Don and Barbara Yoder each bred and exhibited cats before they were married; he mostly Persians under the Docia prefix, and she primarily Burmese under the Dao prefix. Once Don and Barbara were married (back in the early 1960ís, I think), the two cattery names were merged into Docia-Dao. Don was an avid exhibitor and popular judge, not only in CFA, but also in ACFA as well. He lived in the Midwest, Barbara out West, and they eventually settled into the Dallas and Houston areas, where they befriended Scotty Griffey, Jeannie McPhee, and Ann Pevey, among other notable fanciers.

The Yoders began breeding Exotics purely for their own amuse-ment in 1971. However, their very early successes with these cats in the show ring motivated them to continue working on their Exotic line. Among their notable early cats were CFA National Winners/Grand Champions Docia-Dao Trilby and Docia-Dao Super Colossal (see photos). The easy-going temperaments of the Yoder's cats made the breed a lot of new friends and enthusiasts in these early days. A few of the Docia-Dao cats went into other breeding programs, notably Docia- Dao Blaze and Docia-Dao Bonanza, both under the Catsrealm ownership of Conni Davis. Bams also began their Exotic breeding with Docia-Dao cats, as did Willow Glen, yet another Persian cattery noted for their high-quality cats and multiple winners. Rebecca, Squire, and many other prominent Exotic lines can all be traced to Docia-Dao cats, some as close as only 6 generations back from the original Burmese cross made by the Yoders, who also used one American Shorthair female in their Exotic program.

By 1981, the Yoders had decided to stop breeding and showing and they relocated to Louisiana. Only this past Spring, when Don retired, did the Yoders move back to the Houston area. Don was as friendly as ever when I spoke with himó but he told me all of thie breeding records, National Awards, pedigrees and photos had been lost in a move! Undaunted, I contacted the exceedingly gracious and knowledgable Conni Davis, and I am indebted to her for the impeccably accurate pedigrees she sent me with such grace, speed, and aplomb. If not for her determination to preserve this information, most of it would be lost to us today.

Following are the Docia-Dao cats for whom we have confirmed parentage. There are a few cats remaining whose parentage is uncertain at this point, but the most important cats will be found in this list. Complete pedigrees for the Persians and Burmese which were used to create the Docia-Dao Exotic bloodline are also included at the end of the list.

CFA Registration numbers which have a "v" number appearing afterward represent the volume number of the CFA Studbook in which that cat appeared. CFA stopped publishing studbooks in 1963; However, "v" numbers are still assigned today to cats which have produced progeny, albeit under a newer numbering system. The last Studbook published by CFA was Volume 94. The information of any cat appearing in these pedigrees with a Studbook # of 94 or lower was verified to that particular studbook by the author.

Much of the information given on these pedigrees is for cats born after CFA stopped publishing Studbooks. The author has endeavored to verify this information through Certified Pedigrees whenever possible, thanks to the kindness of Chiharu Asai, Patty Stewart, Lyn Hager, Mary Jane Tesdall, Hanny Bengt, and Valerie Sheldrake, as well as many other members of Persian Linechasers, a global Internet pedigree group dedicated to reseaching & sharing pedigrees of Persian & Exotic cats.

GCCF is the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy, the British equivalent to CFA. All GCCF registration numbers shown on these pedigrees represent ëOS,í or Old Series numbers.

PEDIGREES:

• GC, GP, NW Lowlands Christie of Docia-Dao
• Lowlands Davey of Docia-Dao
• Dingbat of Docia-Dao
• Ch Catsrealm Roseta
• GC Montpellier Royalty O'Lone Pine
• Blu-Acre Barbie Doll of Docia-Dao