What is a cat show?
What is a cat show
A cat show is one of two things or both you decide!
- It’s a place where kittens and cats are seen by judges to see if they meet the standards and the one that meets the standards the best wins!!!
- It can be a place that breeders and exhibitors discuss the outcomes of the cats they have chosen to show. They can also gossip and discuss rumours that may be floating around!
So in the registered breeding world each cat breed has a standard. This is a set of points that each pedigree cats attributes has that breeders breed their cats to be the closest to. It is what is referred to when its said “breeding to standard”. It says how the coat should be, how the body should be, how the eyes should be and how the temperament should be.
It’s the judges who decide how those standards match to your cat. Basically, you are paying (yes you pay to show) for a judges opinion on your cat. Judges are people who often have been a registered breeder with their chosen breed and have decided to study to learn all about all the breeds and put them selves out there to give their thoughts to exhibitors.
Judges need to be unable to be bribed or influenced to put a particular cat forward. Does this always happen? Do judges always just give their unbiased opinion? Do they ever just want to put their ‘friends’ cat up? Do they just want to put the same cats up as other judges? One of the ways to hopefully help the unbiased theme is to not know who their exhibit belongs to. This is good in theory but if you show a lot and have a lot of the same judges each show it becomes impossible to not know who owns what cat!
These are questions that have been asked by many an exhibitor!
So exhibitors!
You have different styes of people who show their cats. Some are laser focused! Listening and taking in all that the judges say and then analyse those words and opinions. They like to repeat and pull apart those words to anyone who will listen. They try to align the judges opinions to what they think and feel about their cat. Often those thoughts do not match theirs and that can be an issue.
Some people
And then there are those that consider it a social outing. They plonk their often-ungroomed cat in their cage and walk away. They spend their day talking to everyone even those that don’t really want to talk back! They will haunt the stalls and search something to buy while they talk! They have an extended lunch joining everyone who will talk!
Another exhibitor is the quiet – not just quiet – glacial quiet. They say nothing about what they think about the judging. They don’t say anything to other exhibitors. They don’t eat with the others , they don’t socialise . They are the ones that you know nothing about. This attitude can sometimes come from being burnt before. They may just need a gentle hand.
Others are there to learn what the Standard entails and how it can be applied to the cats that you have chosen to breed with. The judges also point you in the right direction and what to look out for in the kittens and guide what to keep for the next generation to continue on with. They learn to accept the judges opinions and use them to understand what they are trying to say. What points the judges are looking at out and why.
Cat shows can a great tool in seeing what you have entered that you want to show /breed with. Sometimes the judges can reveal a certain aspect that you may have not seen or thought of. On the other hand they can be a Petri dish of rumors, backstabbing, jealousy and all rounds nastiness!
