Section A - Page 8
The University Daily Kansan
Wednesday, June 28, 2000
Cat Show
Cat owners from around the Midwest were in Lawrence for the Kansas City Midwest Cat Club's 40th annual cat show at the Douglas County 4-H Fairgrounds. The show was held last weekend.
On the CATwalk
Feline fanciers show their purebred, rare, household pets
Simply divine
The fluffy orange Persian cat stretched languidly on her back on a gold lamet quilt as her owner prepared her for competition by carefully combing her belly fur.
Scenes like this at the Kansas City Midwest Cat Club's 40th Annual Cat Show last weekend at the Douglas County 4-H Fairgrounds illustrate a joke popular among cat fanciers: A dog thinks, "Humans feed me, take care of all my wants, and love me. They must be gods." But a cat thinks, "Humans feed me, take care of all my wants, and love me. I must be a god."
Ninety-seven cats from the royally-treat-
fish cats from the royally-treated purebred Persian on gold lame to royally-treated household pets competed in several categories in the weekend show. Twenty-three breeds were represented in the
show, said club president Jody Lawson
Lawson said
s h e
became
interested in cats only recently
A world of its own
"I didn't have a cat until about four years ago when my son brought home a cat he'd rescued," she said. "The minute you hold one in your arms and it purrs one time, you're hooked."
Eudora cat breeder Kenna Duerr is a show judge and a board member of the American Cat Fancier's Association. She said judging cat shows is a world of its own. Judges have to undergo rigorous training to know the characteristics of the different breeds.
Cats have to be show-trained, too, Duerr said. They are trained from kittenhood so they're not disturbed by being picked up by judges and stretched out to see how long they are. Show cats need to be content in a cage and have to get used to the toys judges use to see their reactions.
Duerr said that cat fanciers recognize new breeds of cats occasionally. A breed can be recognized only if it is at least five generations removed from wild cats. And there can be only one wild cat in a pedigree.
Duerr raises Abyssinian cats. They look like miniature mountain lions, she said.
"But they're apt to lick you to death rather than damage your body," she said. "They appeal to me because the Abyssinian is not a cat. It's a four-footed, fur-covered person."
duce," she said.
"The closer the wild blood, the more temperamental the cats are, and the more wild cat pheromones they produce." she said.
pheromones make a lot of the show cats go crazy."
And crazy cats are hard on judges, she said. Big Boys
The Maine Coon cat is a relatively new breed but is now second in popularity to Persians. Maine Coon cat owner Jean Eckrich said Persian cats were the most popular breed but that Maine Coon cats were getting close.
Lawrence cat fancier Susan Embretson said the long-haired cats were first found in Maine and were recognized as a breed about 30 years ago.
"Their behavior is kind of like a raccoon's," she said. "They like water, and like to swish their food around in the water."
The color varies. Brown tabby is common, but Embretson's two Maine Coon cats, Commodore and Sunny, are a silver tabby and a light red, or cameo, tabby with a white undercoat.
"They're known as the gentle giants," said cat fancier Karen Rose.
These are *big* cats. Males run 12 to 18 pounds, and females eight to 12 pounds
Her Maine Coon cat, Rose Petals Yumasun's Osage Sunfire, is only 10 months old, but already weighs 15 pounds.
"We think he's going to be a pretty big boy," she said. "They take four to five years to reach their full growth. He was neutered at nine months. He's my proof that an early neuter does not stunt their growth."
Rose said her cat was called Danny for short, after Danny Kaye, because he has red hair like the singer.
Club president Lawson said Maine Coon cats were very loving.
"They like to be in the same room with you and will follow you from room to room." she said.
Cleanliness is next to Godliness
Getting a cat ready for a show can be a big job. Rose said she bathed her cats on weekends for a couple of weeks before a show, and again on the day she left for the show. She said she first washed her cats in Goop,
a de-greaser, because Maine Coon cats have oily skin. She follows the Goop with Dawn dish detergent and then a shampoo — different types for different fur colors.
"For red, I use 'Filthy Animal shampoo,' she said.
Rose raises cats at Rose Petals Cattery in Nevada, Mo.
"A cattery is to a cat what a kennel is to a dog," she said. "But we don't have cages. We raise them lovingly underfoot."
Rumpies and stumpies
Al and Theresa Buehler entered their purebred Manx cat, Foxer Chasing Stars to the Sky (Chase for short), in the show. Manx cats are distinguished by their lack of a tail.
Theresa Buehler said Chase was a "rumpy" — a Manx with no tail at all. Some Manxes are "stumpies" — with vestigial tails that disqualify them from competition. And some are born with full tails.
"They're a really good people's cat," Buehler said. "They get close to one person and tolerate the rest. They're a dominant cat. They look in the mirror and they see a lion, not a cat. But they have a sweet disposition."
Chase is attached to Al Buehler. The Buehlers said that before Chase was neutered, he showed his attachment by spraying Al a couple of times.
“Something you'd want to take home”
Tammy Rand, Newton, Iowa, cat fancier, brought Orbit and Silo to the show. They're not purebreds, but household pets from the rescue league, she said. They do well in the household pets category.
Rand said purebred cats were judged on how close they were to the ideal body form and coloring of the different breeds. But there's no ideal form or color for household pets, so they are judged on cleanliness and disposition.
"Something you'd want to take home," she said. "Judges enjoy this category because they can just decide, 'I like this cat.'"
Edited by Ben Embry
Story by Jim O'Malley • Photos by Aaron Lindberg