ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, October 13, 1996 TAG: 9610140066
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WIRTZ
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN SNIDER STAFF WRITER
EXPERTS DOUBT that ``honey bear'' cats really are part skunk. But that doesn't dissuade a Franklin County woman who sells the breed - or some people who've bought cats from her.
When Jessie Burnette tells people her "honey bear" cats are part skunk, often the first thing they ask is "Do they spray? Do they stink?"
For the record, the answer to both questions is no. But they do carry their fluffy tails up skunk-style and have been known to burrow as if they were outdoors. They have soft, silky fur - like a skunk's, Burnette said - and scamper for cover at the slightest provocation.
Her cats even enjoy watching television, she said. Their favorite program is "Wheel of Fortune," and they also like auto racing.
The gentle, timid "bears" are more intelligent than other cats, she said.
"You would think they are human," said Burnette, 72, who has been breeding and selling her honey bears for several years. "They really understand me."
If the cats are part skunk, then the marriage was performed in a laboratory, not in nature.
A California woman who developed the breed said the first honey bear was the product of secret government medical research done at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., in the 1970s.
Ann Baker, 78, who lives in Riverside, claimed scientists at the federal government's biomedical research facility injected skunk genes into the chromosomes of a cat.
Baker, who for years had been raising another breed of cat called "ragdolls," said the government asked her to care for a genetically altered cat-skunk.
When she bred that cat with a normal male cat, she christened the offspring honey bears because in hot weather the cats often flatten their bodies against a cool floor and spread their legs out to the side like bear rugs, she said.
Jeannie Jones, a honey bear breeder who lives in Phoenix, said Baker has tried unsuccessfully to get the government to confirm her version of events.
"The government is just not going to tell all their little secrets," Jones said.
The Cat Fanciers Association, the world's largest registry of pedigreed cats, does not recognize the honey bear breed or Baker's brand of ragdoll, spokesman Michael Brim said.
Instead, honey bears are registered in the International Ragdoll Cat Association, which Baker founded.
Jones has heard the cat associations dispute the honey bear's legitimacy before, and she said the other breeders are jealous.
"You've got something that they don't have or understand," she said.
But a veterinary medicine professor at Virginia Tech said it's unlikely that honey bears are part skunk.
Phil Sponenberg said he has not read about any experiments involving skunks and cats, and even when this type of research is done, scientists have not had much luck.
"With conventional techniques, this is not possible," Sponenberg said. "Unconventional techniques are very expensive, and they're rarely successful."
Such doubts do not dissuade Burnette, who bought her first "bear" from Baker after seeing an ad in a national cat magazine.
"I'm sure these honey bears are legitimate," she said. "I can feel it. There's a difference in these cats. You have to live with them to know that."
Burnette's house in Franklin County is home to 13 adult "bears" and for now, 12 kittens from three litters. She hopes to sell the kittens as Christmas gifts for about $200 each, which is $100 less than Baker wants her to charge.
Burnette said she is not breeding the cats to make money; she does it because she loves the breed.
The living room of Burnette's home could double as a feline nursery, with two rectangular cages serving as cribs and an assortment of toys spread around. The cats must be kept inside, she said, because they have lost their instinct to find their way home.
Framed photos of cats, past and present, adorn the walls of her home, and her bathroom's decor includes a cat shower curtain and cat figurines.
Burnette keeps albums full of pictures of all the cats she has sold. By now, her stud cat, Huggs Bear Boss, has fathered about 60 kittens.
Burnette breeds her females only three or four times before she has them spayed. By that time, she figures they have done their duty. Most breeders keep breeding until they get several more litters from the females.
When people buy a honey bear, they must sign an agreement to have the cat spayed or neutered because breeding them with non-honey bears could produce defective kittens, Burnette said. Those who buy females have the option of joining the breeding program.
Because there are only six honey bear breeders in the country, Burnette has shipped cats to several states and a few foreign countries. She has sold a fair share in the Roanoke Valley.
One of those customers, Mary Bennett, said her bear, Honeydew, walks more like a skunk or raccoon than a cat, but that's the only thing that sets it apart.
Honeydew is sweet and reserved, said Bennett, who also owns several normal cats.
"She's a polite little lady."
Burnette, who has six children, considers the honey bears part of her family. She is so attached to some of the cats that she will not sell them for any price.
And, no matter how skeptics discount the honey bear, Burnette stands behind the breed.
"If I thought they weren't [part skunk], I would not be trying to sell them."
LENGTH: Long : 108 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY/Staff. 1. Jessie Burnette of Wirtz saysby CNBMidnight is a "honey bear," a breed of cat that is said to have
genetic material from a skunk. 2. Jessie Burnette said the honey
bear cats do have physical attributes akin to a skunk, such as the
fluffy tail on Midnight. 3. (headshort) Burnette. color.