of the family, and this charming photograph proves it. Jawsie is sired by CH Mcinkats Red Dragon of Ambar, out of CH Ambar's Fire Lake.


GC,GP/GRC Coonyham Sassafras of Ambar

[Sass, a Maine Coon] GC,GP/GRC Coonyham Sassafras of Ambar was bred by Laura and Sharon Cunningham of Coonyham, and holds the dual distinctions of being the first Coonyham female to grand in CFA, and being the first cat of ours to grand in championship. Sass, a blue classic tabby and white female Maine Coon, is a Grand Champion in both TICA and CFA, and a Grand Premier in CFA. Sass is sired by GC/GRC/SGC,IW Coonyham Sundance, OS, out of Coonyham Rhiannon. Sass is the imperious empress of the house, but generally confines her rule to asserting sole ownership of the highest shelf of the scratching posts.


GP Ambar Astronaut

[Astro, a Maine Coon] GP Ambar Astronaut is our third Ambar-bred grand, a red classic tabby Maine Coon neuter. "Astro" is Wendy's littermate, sired by GC/GRC/SGC,IW Coonyham Sundance, OS, out of CH,PR Kanab's Luanne's Dorable of Ambar. He was originally intended to be sold as a pet, but decided that he was Erik's cat and wasn't going home with anyone else!

As a young kitten, he was half the size of any of his littermates (including his sister), and so for about the first six weeks, he was called 'I don't think he's gonna make it'. After he made it clear that quitting early was not in his game plan, his name for a while was 'Spare Maine Coon Parts', because no two pieces seemed to belong to the same cat! By the seven-month mark, he'd decided to sprout some hair and generally come together. At a year and two months, his growth hasn't slowed down a bit. I suspect he got his sire's size, and I KNOW he got his dam's haughtiness.


CH,GP Kelsha 40 West of Ambar

[Roadie, a Persian] CH,GP Kelsha 40 West of Ambar ("Roadie") is a black and white bi-color Persian neuter. Persians are the most populous breed in CFA. I couldn't see the appeal at first. After all, they certainly didn't look like "real cats", and most of them acted like stuffed pillows to boot. After many years of seeing dozens of the critters at every show, I finally decided to see for myself what the buzz was about. You know what it is? It's the hairdressing impulse. I'm serious. These cats NEED maintenance. But if you adore combing someone else's hair, if you love fussy little needlework projects, if you think artwork that purrs sounds like the most delightful thing imaginable -- a Persian might just be your cup of tea.

Maine Coons will always be my favorite breed. But I've acquired a weird fondness for sitting at the dining room table with Roadie, aiming two desk lamps at him to augment the weak overhead lights, and combing away. Shh! Don't tell, or they'll throw me out of the Maine Coon union.

Roadie earned his Grand Premier title at the Santa Clara Valley Cat Fanciers show on 2 November, 1997.


GP Ashmanor Valentino of Ambar

[Valentino, a Turkish Angora] GP Ashmanor Valentino of Ambar is an odd-eyed white Turkish Angora neuter. He has probably logged the most air miles of any of the cats on this page, in our quest for a regional win in 1995-1996 (we missed out by 7 points). I wrote an essay about our travails and travels in April of 1996. These days Valentino divides his time between the top of my monitor and my housemate's arms.

He made time to star as the "centerfold cat" for Cat Fancy Magazine's most recent article on the Turkish Angora. He also serves as the model in their online breed profile. [Ribbon]

Valentino was also honored with the award of sixth best longhair premier in the FBRL Virtual Cat Show.

GP Ultimate Marc Remillard of Ambar

[Rem, an Abyssinian] GP Ultimate Marc Remillard of Ambar, also known as "Rem" or "Marc", is a red (sorrel) Abyssinian neuter.

Rem earned the title of Grand Premier 26 March 1995 at the San Francisco Revelers, Inc., CFA show in San Mateo, CA. He was bred by Kathryn & James Daugherty. The photograph shows Rem at four months, and is Copyright 1994 by Carl Widmer.

GP/SGCA,IW Janipurr Odori-Ni-Hane of Ambar

[Bratchild, a Japanese Bobtail] GP/SGCA,IW Janipurr Odori-Ni-Hane of Ambar (better-known as "Bratchild") is a red tabby and white Japanese Bobtail neuter, and a dedicated comedian. He was well-known during his show career for being carried to the rings upside down. (What can I say... carried right-side up, he wouldn't stop wiggling. Apparently the world is more interesting when viewed upside down.) He did pretty well in CFA's Northwest Regional standings the year I showed him, and earned the honor of TICA's International Ninth Best Alter the year after that.

MST/QGM Mister Thumbs of Ambar

[Mister Thumbs, a household pet] MST/QGM Mister Thumbs of Ambar is a red mackerel tabby and white household pet (domestic longhair) neuter. Like many other exhibitors, it was an unpedigreed cat who taught us how much fun showing cats could be. He earned two consecutive national titles in CFF, titled in TICA, and was always the soul of gentleness. He now shares a charming home in the Santa Cruz mountains with Rem.

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Jean Marie Diaz // ambar@clock.org

Last modified: Mon Apr 1 19:44:46 PST 2002