I had been actively involved in the cat fancy world for the past few years now; from volunteering in cat shows and cat exhibitions, becoming a steward and personal assistant to judges, giving advice to other cat owners and maintaining my cat blog.
I would like to talk about the atmosphere at cat shows here whereby the majority of exhibitors who send in their cats had 1 sole purpose in their mind; it is to win.
Many cat owners or breeders would go to the extent of purchasing the most expensive and various kinds of shampoos and cat grooming products just to make sure that their cat will look at its best and for this, the money they had spent must be equal to the top achievement the cat should get.
I had seen many with frowning faces when their cats did not win. Even some resort to cursing and swearing, not just to their cats (obviously the cats had done nothing wrong in the first place), but have even accused the judge of being unfair or prejudiced.
It is sad that many of these people (who are abundant in the show hall) do not have the spirit of sportsmanship. A cat competition should not be a place for cats just to win but it should be an educational ground. Exhibitors should take the chance to gather as much knowledge and share their knowledge and experience from raising a kitten, nutrition, grooming techniques, supplements etc with other fellow exhibitors. I had learnt an exhibitor from Philippines had came all the way here to show her Exotic and had even offered her experiences of grooming technique to another Exotic owner but he had refused to listen to her by saying she might sabotage his Exotic so he did not get a placing in the show. How ridiculous!!
A cat competition is also very important for responsible breeders to know whether their cats had any sign of faults or shortcomings. Most cat shows practice open judging whereby the judges will give comments on the cats they judge. With this vital information, these responsible breeders will determine whether to use the cat as breeding or show them as Show Neuter or even keep them as a pet (not for showing).
Some ‘smart’ breeders seem to have only one motivation: entering their cats and trying to get the Champion titles for them. Once the ‘Champion’ had been given to the cats, their career in shows will be over and the next step, the Champion cats either be sold at a higher price or used in breeding in order to produce kittens which are sold at higher prices since the parents (or maybe 1 parent) are Champions. Many buyers do not know how the ‘Champion’ title is earned and were blinded by this Champion title thinking that the cat or kittens produced must be a good (or even Show) quality which is not necessarily true.
A good (or Show) quality pedigree cat is determined by its ancestry which can be seen on their Pedigree Certificate obtained by recognized cat associations such as The Cat Fanciers Association (CFA), Federation Internationale Feline (FIFe), The International Cat Association (TICA) etc. From the Pedigree Certificate, the achievements for each parents’ cats can be seen by the titles they obtained or earned.
In short, whether your cat wins or loses should not be used as a benchmark in a cat show. Should your cat not win or achieve the results that you expect, learn from it and determine how your cat can be improved (if that is possible, as in the case of grooming or condition). Should it be a fault, it is best to neuter the cat and not use it for breeding purposes since the fault may pass down genetically to the kittens.
Should you win, be modest and there is no need to go around shouting in the show hall that your cat had won or had beat your rival’s cat. Just remember this, your cat may win this round but that does not mean that it will in the future shows because you would not know what other good show quality cats may entered in the future. The last thing an exhibitor would want is to have unnecessary pressures before and during a cat competition.
Theoretically, a cat show is a gathering of dedicated cat owners and their pets and it is a hobby, not a life or death event. Whether your cat wins or not, at the end of the show, you take home the best cat in the world, because it is your much loved pet, whatever decisions a judge might have made that day.
Cat showing is supposedly fun and educational and should not be treated as a battlefield
