About the FBRL

The Fanciers Breeder Referral List (FBRL) is the largest and oldest dedicated cat breeder referral service on the World Wide Web. Created in November 1994 by a cat breeder for cat breeders, the FBRL has devoted itself exclusively to the pedigreed cat since that time.

The FBRL is run entirely by one person -- me (Barbara French). I bred Somalis for ten years under the CFA cattery name Tarantara, but suspected cat allergies forced me out of breeding and showing. Years later I discovered my allergy isn't to cats; I have a severe dust allergy, and it was the dusty show halls that I was reacting to so badly. I never stopped owning cats, but after I got out of breeding, I only kept anywhere from two to three cats thereafter.

The other "staff members" of the FBRL are my morale officers -- my shorthaired brown classic tabby Scottish Fold Grand Premier Linanci's BooBoo B'ear of Tarantara (BooBoo, shown at the right), born in 2000, and Goblin (below), a blue and white domestic shorthair born in July 2006. He was acquired from Scottsville Veterinary, a local no-kill shelter in December 2006.

In 2012, I added another staff member: a Maine Coon boy, Big Tree Cat Stonewall Jackson (right). I have known his breeders Joe and Jean Lentner for many years and, after deciding my younger kitty needed a friend, I approached them about acquiring a kitten. I chose a Maine Coon because Goblin is a very anxious, fearful cat and he needed a laid-back breed to bond with. Jackson, a brown tabby and white boy, has turned out to be just the buddy for him.

I am also planning to create a blog for Jackson, tenatively titled "Adventures on Three Legs", since he was born with a malformed left front leg which is too short to be anything other than a little "chicken wing". His problem is not genetic, but rather from being born under very crowded in-utero conditions (he was one of 7 in his litter) and probably got the circulation cut off early in its development. I hope my experiences accommodating his admittedly short list of special needs may help others with similar situations. I hate to call him "disabled" in any way, because he doesn't know he's any different, nor does it seem to slow him down much.

Our final staff addition was added in March 2013, a second Maine Coon girl from Big Tree Cat named Molly. Molly is also Jackson's niece, since Jackson's precocious littermate Tip managed to get two females pregnant before being neutered!

I was also a regular feature writer for CATS Magazine, and have published articles, mostly centering on pedigreed cats and related subjects, in several other cat-related magazines and journals.

The list started as a simple cross-reference on the old Fanciers web site in connection with the original Fanciers e-mail list, but quickly grew into a popular breeder referral system. In 1998 the FBRL struck out on its own (partly due to the fact that it was so popular it outgrew its free hosting, partly due to the 20-30 hours per week I was now devoting to keep this huge service going) and became a paid advertising service. In May 2002 I was able to make the important step of quitting my "day job" to devote my full-time attention to the FBRL.

Today the FBRL averages more than 500,000 monthly page views and high standing on all the popular search engines, including Google, MSN Search, AOL Search, and Yahoo.

Here are some links you might find helpful:

Using FBRL information: If you are an advertiser of any products of interest to FBRL subscribers, read this before helping yourself to the compliation of data posted here.

Contact Us: How to contact the FBRL.

Link to the FBRL: Feel free to link to the FBRL off any appropriate page. Please do not link to the FBRL if your content is not family-friendly. This page gives banners and information on how to link.