The number 1 guide to Cat Shows – the stress and the excitement

The number 1 guide to Cat Shows – the stress and the excitement

by | Jul 2, 2020 | Cat Shows, My cats

I enjoy entering cat shows in my free time! It’s rewarding, but hard work. The main thing is that my cat, Wiggy enjoys it too. I’ve shown him since he was a kitten and he calmly goes in his show pen and relaxes for the day. I use Pet Remedy spray in the cat carrier for the car journey as Wiggy sings the song of his people for most of the drive.

I showed Dobby twice and the second time he growled at other cats so I stopped showing him. I only show cats if they enjoy it and when they become adults they can become stressed at other cats. He is only one certificate away from a Premier. Wiggy is already a Premier and one certificate away from a Grand Premier. Unfortunately, due to the covid-19 pandemic the last cat show we attended was in March 2020. Cat shows may start again after June, but I am not very hopeful, or keen to be in a crowd just yet and will Wiggy still enjoy it? Here’s the latest show calendar and news. Show Calendar and Events (gccfcats.org)

Preparation

A typical cat show routine involves bathing and grooming Wiggy twice because he is white and the white turns yellow, especially around his legs and paws! He does seem to like playing in any mud he can find – especially potatoes. Cat shows are on Saturday’s so I’d bath him on Monday to clean up his white fur and again on Wednesday or Thursday. He loves splashing in water, but he hates baths! He has access to a catio so he can get dirty paws easily. His favourite game is tipping over anything containing water.

I clean his ears, eyes, paws and trim all his claws. He tends to get a dirty chin so I have to keep an eye on that. He also gets grubby under his arm pits and neck as he has no fur there. I may have fixed the dirty chin, by switching to a stainless steel water fountain and ceramic bowls.

The day of the cat show

I’m up at 5.30am for the morning of the show. Wiggy doesn’t like going in his usual open top cat carrier so I bought him a new one called a sleepy pod especially for cat shows. It’s round so he can curl up, it can be used as a bed at home too as the lid zips off. We sometimes have a little struggle and sometimes a chase to get him in the carrier.

I’m in the car by 6.30am to drive to either Bracknell or Woking. It takes around an hour and a half and Wiggy sings almost all the way. When he’s quiet I worry if he’s okay! I spray pet remedy and pop a wipe in the cat carrier to help him relax. The party season pet remedy kit is very handy! These cat shows are usually in winter, around March and December. There is a cat show in Southampton, but it’s usually once a year in August during my busiest cat sitting month. However, I have managed to go cat sitting in Southsea on a less busy August, collect Wiggy and then drive to Southampton and still arrive by 8.30 am.

Arrival and Vetting in

Apart from the drive, this is another scary part. When we arrive at the cat show location, Wiggy needs to vetted in, which involves a quick check from a vet. Vets won’t let cats in if they have scratches in case it’s something more sinister like ringworm. My boys are always play fighting and scratches often appear a couple of days before a show!

Once, I vetted in Wiggy when he was a kitten. Of course, he had a big scratch, but I had used Leucillin on it which helped to fade the scratch. It’s miracle stuff! It also kills Covid-19 so I use it as a spray on door handles when cat sitting too. Luckily, the vet saw it was just a scratch, not ringworm and I was able to take him straight to his show pen.

I pop him in his pen with a white non tasselled blanket, white bed, white litter tray, white water bowl etc. This is to ensure there is nothing that stands out in case of cheating. He relaxes and sleeps straight away. I have to leave him by 10am for judging. This part is exciting. I meet up with cat show friends, watch the judges from a distance, drink coffee (lots) and have lunch. Then check the results board often to see if he has been placed.

He’s had great results so far and is one certificate away from being a Grand Premier. He’s enjoyed every show and been really sweet with the judges, male and female. Paws crossed for future cat shows!