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A cat show is a judged event where the owners of cats compete to win titles in various cat registering organizations by entering their cats to be judged after a breed standard. Both pedigreed and companion (or moggy) cats are admissible, although the rules differ from organization to organization. Cats are compared to a breed standard, and the owners of those judged to be closest to it are awarded a prize. Moggys are judged based on their temperament. Often, at the end of the year, all of the points accrued at various shows are added up and more national and regional titles are awarded.
The first cat show was inaugurated in 1871 by Harrison Weir and took place in the Crystal Palace. His visit to London accompanied the birth of the cat fancy.
In 1895, the cat show in the United States became the first event to be held at Madison Square Garden in New York City, featuring more than 160 cats of selective breeding types.
The CFA International Cat Show held its first cat show competition in 1994, and since that time, tomcats have won the "Best in Show" 17 of the 26 times. Today it regards the event as the Rolls-Royce of international cat shows, being the largest exhibition of its type in the United States.
In Australia, the shows can be either "closed style" or "open style" judging. In closed shows, the cats are placed in undecorated cages with white curtains and a bed. The owners must then leave the hall. The judges for each ring will examine each animal in turn and decide on awards. Then the owner may return. In open style, the owners and other spectators may stay to watch the judging, as the judges talk to them about the cats. Some popular events that hosts cat shows include the annual Sydney Royal Easter Show held at Sydney's Olympic Park, and the Cat Lovers Show, [1] held in Melbourne and Sydney.
In Europe, many times the cats are judged in a so-called traditional style. Traditional judging is often combined with ring style judging, so a cat show may consist of several rings plus traditional judging. With traditional judging, each cat is assigned to a judge, who gives a written report to the owner. Each judge may nominate a cat to the final judging, when all judges examine the finalists, and the final rewards are given by voting of the judges.
The Supreme Cat Show is held each October at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, England.
In the US, each judge has a separate ring with cages. The cats are brought up to the judge, who removes each cat in turn and then replaces them when they are done. Spectators, including the owners of the cats, are present and in the audience. The cats' owners are given a number for each cat and are responsible for getting them to the ring when they are called.
The US Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) is the world's largest registry of pedigreed cats [2] and the predominant pedigreed cat registering association in North America. While no two shows are identical, CFA cat shows follow certain procedures and guidelines: [3] [4]
A CFA cat show actually consists of a number of simultaneous cat shows running at the same time within the same place. Depending on the size of the show, there are anywhere from 4 to 12 "rings" (or miniature shows) which generally run one to two days in length. Each "ring" has its own judge who independently scores cats and awards the top 10 places (or top 15 depending on the size of the show).
Rings are of two kinds:
Points are awarded to cats based multiple of their placement within each ring combined with the number of cats that the cat has "beaten" in the ring.
The British Shorthair is the pedigreed version of the traditional British domestic cat, with a distinctively stocky body, thick coat, and broad face. The most familiar colour variant is the "British Blue", with a solid grey-blue coat, pineapple eyes, and a medium-sized tail. The breed has also been developed in a wide range of other colours and patterns, including tabby and colourpoint.
The Siamese cat is one of the first distinctly recognised breeds of Asian cat. It derives from the Wichianmat landrace. The Siamese cat is one of several varieties of cats native to Thailand. The original Siamese became one of the most popular breeds in Europe and North America in the 19th century. Siamese cats have a distinctive colourpoint coat, resulting from a temperature-sensitive type of albinism.
The Turkish Van is a semi-long-haired, standardised breed of domestic cat, which was developed in the United Kingdom from a selection of cats obtained from various cities of modern Turkey, especially southeast Turkey. The breed is rare, is one of the larger breeds, and is distinguished by the Van pattern, where the colour is restricted to the head and the tail, and the rest of the cat is white; this is due to the expression of the piebald white spotting gene, a type of partial leucism. A Turkish Van may have blue or amber eyes, or be odd-eyed.
The Exotic Shorthair is a breed of cat developed as a short-haired version of the Persian. The Exotic is similar to the Persian in appearance with the exception of the short dense coat.
The Burmese cat is a breed of domestic cat, originating in Burma, believed to have its roots near the Thai-Burma border and developed in the United States and Britain.
The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) was established in the United States in 1906. The CFA is currently the world's largest registry of pedigreed cats. Originally headquartered in Manasquan, New Jersey, the CFA moved to Alliance, Ohio in 2010. The association's stated mission is preserving and promoting pedigreed breeds of cats while also enhancing the well-being of all cats. CFA's first licensed cat shows were held in Buffalo, New York and Detroit, Michigan in 1906. The association today has a known presence in Europe, China, and Japan along with its well-established activity in the United States and Canada.
The Bombay cat is a short-haired breed of domestic cat. Bombays are glossy solid black cats with a muscular build, and have characteristic large bright copper-golden eyes. The breed is named after the Indian city of Bombay (Mumbai), referring to the habitat of the Indian black leopard.
The Oriental Shorthair is a breed of domestic cat that is developed from and closely related to the Siamese cat. It maintains the modern Siamese head and body type but appears in a wide range of coat colors and patterns. Like the Siamese, Orientals have almond-shaped eyes, a triangular head shape, large ears, and an elongated, slender, and muscular body. Their personalities are also very similar. Orientals are social, intelligent, and many are rather vocal. They often remain playful into adulthood, with many enjoying playing fetch. Despite their slender appearance, they are athletic and can leap into high places. They prefer to live in pairs or groups and also seek human interaction. Unlike the breed's blue-eyed forebear, Orientals are usually green-eyed. The Oriental Longhair differs only with respect to coat length.
The Siberian is a centuries-old landrace of domestic cat in Russia, and recently developed as a formal breed with standards promulgated the world over since the late-1980s. Since 2006, the breed is recognised for registry and championship status with all major cat registries.
The Singapura, or Kucinta in Singapore, is the smallest breed of cat, noted for its large eyes and ears, ticked coat, and blunt tail. Reportedly established from three "drain cats" imported from Singapore in the 1970s, it was later revealed that the cats were originally sent to Singapore from the United States before being exported back to the US. Investigations by the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) concluded that no wrongdoing had occurred and the Singapura kept its status as a natural breed.
The International Cat Association (TICA) is considered the world's largest genetic cat registry. Originally a North American organization, it now has a worldwide presence. The organization has a genetic registry for pedigreed and household pet cats and is one of the world's largest sanctioning bodies for cat shows.
The Oriental Longhair is a variety of domestic cat closely related to the Oriental Shorthair. The Oriental Longhair in some registries, such as The International Cat Association (TICA), it is considered a separate breed. In others, such as the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA), it is a division, along with the short-haired variety, of a merged breed, the Oriental. With no globally recognised naming convention, other cat fanciers may refer to this type as Foreign Longhair, Javanese or Mandarin. It was formerly known as the British Angora before being renamed in 2002 by British cat fanciers in order to avoid confusion with the Turkish Angora.
The LaPerm is a breed of cat. A LaPerm's fur is curly, with the tightest curls being on the throat and on the base of the ears. LaPerms come in many colors and patterns. LaPerms generally have a very affectionate personality.
A cat registry or cat breed registry, also known as a cat fancier organization, cattery federation, or cat breeders' association, is an organization that registers domestic cats of many breeds, for exhibition and for breeding lineage tracking purposes. A cat registry stores the pedigrees (genealogies) of cats, cattery names, and other details of cats; studbooks, breed descriptions, and the formal breed standards ; lists of judges qualified to judge at shows run by or affiliated with that registry, and sometimes other information. A cat registry is not the same as a breed club or breed society. Cat registries each have their own rules and usually also organize or license (sanction) cat shows. The show procedures vary widely, and awards won in one registry are not normally recognized by another. Some registries only serve breeders, while others are oriented toward pet owners and provide individual as well as cattery memberships, while yet others are federations only deal with breed clubs or even other registries as intermediaries between the organization and breeders.
The Dragon Li is a recently established Chinese breed of domestic cat. It was developed from a common landrace of cats in China, known as 貍花貓, Pinyin: líhuā māo, literally 'leopard cat patterned cat' ; the native cats are featured in some Chinese folklore stories. The derived standardized breed is recognized by China's Cat Aficionado Association (CAA), and was for a time by the US-based, international Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA), later revoked.
The CFA International Cat Show is a cat show hosted by the Cat Fanciers' Association. The Cat Fanciers' Association was founded in 1906 after it separated from the American Cat Association.
The Canadian Cat Association is a non-profit organization in Canada whose mission is to promote the welfare of all cats in Canada, maintain a registry of pedigreed cats in Canada, and further the improvement of all breeds of cats in Canada. CCA-AFC is Canada's only globally-recognized national cat registry, with its pedigrees and registrations accepted by major global associations such as the Cat Fanciers' Association, The International Cat Association, and Fédération Internationale Féline. To date, CCA-AFC has registered over 190,000 cats.
The Supreme Cat Show is organised every year by the world's oldest cat registry, the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy, and used to take place each October at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), in Birmingham, England. However, in 2022 it moved to the NAEC. Special awards of UK Champion and Supreme Champion can be gained at this show only. A contestant cat wins each show's "Best in Show" award.
The Persian cat, also known as the Persian Longhair, is a long-haired breed of cat characterised by a round face and short muzzle. The first documented ancestors of Persian cats might have been imported into Italy from Greater Khorasan as early as around 1620, however, this has not been proven. Instead, there is stronger evidence for a longhaired cat breed being exported from Iran from the 19th century onwards. Persian cats have been widely recognised by the North-West European cat fancy since the 19th century, and after World War II by breeders from North America, Australia and New Zealand. Some cat fancier organisations' breed standards subsume the Himalayan and Exotic Shorthair as variants of this breed, while others generally treat them as separate breeds.
The Balinese is a long-haired breed of domestic cat with Siamese-style point coloration and sapphire-blue eyes. The Balinese is also known as the purebred long-haired Siamese since it originated as a natural mutation of that breed and hence is essentially the same cat but with a medium-length silky coat and a distinctively plumed tail.