I stopped by the Sandy Claws TICA cat show last weekend. My timing wasn’t very good, and I was there around lunchtime, which meant there was less happening as some of the show rings were on lunch breaks.
The two rings that were being judged were both longhairs. One ring was all kittens in various longhair varieties. This beautiful, white kitten was patient with the judge who seemed to be giving her an internal organ exam during her turn to be judged.
The second ring being judged was all Maine Coons. This kitty was very active while being judged. I didn’t really understand why there were cat rubber ducks on the judge’s table, but maybe that was just her thing. This show cat was much omre interested in the scratching post than the ducks.
Speaking of Maine Coons, they seemed to be really over represented. I didn’t take a cat census, but I’m pretty sure they were the most popular cat at the show. This big guy was resting in his cage when I passed.
Since it was lunchtime, I didn’t have anyone to ask about most of the cats I saw. I think this beautiful kitty is a silver shaded American Shorthair.
This clown is an Oriental Shorthair. His human had traveled with him all the way from Las Vegas to Orlando for the show. As you can see, this kitty is a real clown. He wasn’t struggling to get down, but he actually rolled over when he heard the camera lens clicking.
Some of the kittens at the show were absolutely irresistible. This ragdoll kitten has the cutest face!
This Persian kitten was also for sale, and a potential buyer was looking closely at him.
There were a remarkable number of Sphynx kitties on hand. While other breeds like Abyssinians and Somalis were barely represented, there were quite a few Sphinx. Maybe that has something to do with the breeders and preferences of people in our part of the country.
Not all of the cats at the show were fancy. It was surprising how many cats were on hand to compete in the household pet category. I always thought that would be a very small group, but there were a good number of the cats there, maybe 10%, who were competing as household cats.
I had a lot of questions about that category, especially, but as I mentioned before, it was lunchtime, so the humans were rather distracted and most weren’t very chatty.
Because it was lunchtime, a lot of the humans were away from their cats entirely. This meant I was left looking at cats in closed cages or show shelters, which are hard to take photos through, especially when the shelters have plastic covers. I did find it funny that a lot of the cages and shelters were decorated, usually to match the cattery name. People who take the time to attend shows often go the extra mile to make their little corner of the show floor look special, too!
I overheard a vendor saying that the show was going to be in the same location next year, but a month earlier. I will be looking forward to seeing the cats next year, and I’ll be sure not to schedule my time to visit them during lunch hour next time so I can learn a lot more about each of the cats I see.
