February 2nd, 2002 in Portland, Oregon, a very special competition was held at the Oregon Cats, Inc. cat show.
One of the highlights of the day's judging was an unusual class just for "Veteran" Cats.
Class Description:
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The class is for cats 7 years and older.
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Males, females and alters all compete together.
- The top five cats are selected.
The Competitors:
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The youngest cat was 7 years, 2 months old.
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The oldest cat was a venerable spay over 16 years old!
- There were 8 Neuters, 2 Spays and an 11 year old Male Siamese!
- 9 entries were shorthairs and included 2 Korats, 2 Manx, and one each of Cornish Rex, Javanese, Scottish Fold and a Somali.
- 2 entries were longhair: a Turkish Van neuter and a male Persian over 10 years old. A special Bravo to the Persian owners, Dan and Terri Zittel, who kept such a venerable old man in coat!!!
- Entries included one National Winner & three regional winners.
The Judge:
- Betty Denny, who has been a CFA judge for over 20 years!
The Judging Procedure:
- The numbers were posted in the regular fashion and the judging began at 1:00 PM.
- Betty handled the 11 veterans in the usual order, taking time to to talk to the spectators about the cats as she judged them.
- Before she hung her ribbons, but after she'd written down the placements, Betty walked down the line of judging cages and paused at each entry while the audience applauded for each cat.
- Betty then selected her top 5 cats and had each owner come up to the judging table and take their cat out and present it to the audience.
- The sponsoring club, Oregon Cats Inc., gave each of the contestants a special gift.
- NOTE: The entry clerk had to create a special judging sheet for this class of golden oldies.
THE JUDGING BEGINS Betty Denny Photos are in order of the cat's ages from the |
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7 YR, 2 MO old Somali neuter |
7 YR, 8 MO old Korat neuter |
8 YR, 4 MO old Cornish Rex neuter |
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9 YR, 7 MO old Javanese neuter |
9 YR, 10 MO old Manx neuter |
10 YR old Turkish Van neuter |
10 YR, 4 MO old Persian neuter |
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11 YR, 6 MO old Siamese male |
12 YR, 9 MO old Korat spay |
13 YR, 8 MO old Scottish Fold neuter |
16 YR, 7 MO old Manx spay |
| And the Winners are... | ||
5th Best Cat |
GP Kiekie Leo the Light Hearted |
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4th Best Cat |
7 year, 8 month old GP RW Kiriki Kon Jai Yen Br/ow Ann Segrest |
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3rd Best Cat |
10 year, 4 month old GC Keeperkit Midnight Hour of Earlywinters Br:Mac & Dori Macomber on: Dan & Terri Zittel |
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2nd Best Cat |
9 year, 10 month GC GP NW Cottori Star Trek of Arrow Br: Paul & Becky Cotter |
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GP, RW Ciderhouse Sebastian 7 year, 2 month old Br: Polly Lauser |
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Hi! Are you going to play with me? |
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Zowie... I love to play! |
Please! Make me your Best Cat! |
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Sebastian knows his owner, Tammy, is proud of him for doing "good". |
Sebastian gives judge Betty a BIG thank you kiss. He knows how to schmooze! |
Comments made by the Best Cat:
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Obviously I was delighted with this class, since I was judged to be the "Best Veteran".
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I was thrilled to be in a showhall again. I never really understood why I don't get to "go" to the shows anymore...
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It was really fun, and I was very happy to see one of my very favorite judges, Betty Denny. In fact, I may have embarrassed myself by how much I "schmoozed" her, but I just couldn't help it.
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I was also very happy to "meet and greet" all of the spectators that stopped by to see me at my benching cage.
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I know I made my servant... ah... human companion very happy. I am her very first Somali - so I am also her oldest one :-)!!! I'm not getting older, I am just getting better!
- The breeders and owners looked more anxious for the veterans class, than for the regular classes!
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This is an excellent way to show breeds in their full maturity.
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Since breed standards may place the emphasis on younger cats, this would be a great class to encourage the showing of older specimens.
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Judges would benefit from the opportunity to see and handle fully-mature cats.
- Fanciers would appreciate seeing mature individuals of breeds other than their own.
- Breeders would gain the advantage of being able to evaluate how well certain lines develop as they mature.