My name is Anne Marit Helmersen. I am 29 years old. I live in Trones in Nord- Trøndelag. Nord Trøndelag is in the middle of Norway, about 3.5 hours by car from Trondheim city.

I have my education from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB). I have a master degree in Ecology with special studies in behavioural and population Ecology and wild life biology and management. For now I work in Namsskogan Zoo where I have the responsibility of taking care of the animals there.

My cattery name is (N) Villkatten's. I breed somalis and abyssinian variants ( abyssinians who carry one long hair gene). I have 6 cats living with me now. I also have some breeding cats living with nannies. The nannies have one or two litters at their home, then they must neuter the cat and have it as a pet. This is a good way of preventing getting too many cats at my home. For me the most important thing is having cats who are satisfied and happy, and since cats are animals who do not like to be in a big herd, I try to keep the number down. This will also keep the cats less stressed, and secondly this means healthier and happier cats :)

My goal for breeding is to get beautiful somalis close to the breed standard. But mostly I breed to get healthy cats with good temper. My cats are not only breed for shows, it is just as important to get playful, happy and confident cats. Somali cats are a small breed. I try to prevent inbreeding by using abyssinians in my breeding programme. In that way I get a broader gene pool for the somali breed.