Simba (known on the show bench as Kititas Chief Elijahtwofox) was a GCCF Grand Premier and a Premier in FIFe. There is no doubt in our minds that he would have become a FIFe European Premier had his life not been cut short by a tragic accident.

He was a superb ambassador for the breed, and packed a lot in during his all too short time with us. This is one of our favourite photographs of him taken by Alan Robinson:

We celebrated his achievements with a specially decorated pen at the CA Cat of the Year Show in January 2000:

(photograph courtesy of Gill Hall)

At the top on the display board are his pedigree, his show achievements and his Grand Premier, BIS and other special rosettes awarded to him at GCCF shows. There is also a free-standing biography on the right hand side.

The pen itself contains all his 15 GCCF Best of Breed rosettes pinned around the sides and back of the pen. The centrepiece is a lovely framed photograph of him, together with his purple FIFe Premier rosette and a single yellow rose.  On either side of the photo the floor is covered with all his red (first) rosettes from GGCF shows.

On each side at the front are the various tributes and condolences we received from around the world from the "mcats" mailing list and fellow breeders. The small rosettes on the front left are for his 3 CAPIB certificates, and the large rosette on the front right was awarded at the show - 3rd Best Neuter in the CA 1999 show year. Martin went up on stage to collect it, and Ros told him afterwards that the applause for him was greater than that for the eventual winner. Across the top is a sash from an Australian judge, Kathie Scallan, who chose Simba for her "special award" at one CA show.

In front of the pen is a photograph album containing the many pictures Ros took of him whilst he was with us.  On the table, there are also a couple of photographs given to us by Laura Johnson (the former editor of Maine Coon International magazine) at the show.

In putting the pen together, we realised just how much he had packed into his life with us, especially as the shows were less than 5% of that time !

It was an emotional day at times, but a superb public remembrance of his life.