Tuesday, May 24, 2016

A last minute Cat Show


A few weeks ago I received a Facebook invite to a CCF cat show "Peace, Love & Cats" in Auburn MA, by Robin Olsen who runs the website Covered in Cat Hair.  She was asked to be a guest judge and was bringing her cat Freya to be judged. Auburn is just over two hours away from me, so while I thought it would be fun, I wasn't sure I wanted to go.

At the end of last week I was talking with my husband and he had a list of things he wanted to do around the house. When he has such lists he finds that he is far more productive when I am out of the house, so we talked about my going.  I contacted Robin and told her I was thinking of going and she invited me to go to the opening of the Worchester Art Museum's Meow Exhibit This was also something I wanted to go to, but now I was faced with a night away from home, which immediately sent me into a panic.  Traveling is always taxing on me, but last minute travel.. I talked myself in and out of going about 100 times.  Finally, in a bid to convince myself to go I looked up how far Isaac Arnold and Smedley was from where I would be and found they were only an hour away.  I contacted Anne to see if she would be up for a visit, and she was, and it was settled.

I'll post about the exhibit and the visit later, but on to the cat show!


When I arrived at the show around noon, Freya had already been shown twice and was first and then seventh.  Robin was just about to start judging. I had time to say hello to her and her nephew who had stopped by to help out (you have got to love a cat man!) and then it was time. 

The ribbons she was going to give out


I was having a hard time getting good photos. There wasn't enough light to do it without the flash, and with the flash, I often ended up with washed out or blurry photos.

I have been to one other cat show and I have to say, cat shows are weird things, and cat shows for household pets are even weirder - well at least to me. I've often wondered if showing a cat might be fun, but considering how often you have to do it in order to make any 'progress' in it, I've decided it isn't for me, but it can be fun to see all of the cats and there are usually a lot of cat vendors there. Arubacat was at this show. They have some pretty impressive cat trees and if I had been there in a vehicle larger than my little convertible I probably would have bought one.

Back to the judging:


Robin had a hard time picking a winner - who wouldn't?  How do you pick one cat over another? There were a few cats that were getting frustrated with being shown and were getting hissy about being put in and pulled out of cages so their owners had to help. Some seemed to enjoy the attention. The dark orange boy really loved having his behind patted. She finally decided on winners and special prizes were given and her job was done for now. She did judge two more a bit later on.

Then Freya had two more showings.  She placed sixth and first again. She seemed to do much better emotionally than some of the other cats and came in and out of her cage easily.


Unfortunately, I didn't get to see her last showing because it was getting late and I wanted to get home before it got dark. I did have a pretty uneventful drive and I was so glad to be home. The cats were also very glad to see me and spent a lot of time on top of me.

20 comments:

  1. Robin really looks great at the judging table! I would have loved to be judged by her! And paws up for how awesome Freya did! I best she was one of the best HHPs in show!

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  2. What a great report, and I love the photos of Robin judging. Her love for cats comes through in every single photo.

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  3. What a fun show! And congrats on Freya doing so well.

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  4. I've never been to a cat show, but looks interesting!

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  5. Patty O'Malley would probably LOVE being on display at a cat show! For a feral, he's very chill.

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  6. Some cats really love the show life, we think.

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  7. Such beautiful kitties! This looks like it was a great time. :) I would have trouble choosing a winner too.

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  8. Great report, thank you for sharing your photos with us. We're not sure we would love to be displayed at a show though. Purrs

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  9. I was expecting the very last line of the post to read, "When I got home, I went inside and found my husband watching sports--while I was gone, he didn't do anything all day!"

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  10. Looks like I just missed you. I met Robin, then left after Freya won her first place ribbon and found that I was getting leaky eyes over the judge's comments!

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  11. I was very proud of Freya. She really showed the other kitties how it's done! You're not the only one who thinks cat shows can be strange sometimes. We've never been to a household cat show and I'd love to be able to compare. Congratulations to all the kitties!

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  12. You're so lucky you got to go, that's so cool! Freya is a beauty.

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  13. Oh yeah it all looks so exciting and such fun.

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  14. Sounds like a fun trip! I've never been to a cat show before, but I think I'll have to check one out sometime!

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  15. That looks like fun. I am only 45 minutes from Auburn, I would have met you there. I am planning to go to the Worcester Art Museum with my Mom and nice soon, I am looking forward to your post about it.

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    1. I should have thought of that, but as I said it was very last minute. I think you will enjoy the Art Museum. I bet it will be fun to go to when they have the actual cats there.

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