I took 2 Sexy to a show in Raleigh this weekend in hopes of wrapping up his grand title.  We ALMOST made it.  Only 9 points to go! He did well though, being the only Premier to make 5 of the 6 finals.  And instead of rosettes, they gave away paper “ribbons” with teaser toys stuck in them. I like this because rosettes eventually end up in the trash when they come back home with me, but teaser toys are actually useful and practical.  After this weekend, the kitties at my house have lots of new teaser toys to play  with.

I was reminded this weekend about all the politicing involved in showing.  I suppose it will always be that way, but part of me wants to get angry and do something about it.  Like clean house.  Get rid of the cheating and the games and the the politics – the give and take that goes on and those that participate in it don’t even seem to be ashamed of it anymore.  No more hiding.  Just right there out in the open for all to see.  That is probably because there really isn’t anything the rest of us can do about it.

It’s a shame it is that way because it drives people away from a hobby that is otherwise full of great benefits.  But such is the way of things.  The cat fancy is no different from every other part of life.  Humans are greedy and self-centered and ultimately looking out for themselves.  Maybe this is why I’ve come to enjoy spending my days with cats instead of people.  At least cats don’t try to pretend they are anything other than a creature that is lazy, self-absorbed, and completely uninterested in the happenings of those around them. They are what they are. Take it or leave it.

So now that I got that off my chest……..somewhere behind the spoils of the show is my cat, taking his nap. Oh to be a cat!

I showed cats for many years.  This required a great deal of travel as well as upkeep of the cats in between shows.  But it was fun and I had the joy of bringing home a bunch of beautiful (yet worthless) silk ribbons over the years. Eventually so many piled up that I gave them away to children that visited my shop.  They thought they were cool.  I thought they were dust collectors.

In May of 2005 I finished up the year with a National Win (3rd Best) with my cat Groucho Marks and almost a Regional Win with my cat Call Me Crazy (I stopped showing 2 months before the show season for the arrival of our 5th child). Crazy missed his RW by a point margin that could have easily been obtained in a single show.  I was weary by year’s end and saw enough cat fancy politics to make me just a bit jaded about the whole showing thing.

I did not show again after that. Five kids and a growing cat grooming business kept me busy enough.  Besides, I figured there was really nowhere to go after a 3rd Best National Win other than down.  The old adage “quite while you’re ahead” seemed like a good thing to adhere to.  So that was that.

Until now………

You see, the German fam was in the mood for a Persian kitten running around the house again. After all, the current cats were getting on up in age and are not quite as playful as they once were.  I put in an order with some friends of mine that breed some beautiful Persians with great dispositions.  It took awhile for them to produce just the right kitten to fit my very specific criteria.  But alas, Fanci FX 2 Sexy of Bara joined the family and reminded us all what it was like to have a toddler running about.  We wanted to call him Sexy but my 11 year old thought that was simply gross and would not say the actually word “s-e-x-y”. So we named him 2Se for short.

It was important to me that 2Se be granded as an adult so I promised the breeders that I would make a concerted effort to obtain his Grand Champion title.  This, of course, meant that I was out of retirement and back in the showring.

Four and one half years after I officially retired from showing cats, I stepped back into the ring.  I took Crazy along, too, just for the heck of it.  I wanted to see if the old boy still had it in him.  And he did.

2Se picked up 30 grand points his first time out at 9 months of age (8 months is considered adult in CFA). Since 75 are needed to grand in Premiership, he is nearly half way there after only 1 show.  Crazy even managed to pull a few breed ribbons over another GP who is campaigning for a big win this year.  And he slid into a final along the way, which simply means that we have more beautiful (yet worthless) silk ribbons collecting dust in the shop.  Ah, but we had fun!

Fanci FX 2 Sexy of Bara & GC, GP Man-atzakat's Call Me Crazy of Bara