Attending My First Cat Show

Last weekend, I attended a Cat Fancier’s Association cat show in Bowling Green, Ohio, with one of my cat lady friends.

It was held in a building at Wood County Fairgrounds. Upon entering, there were two vendors selling cat items, mostly shirts. And yes, I did buy one for my cat shirt collection.

This is my first time attending a cat show, so I will describe the setup and some things that surprised me.

The Cat Show Setup

The large room in the building was set up with rows of tables. Each cat was in a kennel, sometimes with another cat.

Some of the kennels had one side for the cat, and on the other side, there was a small litter box.

At the end of the rows, there are judging areas. Each judging station had small holding cages for about 15 cats while the cats waited for their turn to be judged.

Each cat had a number. A coordinator announced when it was time for a cat to come to the judging area. Then, the cat’s owner placed it in the cage with the matching number.

The judge spent about a minute judging each cat. I wasn’t 100% clear on the criteria. One judge explained that some of it was breed-specific. And he interacted with each cat with a toy for a few seconds. One thing was checking the positioning of the cat’s ears.

Cats could win ribbons for things like “best cat in breed” and “best color in breed” and maybe some other stuff. At this show, there was not any money to be won.

The Amazing Cats

I was amazed by how relaxed the majority of the cats were. They were very relaxed in their cat kennels.

The cats didn’t have any anxious meowing, like when my cats are confined in a cat carrier to be taken to the vet.

None of the cats tried to dart away when the cat show judge handled them.

It was amazing. I think they must be trained, starting as kittens, to be so relaxed at the cat show.  Some breeds are known for their natural tendency to be relaxed.

The cat owners spend a lot of time grooming the cats to get them ready for the show, especially the long-haired cats.

We saw at least one polydactyl cat with an extra toe on each front paw.

Most of the cats were pure breed cats, like Maine Coons, Persians, and Abyssinians. They also had a small section for household pets, which I assume were mostly American Shorthairs.

Of course, they were all beautiful!

More Observations

Most cat kennels were a style I had not seen before, and they were pop-up kennels from Sturdi Products. Some participants had them decorated.

I didn’t notice any cat litter boxes with clay litter. This purple litter from Catit (affiliate link) caught my attention because it was purple.

One cat owner explained that it’s made from pea husks and clumps differently from clay litter. It comes in vanilla and lavender scent. I don’t like scented litter as I feel cats do not benefit from it.

Others were using pellet-style litter. I didn’t see any brand names, but it looked like pine pellets or other variations.

Some kennel setups didn’t have a litter box, so I’m unsure how that worked with the cats.

Only some cat owners permitted petting of their cats. Others had “no petting” signs.  Some signs implied that people were “too dirty” to touch their cats because of germs, bacteria, etc.

Some cat owners traveled a far distance to attend the show. At least a few were breeders who were probably there to advertise their cattery.  There were no aggressive sales pitches.

In general, the cat owners only talked to us if we asked them a question. And some people’s body language projected that they didn’t want to talk with random people visiting the cat show.

It Felt Like a Cat Club

One lady told us that once the cats were secured in their hotel rooms, the cat owners would have dinner together and hang out.

It felt like a giant cat club as there was no money to be won at the show. The purpose seemed to be to show off their cats and talk to the other cat owners.

Most of the participants appeared to be of retirement age. It seemed like a hobby to attend cat shows, like how someone might be part of a model railroad club.

Seeing and interacting with the pure breed cats helped me understand how people desire to have a specific breed based on their appearance and personality traits.

All of my cats have been American Short Hair or Long Hair cats brought to me by the Cat Distribution System.

It was fascinating, and overall, we had a great time seeing the cats at the show.

Read Next: 5 Reasons Why Living With Cats Is Absolutely Awesome