About Us

St Mary's Lighthouse, Whitley Bay

Milennium Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne

As you will already have read, my small cattery is situated in the North East of England between the lovely city of Newcastle upon Tyne and the gorgeous coastal town of Whitley Bay. I live here with two dogs and my cats. Above are a couple photos of some of the landmarks I live near, St Mary's Lighthouse, Whitley Bay and Milennium Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne, both places are well worth a visit.

Osocozicats is a PKD tested negative breeding cattery. I have below a short write up about this terrible disease in cats.

POLYCYSTIC KIDNEY DISEASE (PKD) - What is this?

PKD is a progressive, inherited condition causing multiple, fluid filled cysts in the kidneys. These cysts are present at birth and will increase in size until the whole kidney is affected. How fast they grow, the number and the size depends on the individual cats but it always leads to kidney failure and death.

There is no cure for PKD.

Genetic studies show that the PKD gene need only be carried by one parent, and if this is the case any kittens born from that one parent have a 50% chance of inheriting this condition. If both parents are DNA tested and are proven not to carry the gene, then the kittens will not inherit the disease.

When enquiring about buying a kitten it is a good idea to ask if the kitten is from PKD negative lines. This could save a great deal of heartache in the future. If we as responsible breeders take the trouble to test our cats, this disease could eventually be eradicated. Many of us, myself included are working to ensure that all of our breeding cats are in fact PKD negative.

What to look for:

Weight Loss
Depression & Lethargy
Vomiting
Excessive Urination
Enlarged Kidneys.

I thought I’d put a photograph on this page of the other two important members of the Holden family, namely our two dogs who amazingly aren’t at all put out by the feline members of the household.

Spikey is our Alsation and Sukki is our Scottie. Spikey didn’t seem to want to open his eyes for this one!

That’s a bit better Spikey .... Far more handsome with eyes open!

Here are two pics of my rescue guinea pigs!

Brian, Trevor and Geoffrey. They are happily settling in and I hope they have a long and happy life.