❤️ Kotsun Kittens story ❤️
Hello future cat parents.
My name is Valeriya, and I’m the breeder and founder of the Kotsun Kittens online pet store. I want you all to know a little more about me and this website. It has a story.
Since childhood, breeding animals was so interesting to me. When I was 9 years old, I had hamsters. I bred them, raised them, and found new families for each of my baby hamsters. It was my little “business.” Many students at my school and people in my neighborhood had my beautiful hamsters. Being able to give these families an animal to love and take care of brought me so much joy.
For many years I had a dream: I wanted to adopt a Scottish fold kitten and have my own litters later. And in 2012, my dream came true! I adopted a rare, black-silver, marbled tabby Scottish fold male and named him KotSun. He is a gorgeous cat – people who had Scottish straight females wanted to mate them with him. I supervised all of his “bride’s” litters and had found new families for each of his children. I also got my own female Scottish straight to mate with him.
In 2013 I decided to do more research about breeding and went on to complete professional breeding school. That was a new, exciting stage of my life. I adopted one more female cat, applied for World Cat Federation (WCF) cattery registration, joined the WCF club, and started to visit cat shows. At my first cat show, I was invited to be a steward. A steward’s job is to help the WCF expert with cats in the show and exhibition. I loved helping out because I learned a lot about the WCF system, breeding, and the standards of each breed. I started to dream of becoming a WCF expert, too. I needed to be a steward 20 times within one year to become an expert’s apprentice. I started to travel all over Ukraine with my cats, showed them, and also stewarded. But when I got my 20th steward certificate and finally tried to apply for the WCF apprenticeship, the passing age was raised from 18 to 25 years old. I was so disappointed. But I have always believed that everything happens for the reason. And so I decided to move forward with breeding, since I had gained so much experience working with WCF experts.
In 2014 I got my WCF cattery certificate. I wanted to name my cattery “Kotsun” in honor of my cat, but the WCF does not approve any name that contains the word “cat” in it (“Kot” means “cat” in the Russian language). Instead, the cattery name ArgentAiment was approved by the WCF. ArgentAiment means “silver love,” and my breeding program only included silver tabby cats:) I kept going to cat shows and breeding seminars to keep learning about genetics and other important things.
I started to place my mature females in other homes and got a team of co-breeders, which is good-sized now and still growing. Since I can’t keep hundreds of cats/kittens in my own home, it was the best decision. Each of my co-breeders are huge cat lovers like I am. All of our kittens are raised in the best conditions. Each baby gets a lot of love and care every day. Our kittens are always well socialized and litter box/scratching post trained. We only feed them high quality food in the best brands and natural food is also a main part of their diet.
When my cat Kotsun turned 6 years old, I decided that it was time to retire him. I neutered him and after that he lost his alpha status in the house. All of the other cats started to bully him. I wanted to keep him forever, but I knew doing so would be selfish. He is a very sociable, affectionate boy and he deserved to have the best life possible. The idea of having to keep such a loving, sweet cat in a separate room broke my heart, and so I knew I had to make the tough decision to rehome him.
Nichole James from Anchorage, Alaska, US who had already adopted one kitty from me always told me that Kotsun was the most gorgeous cat she had ever seen and she dreamt about getting a second kitten that looked like him. So I offered Kotsun to her for adoption. I thought it would be hard for him to adjust at his older age, but adapted so well. Now he has the best life ever! Nichole has 2 dogs and both of them respect Kotsun. He feels like a king in his two-story house. His daddy who said he didn’t want any more cats is now Kotsun’s biggest fan. Now his favorite food is fresh salmon that his daddy catches in the Kenai river.
Our kittens were usually only adopted in Ukraine, Russia, and Moldova. Later, I started to find homes for my babies in other European countries and eventually – all over the world. In 2015 a family in the United States came to me looking for a kitty, and I realized that US is the best country ever for my kittens. They are the most responsible, careful, and grateful people. What brings me endless happiness is getting feedbacks about how the babies are doing. Getting pictures and videos from happy, loving families and their spoiled kitties is the best part of what I do. Most of my US buyers become my friends, and many end up getting another kitten because of how beautiful and well-socialized they are. And I get new customers because buyers recommend adopting my kitties to their friends!
But just as everything was growing and thriving—life took a turn I never could have imagined.
On February 24, 2022, everything changed forever. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The peaceful life I had built was shattered in an instant. Russian missiles began falling on Ukrainian cities—bombing homes, hospitals, schools. It was terrifying. The sound of air raid sirens, the fear in people’s eyes, the helplessness—it’s something I will never forget.
My heart was breaking—not only for my family and the animals I loved, but for my country and every innocent soul suffering under this brutal attack. We were being terrorized in our own homeland. I had to make the hardest decision of my life: to leave behind everything I had built to protect my loved ones. I left my home, my cattery, and the world I knew, and became a refugee.
Through fear and tears, I made my way to the United States, carrying only hope and the dream of safety. Starting over was not easy—but I am a breeder, a nurturer, and I knew I could rebuild with love and purpose. Here, I found peace. I found support. And I began to create a new life.
Even now, I continue to bring kittens from Ukraine to the U.S.—not only to give them bright, safe futures, but to support my co-breeders who stayed behind. They are like family to me. Together, we make sure every kitten gets the love and care it deserves, no matter what. This is my way of helping them survive, too.
Now, from this new home, I continue doing what I love—raising healthy, beautiful, well-socialized kittens and connecting them with amazing families. Every adoption is a piece of my healing. Every happy family reminds me that even after destruction, love always finds a way to grow again.
PS: My very favorite feedback to get are videos of when families see their kitty for the first time. If you are adopting a kitty, please, please take a video of meeting your kitty and send it to me 🙂
