THE BEGINNINGS

Shantinga Cattery was established by myself, Tina Teasdale in 1990 and is situated in the beautiful area of Port Macquarie in Northern NSW, Australia. I am helped by my family and in particular my daughter Shanna who is a qualified veterinary nurse. I have a great love of all cats and work at both the RSPCA and as breed manager for the “Whiskas Wonderful World of Cats” which is an educational and re-homing exhibition of pedigree and domestic cats and kittens that travels to major shopping centres. Our team included Dr. Harry Cooper from TV’s “Harry’s Practice” and a host of dogs and their trainers. I am also a qualified judge, and a member of the "NSW Cat Fanciers Association".

I started breeding with Siamese in 1989. We then established our own lines and went on to breed many best in show winners. We then added Burmese and were captivated by their delightful nature. Then one day in 1994 at a show we were introduced to a strikingly beautiful cat the Burmilla which was then just being established and developed in Australia. It was love at first sight. We applied for an experimental breeding licence and were granted permission to become involved in the Burmilla program which required a considerable amount of commitment and knowledge and have since gone on to win many best in shows with our own home grown Burmilla lines.

When some stunningly beautiful semi-long haired versions of the Burmilla started to appear in our litters we decided to develop them as a separate breed, we submitted a breeding program and the beautiful Tiffanie was born.