On January 28, 2018, Portland, USA, the 2018 Portland International Cat Show opened, with various varieties of cute cats making a stunning appearance.
If you are a crazy cat lover, you may have seen cat shows. But where did cat shows come from? The first truly famous cat show was the National Cat Show held at the Crystal Palace in London in July 1871.
Harrison Weir, the father of cat lovers, was the first person to formulate cat breed standards. He wrote the first cat pedigree, OurCatsandAllAboutThem (1889). He was also the founder of the British National Cat Association. This aura allowed him to organize a cat show at the Crystal Palace. It is said that naturalist Fred Wilson also participated in the planning of this cat exhibition. The newspaper also said that he held a small cat show there three years ago.
Due to the success of this cat show, another cat show was held at the Crystal Palace a few months later. The first cat show was held in a hurry, and the participating cats were mainly from aristocratic families; but the second cat show allowed workers to also display their own cats. Weir hopes that shows like this will encourage people to treat their cats better. Between the two cat shows, entrepreneurs held four more private cat shows, two in London and two in Scotland. Soon, cat shows became commonplace in Europe.
Cat shows have also crossed the Atlantic. In 1895, the first cat show in the United States was held at Madison Square Garden in New York. American cat lovers have also begun to organize various cat star clubs.
Portland, USA, the Portland International Cat Show opens. The picture shows a Japanese referee lifting the 14-pound Persian cat Frosty the Snowman. Today, cat shows have evolved into various forms. Of course, due to different countries and different organizers, the pedigree standards at cat shows are also different.
In the United States, the cat show selection process is very different from that in other countries. Cat owners bring their participating cats to the judging venue and place the cats in special cages for judging. There are chairs in the judging area so cat owners can sit and watch their cats being judged. You should speak as little as possible in the judging hall so as not to interfere with the work of the judges. On the other hand, the cat may have become stressed by the environment and the presence of strangers, and too many loud noises may frighten it.
In some cat shows in the United States, there will be 4 to 12 judges, and each cat must be reviewed by all judges. That is to say, each cat must undergo 4 to 12 rounds of reviews. The first judge took the cat out of the cage and placed it on the judging table for a thorough inspection. He will check the cat's muscle distribution, fatness, muscle development, coat quality, gender of the cat (if it has not been neutered), eye shape, skull shape, ears, leg bone development, tail length, cat foot shape, and coat health.
After the inspection is completed, the judges put the cat back into the special cage for judging, and wash their hands and the judging table with disinfectant. The judge will record his opinions and whether to award an award in the judge's diary. If he thinks it is necessary to award an award, he will hang a corresponding ribbon on the cat cage. Each judge examines the cat in turn and, if they deem it necessary, hangs a corresponding ribbon on the cage.
Each cat will be compared with cats of the same breed, same gender, and same coat color, and the best cat of that breed will eventually be selected. Each judge will select the top ten for each category (adult cat category, neutered cat category, and kitten category).
After all the selections are completed, the on-site staff will instruct you to take the cat (and the ribbon it may get) back to the exhibition cage that was given when you entered, and put the cat back into the exhibition cat cage. At this time, you have to prick up your ears and listen carefully to the announcement in the venue, because your name may be called and the final prize will be awarded to you.
In the United States, the main organizers and sponsors of cat shows include the International Cat Association (TICA), the American Cat Association (ACA), the Cat Fanciers Association of America (CFA), as well as some purebred cat organizations and well-known pet products companies.
The purpose of the cat show is to showcase outstanding representative cats of different breeds and encourage healthy competition among cat breeders to breed better cats.
Different cat organizations in different countries have different evaluation standards for purebred cats. Before participating in an exhibition, you must fully understand the standards set and followed by the cat show organizers. Cat shows usually last a full day, but in the United States, some cat shows take two days. The judges at the cat show have considerable experience and professional knowledge, and they are responsible for scoring the participating cats according to the standards of each different breed.
The judges will score the head, ears, eyes, body, bones and tail according to the breed characteristics of the purebred cat. The scores for all indicators are added together to give a full score of 100 points. Depending on the variety, the scores for each indicator are not exactly the same, but the total score is 100 points.
Cat shows have different groups and categories. The judges select the top three from each category, with first place earning 25 points, second place 20 points and third place 15 points. The judges then select the top three of the variety from among the top three in each category as the "Best of Breed". The top three in the breed no longer win extra points, but they represent the "most desirable" cats of the breed. The main categories of the championship group are: kitten group, champion adult cat group, neutered cat group, domestic cat kitten group, and domestic adult cat group.