It is extremely difficult to separate the "careers" of my two "lads", Gd. Ch. Gitalaya Starshadow Gorgeous Gus D.M. (Imp UK) (27f) and Herbie as they arrived in South Africa as travelling companions on September 6^th, 1986. Lesley Yates of Isaldor Cattery joined me at Jan Smuts airport to welcome my boys. Gus, had already reached Championship status in the UK, and was a little over a year old - he had sired a litter of kittens for his breeder, Wing Commander Michele Codd, before he left England. Herbie was but 6 months old - a very large boy.

At the time of Gus and Herbie’s arrival, the South African Burmese gene pool was very small and inbred. I had labouriously (no home computers available at the time) checked various pedigrees and concluded that a handful of cats featured several times in all the brown cats; the red and cream Burmese fared even worse. I enlisted the help of the late Mary Fleet, Burmese Cat Club (UK) Judge Emeritus, of Bybrook Burmese in England. She helped me find my two wonderful Burmese stud boys who played such a significant role in the development and success of Gitalaya Burmese.

I recall my late husband, John Francois (he passed away in September 1997), was in Wayne, New Jersey, when travel arrangements were finalised for Herbie and Gus to travel South Africa. He was unaware that TWO studs were to be shipped .. He knew we were expecting ‘a’ stud from England. He called me from the States to advise me he had been able to get the last direct SAA flight home from New York - sanctions having very recently been imposed against South Africa by the United Nations .. I gave him my incredible news knowing he could not berate me for my deception on a long distance telephone call!

Neither Herbie or Gus had meteoric show careers. Lilac was not a popular colour and our judges had seen very few. Both lads had excellent eye colour. Gus achieved his Grand Championship, Herbie went no further than Champion - mainly on "coat colour" and his size .. At his peak, he weighed in at over 10 kgs! I recall travelling to Cape Town to have a Cape judge tell me he was "just too large" when she withheld his final CC.

Gus ‘travelled’ to Rainbow Bridge in January 1998. In 1994, Gus developed FUS and several months later required a urethostomy which meant he had to be castrated. At the time, I contacted Michelle to tell her about the surgery and ask for "another Gus". He lived out his remaining years as a much loved "pet" with Ch. Isaldor Sinamone Soo D.M. (27b) in my office at K9 Kennels in Muldersdrift. Almost a year later, Gitalaya Starshadow Erroll Flynn (Imp UK) (27f) joined our feline family.

Both Herbie and Gus sired top Burmese cats - a credit to their breeders in England and Gitalaya Cattery. Herbie had the honour of siring the first two Grand Champion Lilacs, Gd. Ch. Bumbles Caspar and Gd. Ch. Paxles Lilac Louella, the first lilac Supreme Champion Zion Zona as well as Sp. Ch.Gitalaya Cinamon Samara and Sp. Ch. Gitalaya Sinamon Sybele - both chocolate girls.

Difficult decisions had to be made when I remarried my Yankee sweetheart from New Jersey, USA, Ed Pomerantz, in 1998 who passed away unexpectedly in October 2002 after 54 months of "wedded bliss".  I could not possibly ship all my beloved cats to the USA (space and financial considerations made this impossible) and had the unenviable task placing them with fellow breeders whom I could trust. Herbie went to Paxles Cattery until Lesley Moren was diagnosed with cancer (Lesley passed away in September, 2000). Alison consented to home Herbie with her at Ally’s Cats and lived out the remaining months of his life in her care. Melanie McGlew graciously homed several of my babies, Flynn was one of the lads she has cared for.

I thank Alison, Melanie and Lesley for allowing me to give my babies into their stewardship.

The following "poem" is for Melanie and Alison who have shared our unenviable but inevitable fate of facing Flynn and Herbie’s crossing to Rainbow Bridge ..

Gail Pomerantz - December 4^th, 2000

An abridged version of the history of the progress of Gitalaya's Burmese breeding cattery can be in the article "Stud Tales"

If you ever love an animal, there are three days in your life you will always remember...

The first is a day, blessed with happiness, when you bring home your young new friend. You may have spent weeks deciding on a breed. You may have asked numerous opinions of many vets, or
done long research in finding a breeder.

Or, perhaps in a fleeting moment,
you may have just chosen that silly looking mutt in a shelter -
simply because something in its eyes reached your heart.
But when you bring that chosen pet home, and watch it explore,
and claim its special place in your hall or front room - and when you feel it brush against you for the first time - it instils a feeling of pure love you will carry with you through the many years to come.

The second day will occur eight or nine or ten years later.
It will be a day like any other. Routine and unexceptional.
But, for a surprising instant, you will look at your longtime friend
and see age where you once saw youth. You will see slow deliberate
steps where you once saw energy. And you will see sleep where you once saw activity. So you will begin to adjust your friend's diet - and you may add a pill or two to her food. And you may feel a growing fear deep within yourself, which bodes of a coming emptiness. And you will feel this uneasy feeling, on and off, until the third day finally arrives.

And on this day, if your friend and God have not decided for you,
you will be faced with making a decision of your own - on behalf of your lifelong friend, and with the guidance of your own deepest Spirit.
But whichever way your friend eventually leaves you,
you will feel as alone as a single star in the dark night.

If you are wise, you will let the tears flow as freely and as often as they must. And if you are typical, you will find that not many in your circle of family or friends will be able to understand your grief, or comfort you.

But if you are true to the love of the pet you cherished through the many joy-filled years, you may find that a soul - a bit smaller in size than your own - seems to walk with you, at times, during the lonely days to come. And at moments when you least expect anything out of the ordinary to happen, you may feel something brush against your leg - very very lightly. And looking down at the place where your dear, perhaps dearest, friend used to lay - you will remember those three significant days.

The memory will most likely be painful, and leave an ache in your heart. As time passes the ache will come and go as it has a life of its own. You will both reject it and embrace it, and it may confuse you. If you reject it, it will depress you. If you embrace it, it will deepen you. Either way, it will still be an ache. But there will be, I assure you, a fourth day when - along with the memory of your pet, and piercing through the heaviness in your heart - there will come a realization that belongs only to you. It will be as unique and strong as our relationship with each animal we have loved, and lost. This realization takes the form of a Living Love - like the heavenly scent of a rose that remains after the petals have wilted, this Love will remain and grow - and be there for us to remember.

It is a love we have earned. It is the legacy our pets leave us when they go. And it is a gift we may keep with us as long as we live. It is a Love which is ours alone. And until we ourselves leave, perhaps to join our Beloved Pets - it is a Love that we will always possess.

Martin Scot Kosins