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Pet Tales: At Steel City Kitties show, pure breds, exotics and their people were the cat’s meow

More than 2,500 people came to watch 423 cats compete at two Steel City Kitties cat shows last weekend, and many were heard to say, “Our cats would never do that.”

What do purebreds at cat shows do that pets won’t?

• They prance and preen and purr as a stranger pets them, holds them up in the air and judges them. They seem to play to the crowd, making eye contact with the dozens of spectators watching at the judging area.

• In the benching area where they rest and play while waiting for judging, they hang out in comfy homemade beds or slings and don’t try to run away or hide. Many enjoy the attention of spectators who want to pet them and pose with them for selfies.

• A small number of them calmly submit to being dressed in costumes that include tiaras, hats, tutus, skirts, Minnie Mouse ears, angel wings and a red-fringed flapper dress.

There was something for everyone, including a Household Pets class and meet and greets with Draven, the therapy cat from Grove City. Vendors sold everything from cat-themed cupcakes (Sweet Lotus Desserts in Baden) to a Litter-Robot Open Air automatic self-cleaning litter box.

The shows, held at the Monroeville Convention Center, featured 43 breeds recognized by Cat Fanciers Association Inc. They include breeds most people have never seen, including Norwegian forest cat, Tonkinese, hairless sphynx, ocicats (spotted like wild cats), exotics and Devon rex.

Among the competitors was the No. 6 show cat in the country, a black exotic named Diesel whose show name is Purrelli Pitch Black.

Judge Ken Currle told spectators that the grand champion exotic is “magnificently refined. My best-in-show cat today. He is going home with me.” The judge cuddled the shiny black cat as he posed for photographs with owner Tabatha Metcalf of Georgetown, Ky.

“He used to be so shy,” she said, but co-owner Lily Newcomb worked with him, and “he now seeks attention from strangers.”

The exotic breed has many of the physical characteristics of Persian cats, including shorter snouts and flatter faces but with shorter hair that is thick, plush and doesn’t mat.

Many spectators told competitors that they’d never been to a cat show before. They are very unlike the better-known dog shows, where dogs walk and trot on leashes around big rings.

At cat shows, owners put their animals in individual cages in a waiting area behind the judge. Many cats “vocalize,” vying for the judge’s attention. Many purr and cuddle when the judge places them on the judging table. Kittens especially like it when the judge waggles wands with feathers or tinsel, inviting them to play and show animation. Each breed has an official standard with desirable characteristics that judges look for.

So how do they pick winners in the Household Pets classes?

“We judge them with our hearts,” said Gene Darrah. “Of course, we do not want to be eaten alive,” he noted as one of the pets hissed at him.

“We take a little bit off for that,” he joked.

A big red-and-white cat with thick, long hair preened for Darrah and spectators.

“He’s a good-looking boy, isn’t he?” the judge said. “He looks like he eats good — cracker barrel boy.”

The 12-pound 12-year-old cat named Madison was Darrah’s No. 1 winner. Owners Bob and Caroline Martien of Swissvale were thrilled with the big pink rosette ribbon. This was the second show for the cat they rescued many years ago.

“Madison enjoyed the first show, and when we brought him home he was prancing around the house all week,” Martien said. “So we entered him again.”

Owners of show cats were very welcoming to first-time spectators and willing to share tips about how they get their cats to be so social and friendly. It starts with taking them places at very young ages. Many of them use pet strollers that zip closed to prevent escapes.

Draven the therapy cat travels to cat shows in a purple stroller to raise money for Love on a Leash, a therapy pet organization, and homeless animals. Owner Jessica Hagan uses the stroller when the 5-year-old black cat visits nursing homes because at 15 pounds he is too heavy for elderly people to hold. He leaves the stroller to sit with them on beds or chairs.

Hagan adopted Draven four years ago from Rainbow Animal Refuge in Butler County.

Owners of Brick, a 4-month-old Devon rex, and Emma, a 6-month-old Maine coon, didn’t expect their kittens to win — and they didn’t. They were brought to learn how to socialize, and they did appear to have fun.

There were 30 Devon rex cats and kittens at the show; their owners travel long distances for the “Devon Heaven” reunion in different cities every other year. Brick’s owner, Meghan Evans, drove 22 hours from Winnipeg, Canada. Jade Kledier, president of the Devon Rex Breed Club, came from Salt Lake City.

“Oh, Coopurr, you are beautiful, and you know it,” one spectator cooed to the green-eyed, brown mackerel tabby.

Owner Alice Schepp of South Fayette picked up the big Maine coon and let the woman and children pet him, although she had spent three hours bathing, fluffing and grooming him for the show.

“People come because they love cats, and of course they want to pet him,” Schepp said.

The Devon rex people were very patient about letting people touch their cats’ curly or wavy coats.

“Our cats are doglike,” Evans said, and they enjoy the attention. They also like to wear costumes and made up the majority of contestants in the costume contest at Steel City Kitties.

Her Megarex Talulah Myst of PuRex, 4, finished third while dressed as a mouse. Her color is “black smoke,” which contrasted nicely with her red dress. She wore Minnie Mouse ears and a big red bow on her head.

“You have to pick your cat wisely for costume contests,” Evans said with a chuckle. “Not all of my cats would do this.”

The pink-and-white rhinestone tiara atop the head of Devon rex Sera won the heart of the crowd and the first-place prize from judge Hope Gonano, a former Pittsburgher who now lives in Florida.

Jobara’s Seranade From the Stars, owned by Kledier, wore a big fluffy pink-and-white tutu and a rhinestone necklace.

Now back to those pricey litter boxes. Marilyn McBane, a Maine coon breeder from Avalon, bought one last year at another cat show. She says they are worth the money. Cats enter what looks like a space capsule. After they exit the contraption, their waste is sifted into a drawer, and the unsoiled litter is saved and replenished.

McBane said the automatic self-cleaning litter box is especially good for families that have dogs with a taste for cat feces. They’re not sold in stores. Visit www.litter-robot.com or call 1-877-250-7729 to buy.

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