Conference misery::feline_v1

    Hi Cin, How are you?
    
    To get to the question, I show mainly in CFA.  This is due to the
    availability of shows in my area.  In the year or so that I have
    been showing, I only know of two TICA shows within my (personal)
    mileage limits.  CFA has a show almost every weekend in my area.
    
    When showing Birmans, finals are few and far between.  They are
    very hard to breed because of the white spotting gene.  It is my
    personal feeling that Birmans don't do as well because they are
    judged more for their gloves and laces than for their overall type.
    
    I have heard that TICA is better for minority breeds like mine,
    but who knows.  I have my Birman kitten entered in a TICA show in
    January so I let you know what I think then.  I have attended one
    TICA show before with household pets.  I prefer TICA's method of
    judging household pets over CFA's.
    
    JoAnn

    Cin
    
    Heard some interesting stuff the other day about new types of CFA
    shows.  They are proposing to have "invitational" shows.  Do you
    know anything about this?  Supposedly the way it works is that each
    exhibitor will be invited to show at these particular shows, they
    will not be open to anyone.
    
    JoAnn

    JoAnn....
    
    Do you know if these shows will be CFA scored???
    
    I haven't heard about this type of show before, but if it is scored,
    it doesn't sound exactly fair to me!!!   
    
    Personally, to me it sounds like more CFA politics!!!   It's not
    how good your cat is, but who you know!!!!!   Typical CFA!!!   
    
    Maybe I'm not being fair towards CFA, but I often feel when I show
    there, that there are lesser quality cats defeating mine, simply
    because the owner has lots of CFA clout!!!  
    
    This is a personal view only.
    
    What do you think, JoAnn???
    
    purrs
    cin
    

    I heard something along the lines of an invitational in conjunction
    with the CFA convention that awards the top 20 at the end of the
    show year.  They were talking about something that is really "BIG"
    with National TV coverage or at least cable company coverage in
    hopes of getting lots of coverage for the fancy in general.  The
    invitational was only going to be for one ring with specially 
    selected judges, cats etc. so that only Top Show cats would be in
    that ring (gearing towards TV coverage I think).  Just rumors at
    this point haven't seen anything in print yet.
    
    					Debbie
    

    Cin,
    
    I agree with you that this sounds quite unfair.  I don't know very
    much more about this.  I heard it from a fellow birman breeder out
    here in CA.  She and I were discussing the new cattery name rules
    that might become effective next year (she hasn't registered her
    cattery name and I wanted to pass on the info I heard in this file)
    and she told me she had heard about invitational shows.
    
    I have had only a few disappointments with CFA.  The first one being
    that CFA allows certain clubs to barr household pets from their
    shows.  I, like many other breeders, started out with household
    pets and continue to show them even though I now have purebreds.
    There is one club that holds its shows in the city at Golden Gate
    park, and they refuse admittance to household pets.  It isn't just
    the fact that they don't allow them to be shown.  What really upsets
    me is their *attitude* towards household pets.  I have argued this
    point with the show manager over the phone (did alot for my future
    show career I'm sure).  This club feels that household pet owners
    are irresponsible in terms of their cats health and may bring in
    diseases that could spread through the purebred population at the
    show.  My personal opinion is that this is a bunch of malarky (would
    like to use a stronger word but will not)  Of course their may be
    people who don't take as good of care of their pets as others, but
    they are likely to not be showing their cats anyway.  Also, I have
    seen some purebreds at shows that *anyone* could tell were too sick to
    be there.  Well enough of that...          
    
    The second gripe I have also involves CFA and household pets.  In
    championship competition, once a ribbon has been awarded (finals)
    to a cat, only disqualification can take that final away.  In a
    household pet final there are no such rules.  At a recent show,
    a judge was picking her top five hhp's.  One of my cats was chosen
    as second best.  The judge took him out of the cage, discussed his
    finer points, why she had chosen him as second best etc.  She awarded
    the ribbon and came back to the table to clean and ready for the
    awarding of first best.  She awarded the first place final and then
    paused and said " you know what, I think I'll switch 2nd best with
    5th best, I like that cat better now that I see him again."  I was
    a little peeved.  I have always tried to be a good sport at these
    shows and with household pets it is very arbitrary so you have to
    be.  One judge will love your cat and the next will hate it, thats
    how it is.  But this was upseting to me.  I did not mention it to
    anyone and until now had kept it to myself.  
    
    I do feel that a judge has a right to change their minds about a
    cat, but I think that should be done before ribbons are awarded,
    and without the knowledge of the audience.
    
    So far I haven't had any experience with showing of purebreds, only
    the sharing of the experiences of friends who have been showing
    longer than I.
    
    When looking for my kitten, I was really hit with the politics hard.
    But these were competitive breeder politics mostly.  It was quite
    disillusioning to be honest.  I like to enjoy healthy competition
    with other birman breeders and a sense of comraderie and friendship.
    What I found was alot of gossip, rumors, and backstabbing.  It is
    up to everyone of us to keep this kind of thing from destroying
    the cat fancy.
    
    I really enjoy discussing issues with  you and I hope you don't
    take me wrong, I realize that I am asking for trouble when I make
    statements like the one above.  The way I see it, what better person
    is there to talk cats with than someone who shares my fanaticism.
    And that goes for all notes readers.
    
    JoAnn
    
    
    
    

    Debbie,
    
    Thanks for the clarification.  This sounds alot more fair than the
    info I had heard.  Any form of CFA advertising is worthwhile.  Out
    here in CA, I have noticed that the gate is getting smaller and
    smaller.  The only exception to that would be the all HHp show that
    I attended at the beginning of december.  There were so many people
    you couldn't get through the aisles with your cats.
    
    This show utilized every kind of media advertising there is.  We
    need the public to help support the cat fancy so this sounds like
    a great idea to me.
    
    JoAnn

RE: .5

>    This club feels that household pet owners
>    are irresponsible in terms of their cats health and may bring in
>    diseases that could spread through the purebred population at the
>    show.

When my mother was a little girl, she had a pedigree blue Persian cat from
champion stock.  When this cat was a kitten, the breeder judged that he just
didn't have the right temperament to show well, so she sold him off as a
household pet.  It turned out that this kitten calmed down a lot when he grew
into a cat, and also that he turned out to be the best of the litter.  My
grandparents left him with that cattery when they went on a long trip, and
the owner mentioned later that she regretted ever having sold him, and was
sorely tempted to show him along with her cats at a show she was in during
the vacation.  She didn't show the cat because she was afraid of what he
might catch from the other cats at the show.  So--here's a case of not showing
a HOUSECAT for fear of what he might catch from the SHOW CATS.  So there, CFA!

--PSW

    Now there's a switch for you!
    
    JoAnn

    Well, I've done a few CFA shows and a few TICA shows with my birman
    now and I am ready to express an opinion.  
    
    I like TICA better!  It is so discouraging to not get finals in
    CFA when you know you have a very good cat.  At a recent CFA show
    there were 9 Birman adults and 4 Birman kittens and out of 12 rings
    not one of them finaled.
    
    I will continue to show CFA (I know!) in the hopes of gaining some
    recognition.  But I am definitely going to hit all the TICA shows
    in my area!
    Jo

    I've been out at a customer site (1 week to go) but had to make
    the following comment.  I promise to incorporate my TICA experence
    soon.
    
    I showed both TICA and CFA, with the emphasis on TICA. When I started
    breeding and had kittens for sale, I found it almost impossible
    to sell at TICA shows. Of my kittens sold, only one was sold a a
    TICA show.  The rest were sold at CFA shows.
    
    For primarily other reasons though, I did decide to shift to CFA;
    to support the association that was supporting me.
    
    Dave

    I would be very interested to hear your TICA experiences.   I have
    noticed a different "atmosphere" at TICA shows.  I am just starting
    out and would like to know all I can about both associations and
    their histories.
    Jo

    as strictly a spectator, i found my one TICA show to have judges that
    were MUCH more informative and open about their decisions - they seemed
    to invite questions (on the side) this was refreshing!  also, had i
    known about TICA earlier, i may have started showing my youngest 2
    siamese boys - in CFF (where they're registered), they're not showable
    as siamese because they come from OSH parents, but TICA would still see
    them as siamese - they're a bit dark now, though :-( !

    karen

    I've been involved showing cats for about 3.5 years. definitely
    prefer CFA.  Judging is more consistent and they realize Himmies
    are Persians but dressed better.  CFA shows (once you're out of
    New England) tend to finish on time. CFF goes forever at a snails
    pace. 
    
    Re: The CFA Invitational show.  It is intended to be a publicity
    show with winners from special regional shows invited.  The board
    recognized the unfairness of awarding points in this situation and
    as of now the show will not have points awarded.