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You are here: Home / Diary / My Weekend at the Cat Show

My Weekend at the Cat Show

September 29, 2014 By: Summer Samba80 Comments

I'm waiting to be admired. Or groomed

I bet you are all wondering how things went at the cat show! It was lots of fun. There were five “rings” each day, for a total of 10 rings. A ring is a bunch of cages surrounding a judging table. The cages are where the cats wait to be judged, once they are called up. When I wasn’t being called up, I mostly hung out in my Sturdi shelter.

DON'T ignore the little cat behind the curtain!

I stayed zipped up a lot so my human didn’t have to keep an eye on me all the time. I napped, and I was so relaxed that I flopped over on my back to snooze a couple of times. But when I wasn’t sleepy, I wanted out. And since I’m so good (in other words, I don’t go bolting off the table or get mad at the other cats nearby), I got to be out a lot. I got a quick touch-up groom before being shown in each ring, and I also practiced my facial expressions! It’s important to have a pleasing look for the judges.

I don't know what I was doing here!

My human said this was not a good expression to have!

Don't the judges have a sense of humor?

She also said the judges would not like to be given a raspberry! I think it would be fun. Everyone takes this judging thing so seriously sometimes.

Aren't they adorable?

Often cat shows will also feature rescue cats for adoption. There was a whole row of them on Saturday from Hope to Home for Cats (they were also at the LA Feline Film Festival). My human loved these two kitties. The gray one wanted to come home with her.

They smelled nice, even if I could not really see them

I thought you might like to get a quick look at my neighbors and fellow competitors. These two blue Somali boys (blue is a dilute version of ruddy, my color) had the cage next to mine. They were not quite five months old, but they were already bigger than me! They are also very handsome.

This was the boring part

Here we all are, waiting to be judged in a ring. We were all being judged as Longhair Kittens. (That’s the way it is in TICA. In the other association I’m registered in, CFA, I’m considered a Shorthair because my base breed, Abyssinian, is shorthaired. Weird, I know!) I’m 21. The #20 kitty is a Siberian. The #24 kitten is a baby Turkish Van. He was just barely 4 months old and very cute! My human is hoping he gets shown more so she can watch him grow up.

I'm trying to be good and not fall asleep!

Being in the ring and waiting to be judged is the boring part because you don’t get to have toys and you aren’t allowed to play with the other kitties in the cages next to you… although some kitties try to break that rule. My human didn’t get photos of me being judged because it annoys the judges sometimes and she wants to stay on their good side. Maybe next week, when I go to Las Vegas for a show there, my human will find someone to take photos of me on the judging table!

So here is how the whole judging thing works. You compete against other cats or kittens of your breed, and the ones who place highest for each breed might get considered for a final, either an Allbreed final (short and long haired) or Specialty (just shorthaired or just longhaired). 10 kittens finaled in each ring for Allbreed, and the couple of specialty rings this weekend had 6 kittens finaling. In this show, there were a total of 47 kittens entered — 24 longhaired and 23 shorthaired (although a couple dropped out along the way).

I've got more of these at home too!

And here is how I did! Out of the 10 rings, I got first place Somali kitten four times, and was a finalist three times! The same judge gave me 8th Best Kitten two days in a row, and one specialty judge gave me 4th Best Kitten! So I did pretty good!

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Comments

  1. Jenna,Mark “HuskyCrazed” Drady says

    October 8, 2014 at 5:36 am

    wow! How wonderful!!!!
    thanks so much for linking up to our pet parade!
    ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!

    Reply
  2. Elvira Mistress of felinity says

    October 4, 2014 at 11:22 pm

    Concatulations!!!

    A wonderful post and cool photos!

    MY fave was the raspberry!

    Like Nikita I would have thrown caution to the wind, judges be damned!

    I’m just sassy that way, hee, hee! ;-D

    Reply
  3. MAry matthews says

    October 4, 2014 at 8:52 pm

    Summer, you look like you have beautiful form! Congrats. And the Siberian next to you looks beautiful too! I don’t think being a judge of cats would be an easy job. Happy Caturday!

    Reply
  4. Kelley says

    October 4, 2014 at 1:56 pm

    Much different from a dog show. I think running around the ring with a cat on a leash would be difficult! Seriously, I’d love to hear more about the nuts and bolts of cat showing.

    Reply
  5. Kjelle Bus aka Charlie Rascal says

    October 3, 2014 at 1:53 pm

    Sounds like a successful show , Summer !
    Glad to see that you don´t mind being on catshows 🙂

    XOXO

    Reply
  6. Rascal and Rocco says

    October 3, 2014 at 11:06 am

    Pretty good? You did fantastic! I think your expressions are just perfect. Glad you didn’t take the whole affair too seriously.

    Reply
  7. Molly says

    October 3, 2014 at 10:10 am

    This is my first time visiting and I can see why she won. She is gorgeous! (And “gorgeous” is not a word I use lightly when it comes to cats.)

    Reply
  8. Feline Yogi says

    October 2, 2014 at 9:42 pm

    You did wonderful Summer! Congratulations! Meow and Namaste! ~ Pippy the Feline Yogini

    Reply
  9. Timmy Tomcat says

    October 1, 2014 at 1:43 pm

    You must be so proud Summer. I know I would vote fur you in a heartbeat
    Timmy

    Reply
  10. LP says

    September 30, 2014 at 3:44 pm

    Of course you did well Summer! You are beautiful inside and out! Our human misses cat shows.. we don’t have them anymore in Vancouver now , they are on the Island now and it is a long way to go to see one. DId your human buy any cat beds? Our human got all our cat beds at cat shows! 🙂

    the critters in the cottage xo

    Reply
    • Summer Samba says

      September 30, 2014 at 4:31 pm

      No cat beds this time… maybe in Vegas (paws crossed!).

      Reply
  11. Nerissa's Life says

    September 30, 2014 at 3:37 pm

    First place? FOUR TIMES? That must be EXCELLENT, for sure! CONGRATULATIONS!!!

    Purrs,
    Nissy

    PS. Regardin’ the pictures… Tell your human to give me a call. I’ll hook her up with a pen camera. No one will ever know she’s takin’ pictures. What’s that Peepers? I don’t have a pen camera to give her, you say? Hmmph! Little do YOU know, Peepers. Little do you know… purrs

    Reply
  12. meowmeowmans says

    September 30, 2014 at 10:44 am

    That’s pawsome, Summer! We are glad you did so well! 🙂

    Reply
  13. Bailey Boat Cat says

    September 30, 2014 at 5:20 am

    Concatulations Summer! You did so well! My furiend Scurvy (who also lives on a boat) is a Turkish Van. He’s very handsome. I hope you see your furiend grow up. My mum is going to have a look at the sturdi shelters like you’ve got and see if we can get one in Europe… I’ve been in trouble for escaping again while being supervised outside. She thinks maybe I might like a cool tent like yours to enjoy the fresh air but not be tempted to go exploring!

    Reply
  14. Duni says

    September 30, 2014 at 4:50 am

    Congratulations Summer! I just love your cute smiley face!
    If I were there I’d probably come home with BOTH rescue cats 😉

    Reply
  15. Basil says

    September 30, 2014 at 1:50 am

    Well done you, sounds like a brilliant experience!!

    Reply
  16. Athena says

    September 30, 2014 at 12:10 am

    Congrats, Summer! Not surprised you did so well. You are very beautiful and cute in every way 🙂

    Purrs xx
    Athena and Marie

    Reply
  17. Gattina says

    September 30, 2014 at 12:08 am

    Congratulations Summer, must have been quite tiring ! If I would walk through the “ring” I would think I walk through a prison !

    Reply
  18. Andrea and the Celestail Kitties says

    September 29, 2014 at 9:45 pm

    Aw, you look so cute while competing! Congratulations on doing so well!

    Reply
  19. Jo-Anne says

    September 29, 2014 at 7:25 pm

    Well congratulations you did well

    Reply
  20. Raven says

    September 29, 2014 at 7:11 pm

    Congratulations on your good showing. I’m glad you had fun during your down time and didn’t get in any trouble.
    Maybe someone with a telephoto lens can get photos of you showing and not being so close that the judge gets annoyed.

    Reply
  21. Lin says

    September 29, 2014 at 7:02 pm

    Hooray! Wow! That was a good showing for your first cat show!

    I think I like your silly faces and the kitties for adoption the best. Like your mom, I like the gray kitty. I have a soft spot for gray kitties. And orange stripeys. And black cats. And…..

    Reply
  22. William says

    September 29, 2014 at 5:55 pm

    Oh, Summer, that is wonderful. Concats, you little doll!

    Reply
  23. Sometimes Cats Herd You says

    September 29, 2014 at 5:38 pm

    Paws up, Summer! Sounds like a successful show.

    Reply
  24. Teri and Coco the Couture Cat and all the kitties of Curlz & Swirlz says

    September 29, 2014 at 5:17 pm

    What a glamour girl you are, and the judges noticed! We loved reading about your weekend and Teri kinda wishes she would run into you at a cat show sometime…you and your cat mom would be loads of fun to pal around with!

    Reply
  25. Famous SpokesGoat Pricilla says

    September 29, 2014 at 4:10 pm

    I can understand you doing well. Just looking at you is a joy.

    Reply
  26. Cherry City Kitties says

    September 29, 2014 at 4:04 pm

    Wow! Great job Summer! Mom and Dad went to a cat show once and they were amazed by all of it! It sure looked like a ton of work, but a ton of fun too. We thinks there are a lot more ribbons in your future!

    Reply
  27. Lone Star Cats says

    September 29, 2014 at 3:54 pm

    Congrats Summer!

    I know Crockett would like da raspberry picture.

    Reply
« Older Comments

Trackbacks

  1. iMeowza » Carnival of the Cats #551 says:
    October 6, 2014 at 11:06 am

    […] had an eventful weekend at the cat show.. Go see how eventful. Way to go […]

    Reply
  2. The Caturday Report: Smart Blogger Edition says:
    October 4, 2014 at 12:11 am

    […] Here is how I did at last week’s cat show… and a little bit about how cat shows are run […]

    Reply

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