When asked to do an interview with Cat Fancy about the Highlanders I was more than happy to oblige;

Article due out in Cat Fancy Magazine in Feb. 2012

The Cat Fancy Mag is now on the shelves Dec. 2011 The article about the Highlander is in the center of the magazine, a lot shorter than what I sent in but pretty much covers what they are all about. Thank Cat Fancy for taking an interest in these awesome cats :)

My name is Donna Verba and I own Wild at Heart Highlanders www.wildathearthighlanders.com

Highlanders are very special they are not your average kitty. They will fetch, play hard, sit, beg do tricks, very easy to train and leash train, most of them love to ride in cars. Highlanders have great personalities loyal, smart, will wait for you at the door, just an amazing breed. They are not your average cat, you won't understand until you have one, and then one is not enough. What most people like about this breed is the substantial body structure. Watching a Highlander move is pure beauty as their long hind legs flex and the heavy, pronounced muscles ripple between their shoulder blades. A Highlander’s feet are large with prominent knuckles, built for the stamina for which they are known.

A Highlander brings you the "Big Cat look" in a domestic cat. As incredible as their looks are a Highlander is a playful, happy-go-lucky cat that likes nothing better than to have an audience and all eyes on it as it thinks of new zany antics with which to entertain it humans. After my first encounter with the Highlanders over 6 years ago I knew they were something special. I started breeding them and fell deeper in love with the breed, each litter it grew harder to part with the babies. But I wanted others to experience a Highlander and what made them different from your average cat. This has lead to some very happy people, now friends, who own a Highlander and some have come back for another, others are now on a waiting list for their next kitten. After welcoming a Highlander into our home we realized these cats were special, both in personality and looks. These cats immediately attract interest and a devoted following developes due to their unique looks, size, and clown like, playful personalities.

When I got my first Highlanders it was over 6 years ago, little did I know then just how wonderful they are. A (now) friend had to give up her cats for health reasons and my daughter and I ended up with them. She drove them all the way from Baton Rouge LA. to my house and was so afraid she was doing the wrong thing. But once she arrived she told me she saw the place and meet me and knew her cats belonged here. She loved her cats so much she was having a panic attack on the long drive up here to deliver them.They have been here ever since, and were they start of Wild at Heart Highlanders.

Lili was my foundation breeder one of the first in the TICA Highlander program. After searching out a male for the program and finding one, BoBo, I began to breed the Highlanders, as a PNB with TICA. One of the kittens from one of the first breedings, has claimed my Autistic grandson as his person and they are bonded she waits for him to come home from school, sleeps with him, and is always with him. She keeps him calm when he gets upset and can sense his needs and moods, she was a godsend for an Autistic child.

Today still advancing the breed, a hand full of faithful ethical breeders remain, trying to introduce the extraordinary bred to the cat world. Working hard to get them in the show rings and advance them to SBT statis it is a work of love for the breeders. We are hoping to someday have a Highlander in every cat home :) The breed began development in 2004 and a handful of breeders continue to selectively breed to protect and enhance this distinctive look as well as to enhance the bloodlines to keep them genetically different and pure from other breeds.

For many years I have been working with animals of all sizes from feral kittens in a no-kill, dogs, horses, cows, you name it, to my present day Exotic Cat rescue for Bobcat to Cougars. Today I still have my rescue and I breed the Highlanders to help fund the rescue. But I will not breed more than once a year and only when all kittens have been placed and then only one queen at a time. I will not mass produce kittens for the sake of a few dollars. I breed for quality in my kittens not for quantity. So I will only offer a few for sale at a time. Needless to say I do it for the love of the breed not for the money, because you are lucky to break even by the time you sell your kittens.

Highlanders are loyal and smart, when I go outside I will always find Lili at the door in the house waiting for me to come back. Monkey is our resident clown she hangs upside down from the doorway to the bedroom and all you can see when she is atop the door is her head looking at you upside down, thus she earned the nickname Monkey. Bella is my mini cougar her ways and motions so much resemble one of my big cats, she moves and her muscles ripple over her back and shoulders. They are heavy cats, but it is all muscle. Some of the past kittens I have sold, the males now weigh 24 pounds, my females are over 12 pounds. Even as kittens they are a solid little mass of muscles, and very heavy, to the surprise of people who pick them up. They are a very healthy breed and I have had no issues with any health problems with my cats or their offspring. Other breeders also find the breed to be exceptionally healthy and free of any major health issues. Breeders now still uniting together, we work together to set up our breeding programs and develop a standard that we all agreed to adhere to and began working to develop a cat with a "big cat look" in a purely domestic breed. Together we are a hand full of dedicated breeders hanging on to advance and tell the world about the Highlanders, we are hoping you are listening. I have owners who would never part with their Highlanders and even after having them for 4 and 5 years they still thank me for letting them own one of these magnificent creatures.

In 2008 four of my Highlanders saved me from being snake bit.... I have a group of Highlander Hero's..., Lili, Monkey, Wookie, & Diego who now belongs to Jackie, Dylan & their family.. who can't thank me enough for him and he has now grown to 24 pounds. They have to figure on at least 2 or more hours in PetSmart when they take Diego, because people gather all around and are in awe at him and ask a million questions about Diego.

As to what I love about the Highlanders, absolutely everything!!! If you own one you know what I am talking about, if you own two then you have double the pleasure......

These are my heros

Heros come in small packages.

The fantastic four Highlander Heros

Lili of Wildinheart

Diego of Wildinheart son of Lili & Bo

Monkey, daughter of Lili & Bo

Well it all started around dinner on July 17, 2008. It was a hot July evening and I had not been running the AC I had my doors and windows opened, the screen door on the porch had a small gap at the bottom, but it never concerned me before, why should it I have left it open like this for years.

I was in the kitchen doing my normal evening work at the stove, I had finished feeding all the big cats outside and now it was time to cook dinner and feed the family inside. I was at the stove starting to cook dinner and 2 of the cats were at my feet nothing unusual about that, they are always under my feet when I am trying to do things. So I didn’t think anything of it until the Wookie and Diego keep wanting behind the cabinet. They would come by the stove then go back to the cabinet next to the stove, they both acted like they were watching something behind the cabinet. I thought Diego was after a mouse, so I opened the bottom drawer of the cabinet, he looked in and then went right back to the other side. Mean while the Wookie was intently eying something at the back by the wall behind the cabinet, finally I said phooey and just went back to doing dinner.

Later that evening I was here at the computer finishing emails and the motley crew kept banging into my feet on the floor, so I just moved them and they kept it up.

I finally finished the email and looked down to see what the heck was all the commotion about going on by my feet. Well folks turns out my babies all four of them were going after a cotton mouth :) snake that is,  LOL. Damn thing had been hanging around my bare feet for a while and the big old Wookie was thumping on him followed by Diego, with the Monkey jumping in too, Lili laid back to watch. I turned on the light to see this snake right next to my garbage can were my feet where and it was striking at my Wookie. That is a no,  no you do NOT try to hurt my babies!!

So I yelled for my old man to wake up and help me, try to keep 4 cats away from a snake when you are trying to catch it.  He finally answered me, thought I was kidding, I said get out here and DO NOT bring the Gun. He would have come out with the shotgun and blown a hole through my floor, I've seen him in action when it comes to a snake, shoots anything that moves LOL.

Finally got the cats out of the way and a coffee can over the top of the snake. Picture this the tail is out from under the can, WAHOO, a new toy , all the cats are trying to take turns to get the tail. In the mean time I am trying to move the can out from under my desk and keep the snake under it.  I got the lid and we maneuvered it under the can, part of the snakes body starting coming out. My husband runs and gets a hammer, :) starts beating the snake the cats are wanting to help. What a disaster.!!

Got the snake in the can and the lid on it all the kitties are safe from the evil slithering monster toy. Lucky the Wookie is a walking hair ball, because that snake struck at him again and again before we had the situation was under control.