About Orion

He was one of nine. Neither the biggest nor the best, he stood out from the others. A shining silver boy, he was Orion.

Orion and his littermates
Orion - front and center

Orion was born on April 26, 1998 in Tallahassee, Florida at the combined catteries of Chatton and Fourth Paw, one in a litter of nine Chartreux kittens. From the beginning, he was different. His striking silver color made it hard to evaluate the other kittens, and soon he was separated from his littermates.

I'll never forget the first time that I saw him. A silly little kitten in the top of a cat tree. He crawled on my shoulder and began to purr. It was a love match. I had recently decided to make the transition from exhibitor (of a very lovely Chartreux premier, Nellie) to breeder and obtained Orion from Patricia Klein (Fourth Paw) and Suzanne Herhold (Chatton) as my foundation male.

Several weeks after Orion came to Texas, I received an ominous telephone call from Pat. She informed me that several of Orion's littermates were ill, but my heart stood still when she said that it appeared that they were suffering from FIP. Eventually, half the litter died of this dreaded disease. Even as a novice breeder, I understood the severity of the situation.

I called my vet and made an appointment for FCV titres to be performed. Surely, this healthy happy little boy would not succumb to this horrible disease. Blood was sent to Cornell and came back as negative. The test was repeated several weeks later with the same results. We speculated that this was the result of his early separation from his littermates. He may have been saved by his beautiful silver coat.

Happily, Orion never became ill and has gone on to sire many beautiful kittens. The best of these are in breeding programs in the United States, Europe and Japan. One son, in Italy, is the first American bred Chartreux to obtain International Champion status in FIFe. All his offspring show remarkable good health. And in 2002 Orion achieved the most coveted breeding award, Distinguished Merit, for having sired 15 grand champions!

But he accomplished something far greater than beautiful kittens. During and after the crises of the "litter of nine", Pat Klein and I had many long conversations bemoaning that others would not discuss their experiences with FIP for fear of repercussions with their fellow breeders. It was generally kept as a "dirty little secret." We had pipe dreams of a collective of breeders sharing information with each other and those researching the disease. We even named the group in honor of the boy that brought us together...Orion.

And then Pat did more than dream. She called one evening and announced that she had started a list for FIP and that she had put me on it. Several months passed with no activity. Then one day Pat asked me if I had checked my mail. Others were joining the list!!! Seeking information, solace, a place to vent frustration and anger, they came with one thing in common, FIP had imposed itself on them and their dear feline friends. From those first few members, the list has now grown to over 1100 with archives containing much of the published research on FIP as well as advice from breeders with years of experience fighting the disease. That list led not only to this web site, but also to correspondence and cooperation with and by noted research scientists and funding of the 2nd annual FIP Symposium in Glasgow, Scotland.

Orion as of April, 2004. He is fat and sassy and well loved.

As for Orion, he is blissfully unaware of his contribution to feline husbandry and continues to be my sweet silver boy.

Drucilla Milligan
Ajolie Chartreux