PECAN & JW -- Not too many know about Tonks, but they ARE neat kitties. I grew up with and have always like Siamese, but Hubby can't stand their cries. For years after we married we had Abyssinians, but lost too many to genetic problems, and decided to make a change. Research lead me to the Tonkinese breed, which is a newer breed and because it's a cross between Burmese and Siamese, they can use both breeds to strengthen the Tonk breed.
But unfortunately, we had a really bad Tonk experience, which was more the breeder's fault than the breed itself. I won't go into the whole story ['cause it was one that unfolded over time], but our most perfect & favorite cat ever died while under anesthesia, having his teeth cleaned! We were devastated! Long story short, it was heart failure, and we put together the story [after talking to the breeder in another state], that he wasn't the only cat in that line that had recently died from heart problems [one other was also during surgery]. When we talked to her, our main and really ONLY concern was to let her know what happened to Bishop. We figured that as a breeder, she needed to know that information. She sounded truely concerned, but during the conversation with us, she suddenly became very cold and said she would no longer do business with us -- ie, she wouldn't sell us any more of her cats. Very odd lady. Not sure where she was coming from, but the change seemed to be at the point she mentioned the other cat that died. Shame, too, because she had just the most wonderful cats with the best personalities! I would have gotten another of her kittens in a heartbeat [if she could prove it came from a different line], but maybe she was afraid this would put her out of business. You never know with breeders.... And for some reason, IMHO, cat breeders are really ODD folks.
