NIKKI HORNER with GC SHAWNEE MOONLIGHT (CEW)CFA CAT OF THE YEAR – 1960, 1961 & 1964
Photo: Cats Magazine, September 1960
Courtesy of The CFA Foundation, Inc.
Article graphics:
www.gograph.com

BY KAREN LAWRENCE

NECOLIA WILLOUGHBY SLOBODIAN HORNER SHUTTLEWORTH
Shawnee Cattery
This article is a compilation of text and data taken fromthe research files of Valerie Edwards, Crown E American Shorthairs,with additional research and addition of photos by Karen Lawrence.
The assistance of Barbara French with both ancestry.com
and newspapers.com research is much appreciated.

“A Louisville girl the age of 5 started collecting alley cats.
Now she is one – and probably at the top of the nation’s exhibitors of show felines …”
January 13, 1963. The Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY

Nikki is a well-established icon of the cat fancy, described as a “most gracious lady,” but she
was also a rebel and an over-achiever … no other words are suitable to portray her. Her
multiple marriages, life as a runway model and beauty queen, contestant on “To Tell theTruth”, plus a fierce competitor at cat shows were all part and parcel of Necolia Willoughby
Slobodian Horner Shuttleworth. She said that “Shawnee cats were never campaigned for Catof the Year”, but she certainly took more than her fair share of prizes over the years. She
admitted that “she stopped counting at 100 CFA Grand Champions and lost track of Best-inShow wins at around 500.”
Nikki was the daughter of Elzie Homer Willoughby and his wife, Ollie B. Yates. Born in
Kentucky in 1925, she spent the majority of her life in that state, with short forays into
Indiana and Pennsylvania
Nikki’s collection of cats began as a child as she brought home every stray she could catch.
Her parents encouraged her interest, but also left windows open in their home so some of
the cats Nikki collected could escape and help keep the numbers down. A purebred white
Longhair was a gift from her mother on her 16th birthday. Nikki registered the cattery prefix,
Shawnee, with CFA in 1946.
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In 1943, she married Alex Slobodian, amember of the U.S. Army stationed atBowman Field, Kentucky.
As early as 1857, one had to be 21 years of age
to marry in Kentucky without parental
consent. Her new husband was 6 years older
than Nikki, so his age wasn’t an issue, but
Nikki lied on her marriage license application,
claiming she was 21 when she was, in fact,
only 18.
In a 1954 newspaper article it was explained
that, “although always interested in cats, Mrs.
Horner turned to breeding in a sort ofdesperation. Dr. John W. Taylor, former
President of the University of Louisville,
brought her a pet Siamese which he obtained
from a Baroness in England.
When the cat’s calling time came she ‘had todo something about it’ or else she neverwould have gotten any sleep.”
The first Shawnee advertisement we can find –Nikki introduces herself as a Siamese breeder
in the March 1948 issue of All-Pets magazine.
PHOTO: 1948 Mar-All-Pets Magazine.

Nikki’s Siamese were, of course, ultimately
award-winning cats, taking a 1947 AllAmerican award for Best Seal Point Siamesemale with CH Knight’s Peter Piper who wasborn in 1946.
The dam of the kittens shown in Nikki’s
advertisement, Kyaac of Valhalla, was born in
1944; the sire, Tremunth Montgomery, wasborn in 1943.
Numerous other Siamese litters followed, andin 1949 she had All-American Best Siamese
Female of the Year. Registration records
indicate that Nikki continued to breed
Siamese until about 1957.
Nikki was helping to organize cat clubs andshows in Kentucky as early as 1948, when she
was elected President of the newly formed
Kentucky Cat Club. She helped advertise the
new club by radio appearances on the local
WAVE radio station.

Siamese, Shawnee Miosa with owner Nikki Horner,
BEST KITTEN at the Kentucky Cat Club show in 1952.
Photo: The Courier-Journal, January 7, 1952.

A photo of Nikki in the July 1949 issue of Cats
Magazine announced her move from
Kentucky to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Whilemarried to Alex Slobodian, Nikki added
Persians to her cattery and would eventually
excel at breeding those as well

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A groomed Shawnee Copper Lustre
Photo: Cats Magazine August 1951

Nikki and Alex Slobodian filed for a divorce in late1950, with the final decree filed as of June 1,
1951.
Nikki wasted no time jumping into a second
marriage, circa July 25, 1951 to Scoville Stephen
Horner of Evansville, Indiana.
Horner was a pre-med student, who eventuallyearned a living as a pharmaceuticalrepresentative, which was fitting as his father
owned the Evansville business, Horner’s CutRate
Drugs.

Nikki with Shawnee Copper Lustre
Photo: All-Pets Magazine, March 1950.

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Mrs. Scoville S. Horner Jnr modelling. Photo: Robert Steiner, Courier Journal, October 1953.

A CAREER IN MODELLING
In a 1963 newspaper article, Nikki said that “she went to work as a model to earn money tosupport her cats,” explaining that she had always had between 15 and 100 cats at her homesince the age of 17.
Nikki took up modeling for Saks Fifth Avenue and capitalized on that notoriety in publicity forthe shows she entered. As the Knoxville News Sentinel referred to “the beauteous Saks Fifth
Avenue model Nikki Horner”, she would eventually become a last-minute entrant in the 1954
Miss Kentucky contest – which she won.
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Entrance to the Shawnee Cattery – Showing By Appointment
Image: All-Pets Magazine, April 1959.

In an interview she revealed that she was celebrating her third wedding anniversary while
competing at the Miss Kentucky pageant.
A 1960 article in The Asbury Press, promoting the Garden State Cat Club and Sand ‘n Surf Cat
Club’s show reported, “A former Miss Universe contestant, Mrs. Nikki Horner of Newburgh,Ind., exhibited her copper-eyed, grand champion, longhair, white male, Shawnee
Moonflight.”
In 1953, Nikki co-sponsored a fashion show, using her cats as accessories for the runway
models.
The late-1950s to the mid-1960s were really to be Nikki’s era of both winning Persians andDomestic Shorthairs. By 1959, “Shawnee” had become a household name to cat fanciers, andNikki had a huge sign outside her home welcoming people to Shawnee Cattery.
Registration records for Shawnee cattery show that by the mid-1950s, Nikki had also begun
working with the Burmese breed.
It’s interesting that the cat pictured on the Shawnee sign remained a Siamese, despite herhuge wins at shows with Domestic Shorthairs and Persians.
Nikki had become well known for her numerous entries at shows, with her cats always shownon yellow cage curtains and her cattery staff, wearing yellow smocks, assisting to run theentries from ring to ring. Nikki usually entered a large number of cats, so her rows of yellow
benching cages made quite an impression.
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Nikki Horner with a litter of nine Persian kittens. Holding sire, CH Glad-Low Red Coach of Shawnee.
Photo: Cats Magazine, August 1951
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Full page Shawnee Cattery advertisement showing Nikki’s array of Show cats.
Image: All-Pets Magazine, April 1959.
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NIKKI HORNER with CFA CAT OF THE YEAR ‘GC SHAWNEE MOONFLIGHT’
Photo: ‘Cats Magazine’ September 1960.

As her Persian breeding program developed, she began combining lines from Klinkhammer,
Dixi-Land and Rosedere, and produced a stunning white in 1958 that she named Shawnee
Moonflight.
By the 1959-1960 show season, Moonflight had developed into a magnificent, heavily boned
cat with oodles of coat, and he literally cleaned up at shows with over 105 Best-in-Show wins,
eventually being named CFA’s Hydon-Goodwin All-Star Awards Cat of the Year. His littermate,a white female named GC Shawnee Soap Suds was CFA’s Best Opposite Sex Cat the same year
– quite an accomplishment for littermates!
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GC. SHAWNEE MOONFLIGHT - COY and GC. SHAWNEE SOAP SUDS – BOX
Photo: ‘Cats Magazine’ September 1960.

Achieving Best Cat is a thrill, but when a littermate to the Best Cat is selected as the Best
Opposite Sex Cat it is a wonderful accomplishment. Nikki did just that with Best Cat, GC
Shawnee Moonflight, and his litter sister, GC Shawnee Soap Suds.
Moonflight continued his winning ways for several years, being shown in four associations,and was CFA’s Cat of the Year again in 1961, and repeated that same win again in 1964.
In February of 1961, Nikki was a guest on the television show To Tell the Truth. The purposeof the show being to determine which of three people claiming to be a “cat fancier andbreeder” was the ‘real’ Nikki Horner. Moonflight even makes an appearance! You can findthis episode on YouTube, and Nikki’s appearance starts at the 8:28 minute mark - (105) To
Tell the Truth - Last show with Polly Bergen; PANEL: Faye Emerson (Feb 20, 1961) - YouTube(https://bit.ly/3aBi8Lf)
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Over the years, numerous Shawnee Persians accomplished end-of-season wins in both CFA andthe All-American Awards, including:
•

•

•

•
•
•
•
•
•

GC Shawnee Moon Flowero1958 All Southern Honorable Mentiono1959 All-American copper-eyed white female
GC Shawnee White Wash – copper-eyed white female, nicknamed “Dubby”, was thehighest winning female in the cat fancy at the timeo1962-1963 5th Best All-American Cato
1963-1964 2nd Best All-American Cat; Best Opposite Sex Cat (to Persian, GC
Shawnee Moonflight)o1964-1965 All-American Opposite Sex Cat of the Year (to Domestic Shorthair,
GC Shawnee Trademark)o
1965-1966 4th Best Longhair Female, CFA’s Hydon-Goodwin All-Star Awardso1966-1967 2nd Best Longhair Female, CFA’s Hydon-Goodwin All-Star Awards;
All-Southern Cat of the Year
GC Shawnee Anti-Septic – copper-eyed white maleo1964 All-American Honorable Mentiono1965 All-Southern Honorable Mentiono1965-1966 All-Southern and All-American Copper-eyed white maleo
1965-1966 2nd Best Longhair Male, CFA’s Hydon-Goodwin All-Star Awards
GC Shawnee Painted Pinko1969 All-Eastern Cream Persian female
GC Shawnee Bertha of Ivyridgeo1969 All-Eastern Honorable Mention Copper-eyed White Persian Female
CH Shawnee Sebastiano1969 All-Eastern Honorable Mention Blue Persian Male
CH, ACA GC Shawnee Royal Capriceo1969 All-Western Copper-eyed White Persian Male
CH, ACFA GC Shawnee Red Brave of Deb Do1969 All-Southern Red MacTabby Persian MaleGC Shawnee Painting the Town Redo1969 Best Opposite Sex Red Persian (female), CFA Hydon-Goodwin All-Star
Awards; Best Red Persian, CFA Southern Region

Nikki even tried her hand at breeding Himalayans in the early 1970s. While they didn’t achieve as
much success in the judging ring as did her Persians, she did brag that “In our first year of Himalayan
exhibition, the top-scoring Himalayan was from a Shawnee-bred dam. Top Himalayan in the Southwas Champion Shawnee Knubia, Best Cat Allbreed, Savannah, December 1972. Judge: Boris Teron.”
DOMESTIC (AMERICAN) SHORTHAIRS
Nikki began her illustrious venture into Domestic Shorthairs with the purchase of Katnip Corner
Romeo, a silver tabby that she renamed Shawnee Startler and by doing so, removed all reference
to his ‘real’ breeder. Startler was destined to become the first silver tabby male Domestic Shorthairto earn the CFA Grand Champion title. Nikki then searched the country to select the best female
silver tabbies with the best pedigrees she could find, as outcross mates for him.
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By 1959, while married to Stephen Horner and living
in Newburg, Indiana, Nikki had bred a stunning silver
tabby male, named Shawnee Marksman.
Marksman traced his line back to numerous wellknown silver tabbies— Ramayana Jenna of Gray
Horse Farm, Lavender Silver Stripes and Lavender
Silver Goblin—on his sire’s side.
His dam’s side traced back to “unregistered puresilver tabby shorthair Kentucky farm cats” in thethird generation.
Regardless of his heritage, it was a breeding thatclicked. Marksman was a double Grand Champion
and won Best Domestic Shorthair in Cats Magazine’s
All-American Awards and 3rd Best All-Midwest Cat
in 1961.
Late 1961 and early 1962 seems to have been a timeof upheaval for Nikki, as she divorced Stephen
Horner and married Dr. William Wallace
Shuttleworth Jr.

WOLFGANG LA ROSA,
the dam of Shawnee Trademark.
From ‘The Minneapolis Star’, October 21, 1965

For the first time in several years, no Shawnee catsshown by Nikki were included in the 1962 AllAmerican winners.
She did, however, bounce back with a vengeance inthe following years.

In 1964, Nikki had All-American Kitten of the Year with Shawnee Sixth Son, who was “sixgenerations of Shawnee silver tabby out-breeding.”
Sixth Son accumulated every one of his All-American points at shows organized by ACFA, CFA andCFF clubs. Nikki had a habit of listing a cat’s “wins and losses” in her advertisements in Cats
Magazine – that is, she basically considered anything other than Best Cat to be a loss. She often
had an expression in her advertisements – “If a cat is shown by SHAWNEE – It is a Best-in-Show
All-American Quality Cat!”When Marksman was bred to Wolfgang La Rosa, a female that traced back to important Domestic
Shorthair cats such as Aztec, the breeding clicked. A magnificent kitten, with an almost perfectclassic tabby pattern, was born and named Shawnee Trademark.
For his owners, Nikki & Bill Shuttleworth, Shawnee Trademark was a dream come true. He had anillustrious show career over the four years that he was shown and was a consistent winner nomatter in which association he was shown.
Today, GC Shawnee Trademark is recognized as one of the greatest Domestic (American)
Shorthairs of all time. For four years, Trademark dominated the silver tabby Domestic Shorthair
awards, especially in the Cats Magazine All-American Awards. The highlight was being named BestCat both in the All-American Awards as well as in CFA’s Hydon-Goodwin All-Star Awards in 1965.
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Mrs. Nikki Shuttleworth with her silver tabby GC Shawnee Trademark, named Best Cat
in CFA’s Hydon-Goodwin All-Star Awards in 1965, as well as Best All-American Cat in theCats Magazine All-American Awards. Also pictured is the black male, GC Shawnee Anthracite,
ACFA Southern Region’s Best Kitten in 1963.
Photo: ‘Cats Magazine’, September, 1963.

Over the years, Shawnee Trademark’s awards include:•1963 - All-Southern, All Honorable Mention Domestic Shorthair male, ACFA•
1964 - All-Southern, Best Domestic Shorthair, 10th Best All-American Awards•
1965 - Best Domestic Shorthair, Best Cat All-American Awards; Best Cat, CFA
Hydon-Goodwin All-Star Awards•
1966 - All-Southern, All American Silver Tabby; CFA’s 4th Best Shorthair MaleAll content © 2021 Felis Historica, The Harrison Weir Collection & The CFA Foundation, Inc.

Along with working with her silver tabbies, Nikki also concentrated on solid black Domestic
Shorthairs. When a gorgeous solid black female appeared in a 1960 litter by GC Shawnee
Marksman out of Shawnee Matilda, Nikki recognized that she had bred the beginnings of her“line”. She named the kitten Shawnee Black Bon Bon and mated her with the top winning black
American of that year, GC Karabee Dark Nite, producing GC Shawnee Anthracite who was bornin 1963.
From there, the blacks were mated full-sister to full-brother for several generations, until
Kenneth David of Lexington, Kentucky requested stud service to Anthracite for his black andwhite bicolor, Pampas After Six, who was a total outcross for Nikki’s lines.
One of Six’s qualities was an exceptionally hard coat texture that was ideal for the breed – andfor her newly developing Bombay breed. Nikki recognized this and chose to take GC David
Copperfield of Shawnee (born August 19, 1966 from the mating of Six’s daughter, CH David’s
Black Onyx to GC Shawnee Shot in the Dark) instead of her normal cash stud fee. She also
obtained GC Esquire Escapade of Shawnee (born May 26, 1967 from the mating of CH David’s
Black Onyx to Shotsie’s son, GC Shawnee Dancing in the Dark) as a kitten back. The last litter of
the Shawnee American Shorthairs was registered in 1975.
BURMESENot much is known about the background of Nikki’s Burmese breeding program, other than itwas extensive, and the fact that she bred forty-one Burmese Grand Champions, two of whichwere National Winners -- and that she crossed her Burmese to black Domestic Shorthairs as
early as the mid-1950s.
As was to be expected, several of her Burmese were season-end winners, including:
•
•
•
•
•

GC Hill House Daniella of Shawnee, All-American Burmese female, 1965
GC Shawnee Cassius Clay, All-Southern Honorable Mention Burmese Male, 1965
GC, NW Shawnee Sweet Georgia Brown, CFA 9th Best Cat, 1971-1972
GC, NW Shawnee On The Road Again, CFA 10th Best Cat, 1988-1989
GC, RW Shawnee Hannah Mae, CFA Gulf Shore Region, 11th Best Cat in Premiership,
1994-1995

GC Shawnee Cassius Clay – Burmese, born Oct 6, 1962.
Photo: ‘Cats Magazine’, August 1965.

GC Hill House Daniella of Shawnee – Burmese
Photo: ‘Cats Magazine’, September 1965.

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BOMBAY
While it was in 1958 that the first Bombay cat
made its appearance at Nikki’s cattery, she had
continued her development of this new breed
over the years. As part of her continued
outcross program, Nikki eventually used two
amazing ‘kitten back’ black American
Shorthairs bred to Burmese to help her
improve her new breed - the Bombay, “thepatent leather kids with new penny eyes”, forwhich she will always be remembered.

SHAWNEE MOZAMBIQUE OF KEJO,
male Bombay born 1973.
Photo: CFA Yearbook, 1991.

Suzanne Zwecker wrote in the March 1999 Cat
Fanciers’ Almanac, “Nikki’s first attempts tocreate this “mini-panther” took place in the late
1950s. She experimented with crossing her
Burmese with some black Domestic Shorthairs,
but the results were mostly unsatisfactory so
the effort was abandoned after just a few
litters.”

In the mid-1960s, Nikki decided to take another stab at creating her “mini panther”, using five black
American Shorthairs bred to her sable Burmese. Nikki herself wrote, “Tracing the development of
the breed reads much like a list of biblical ‘begats,’ but it all started with carefully selected animals.
One of the Burmese used was a magnificent sable male, GC Shawnee Cassius Clay. GC Shawnee
Little Brown Jug and his son, GC Shawnee Colonel Casey were two other Burmese used extensively
in the early breeding of Bombays. The black Americans used to supply coat texture and eye color
were males GC David Copperfield of Shawnee and GC Shawnee Shot in the Dark. American females
used include GC Esquire Escapade of Shawnee, CH David’s Black Onyx and Shawnee Obsidian.”
Shawnee Mozambique, born September 28, 1973, traces back to American Shorthair and Burmese
ancestors, as well as the first CFA registered male and female Bombays.

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Nikki noted in a 1965 Cats Magazine
advertisement that “We are applying to CFA toname our new breed Bombay Shorthairs. The
breed originates from black American Shorthairsbred to Burmese.” She also said, “In the prechampionship days. I resorted to giving Bombays
to people who promised to exhibit them andpromote their popularity.”
But it would be 1970 before CFA was ready toaccept Nikki’s new breed for registration andwould take another six years for the Bombay tobe advanced to Championship status in 1976.

GC SHAWNEE AI AI OF SANKACHI – Bombay
Photo: CFA Yearbook, 1991.

In her 1999 article about the Bombay, Suzanne
Zwecker wrote, “Within a month of thisaccomplishment, Nikki retired from breeding andshowing, and sold out her cattery,” Phil Maggitti,
in his 1990-1991 CFA Yearbook article on theBombay had said the same thing, that “For Nikki
Horner, however, it was the end.”“She stopped going to shows, and eventually phased out her several breeding programs. Hornerattended her last cat show – Roses for Felines, Louisville, Kentucky – in 1976.”
While she may have taken a break from breeding, Nikki certainly didn’t stop completely.
Nikki resumed showing at the point where the Bombay breed was just beginning to show signs ofgrowing popularity. In 1988 Nikki showed the Best of Breed Bombay, GC, BW Road to Fame Returnto Shawnee bred by Herb & Suzanne Zwecker, who was also Second Best of Breed in 1989. She also
had CFA’s 10th Best Cat in 1988-1989 with a Burmese, GC, NW Shawnee On The Road Again.
GC Shawnee Ai Ai of Sankachi, born September 8, 1976, was out of two generations of Bombay, but
still with Burmese and American Shorthair on the pedigree.

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CFA’s registration records show that Nikki had added Judy Scruggs’ name as a Shawnee cattery
co-owner. Judy was officially Nikki’s cattery manager. With the addition of another person to thecattery name, it looks like Nikki continued to breed Burmese right up until the year she died but
it may have been Judy Scruggs doing the breeding and registering litters as Nikki was quite ill in
her later years.
Nikki died in Jefferson County, Kentucky on April 11, 1995. The legacy she left behind is amazing,considering it spans fantastic achievements across numerous breeds over several decades, plus
the creation of an entirely new breed that has turned out to be extremely popular at CFA shows.
Several Shawnee Burmese and Bombay litters were registered for a few years following Nikki’s
death, presumably bred and registered by Judy Scruggs, her cattery manager.
NOTE: Some of the information contained in this article will become
part of a new, as yet unnamed book being put together about theAmerican Shorthair breed history. The overall basis for the book ismultiple articles and a great deal of research, over decades, by Valerie
Edwards. Her material is being edited, reviewed, and enhanced by
Karen Lawrence who also has plans to add a multitude of early
Shorthair photos to the finished book. Publication date is not yet
known, but we will be pleased to start a listing of people interested ina copy when it is published.

REFERENCES:
1.

The Courier-Journal, January 13, 1963

2.

Cat Fanciers’ Almanac, July 1995

3.

Cats Magazine, August 1973

4.

Ancestry.com

5.

The Courier-Journal, January 13, 1963

6.

The Courier-Journal, November 21, 1954

7.

The Courier-Journal, January 25, 1948

8.

The Courier-Journal, February 12, 1948

9.

The Courier-Journal, December 13, 1950

10.

The Courier-Journal, January 13, 1963

11.

Cats Magazine, August 1973

12.

Cats Magazine, March 1964

13.

Cats Magazine, August 1965

14.

‘Meet the Bombay’, by Patricia C. Taylor, Cat World, May-June 1978

15.

Cat Fanciers’ Almanac, November 1991

16.

Cats Magazine, September 1965

17.

Cat Fanciers’ Almanac, November 1991

18.

Cat Fanciers’ Almanac, March 1999

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