Featured Cat:
IW RW SGC GC Boraines Sensation

This is their story....

Combining their first names to create a cattery identity, Boraines Persians was established in 1994 as a co-venture between good friends Lorraine Marino and Bob Buckley.

Five years later, they thought that their hard work had finally paid off when a tiny blue cream kitten was born in the fall of 1999.

Named Boraines Sensation, or "Saysha", she was one of a litter of four. She stood out from her siblings right from the start. Extremely pale in color, with a very cobby body and great boning, she had big round eyes, beautiful frontal doming, a very extreme nose and a beautiful open and sweet look that could steal your heart.

Lorraine and Bob felt they had a very special kitty... but only time would tell them just how special.

Saysha's first show was two days after she turned 4 months.

It was a TICA campaign show in Cherry Hills, New Jersey. With an entry of 86 kittens, Bob and Lorraine didn't expect their young baby to do much. Imagine their surprise when she was twice Best of Breed and was twice awarded 4th Best Kitten, including in the last final of the day.

That final was judged by the late Larry Paul, who at the time was the acting President of TICA and a longtime breeder of Persians. After the final was over and most of the people had left the show hall, Larry called Bob over. Still cradling Saysha in his arms, Bob smiled as Larry whispered in his ear, "You are holding a very special cat there."

That was the one and only time they ever met Larry... but Larry's words would prove prophetic.

Bob and Lorraine took Saysha to nearby shows as a kitten. They weren't really campaigning, but as March 2000 rolled around, they noticed Saysha was climbing up the national kitten standings in TICA.

The decision was made to go to a couple of more shows than was originally planned for. That decision paid off when Saysha finished up the show season as TICA's Northeast Region's 3rd Best Kitten.

Now Lorraine and Bob decided that they would also campaign Saysha as an adult. This would be the first time they had ever attempted a national campaign, but they felt that Saysha was the cat to do it with and the time was right.

Their first show was in Virginia Beach, which meant they needed to fly. It was Saysha's first time on a plane. She loved it!

The last final of the day on Sunday was in Patti Andrews ring. There were two cats left in her final - and Saysha was one of them!

At Nova Cats in Baltimore, Judge Steve Savant awards Saysha Best Cat in Show photo by Olek Kuperberg

Patti pulled Saysha out of the cage and told the spectators and exhibitors about how everyone should take up a collection for the owners so they would campaign this cat. Patti's amusing words solidified Bob and Lorraine's decision to campaign Saysha. And it didn't hurt that Saysha ended up being 4th Best Cat in show!

Also, it was FUN to show Saysha... just because she loved it. She would prance around on the judge's table like she was saying, "Check me out."

During the show Bob would hand feed Saysha "AD" cat food from a baby spoon. She loved AD, and Bob would put a bib on her and spectators would gather around and watch her delicately lap food from the tiny spoon. The more attention Saysha got, the more she would ham it up for everyone. She loved being around people.

In the hotel rooms, she was a relaxed guest who loved her bonding time with her "people".

Saysha ended up flying all over the eastern half of the country. From Rhode Island to Las Vegas... to Chicago, to New Orleans... to Houston, to North Carolina. They crisscrossed the country over and over again. Lorraine and Bob joked that Saysha has more frequent flyer miles than most people. But Saysha seemed to take all the travel in stride..

One trip to New Orleans was a true test of what kind of a trooper Saysha was. It was suppose to be a simple little flight that should have taken 4 hours, but turned into a 24 hour ordeal.

Lorraine, Bob and Saysha left Providence, Rhode Island at 3PM on a Friday afternoon to fly to New Orleans, via Chicago.

All went well until they were preparing to land in New Orleans. Suddenly, all the runway lights went out! After circling for an hour an a half, the Captain announced, "We are running out of fuel, so we are going to have land at Huntsville, Alabama."

After the plane diverted to Huntsville, a terrible rain storm hit. An elderly passenger panicked, fearing the plane would crash. Lorraine calmed him down. Saysha was cool as a cucumber and never even meowed during all the turbulence.

Once more the Captain's voice was heard over the intercom. "We can't land due to the thunder storm. We are going to land in Birmingham, Alabama instead."

It was 10:00 at night when the plane arrived in Birmingham... and there they sat for another two hours.

Bob and Lorraine let Saysha sit on the fold down table to have some water and her AD. And there she "reigned" for two hours... entertaining the other passengers.

Finally, the Captain came on the intercom one more time saying, "The runway lights are back on in new Orleans. We will be departing shortly."

Everyone started to clap and off they went.

Flying the skies over New Orleans runway once again... there are no lights.

After another hour of circling, the Captain announces, "We are going to Tampa, Florida for the night."!

YIKES! Everyone on the plane was in a up roar

Bob and Lorraine were trying to calculate plane schedules versus show times.

Landing in Tampa at 2:00 in the morning, they had been on the plane for ten straight hours. After getting off the plane and waiting in line for an hour to get hotel vouchers, it was 4:00 AM before they got to their hotel room. Zoned out and exhausted, they collapsed.

Their Saturday flight to New Orleans was scheduled to leave at 11:30 in the morning... back to the "Big Easy"... which wasn't turning out to be as easy as it was supposed to be.

11:30 comes... and goes. The flight was delayed another hour.

By this time, Bob was beside himself. Lorraine was worried and anxious. Saysha just purred in her carrier and took another nap.

Finally they get on the plane and take off.

Circling above New Orleans, with storm clouds boiling below them, the Captain comes on over the intercom. He was looking for a hole to fly through in order to land.

Well, that hole wasn't easy to find because it was another hour before they finally shot through an opening in the clouds and landed.

It was 2:30 in the afternoon when Bob, Lorraine and Saysha finally arrived at the show hall. Concerned friends rushed up to them, helping them get set up and get ready for the remaining 3 rings of the show.

Bob unzipped Saysha's carrier bag and out she walked like she had just traveled for five minutes instead of 24 hours in a Sherpa bag. Calm and collected, she gave a little shake and her pale coat floated into place. She went to her 3 rings and finaled in each of them. The applause was deafening!

That was typical Saysha. She was truly the epitome of a show cat. She never skipped a beat and she really didn't mind all the problems and challenges that happened along the campaign trail.

And that trail led to outstanding show year.

Saysha entered 25 TICA shows. She was in the top 3 cats in show 18 times. She had 8 Best Cats in show, 6 times Second Best Cat in show and 4 times was 3rd Best Cat in show. Saysha had a total of 66 Best Cats.

In-between, she found time to grand in CFA and earn enough points to be the second best Parti-Color in Region 1.

Saysha brought Lorraine and Bob so much joy during the year and a half of her show career, it was difficult for them to think it was all over at the end of the 2001 season.

But Saysha has recently reminded them that it isn't really over...

On June 28th, 2001, Saysha's first born arrived... a pale cream baby girl named
Boraines Confetti

* show photos by Larry Johnson