Miss Rose Reports

Well hello there! This is Rose.

You know, I am a little upset that it has taken Scott four months to allow me to post about my adventure but better late than never! Let me tell you about the 2012 GCCF Supreme Show held in Birmingham late last November.

It was a very long day. Scott was up at 4:30 in the morning and we left the house at about 6am. I took over two hours to drive to Birmingham but I was fairly quiet in the back of the car. We had our house guests Pam and Gerald with us for company and support. After the vetting in process they set up my pen and decorated it with these beautiful drapes that Auntie Jane lent us. The Supreme Show is different to other shows: not only is it a national rather than regional show, you are also allowed to decorate the pen. The theme for this show was “Diamonds are Forever” but I just had a regular decorated pen rather than a theme-based one.

The show is enormous and there are large judging rings, hundreds of entrants and many displays and stalls.

Later that morning I was removed from my display pen and taken into the judging ring.

I was placed in a judging pen and when it was my turn the steward presented me to the judge.

The judge looked at me very carefully before making her decision.

I came second in my class! I was very proud to have achieved a placing in the Supreme Show. Scott was also very proud of me.

Scott, Pam and Gerald then spent some time looking at the other exhibits.

Some people had gone to great lengths to decorate their pens according to the theme.

Later all of the cats awarded Best of Variety went into the final Supreme judging. The Best in Show 2012 went to a beautiful Orange Eyed White Persian but Scott didn’t get a picture of her. You can see one here though.

Following my success at the Supreme, as well as being awarded the Championship Title of Premier last year, Scott and I have decided to retire from the show circuit. It was great fun while it lasted though!

Love and hugs to all our old friends in the cat blogosphere – especially my boyfriend Genji!

Miss Rose: Premier

Well hello there! This is Rose.

Last Saturday Scott and I went to the 2012 Chester and North Wales Cat Club All Breed Championship Show held in Chester. Once again my nemesis was there – the 4 year old 22 pound (that’s 10 kilograms!) British Shorthair Blue Colourpoint male neuter who has beaten me for Best of Breed at my last two shows. I am only five kilograms so he is twice my size! At my last show one of the judges said my coat was a bit too soft and flat, so this time Scott thought he would do an experiment and NOT brush me before the show. I’m beautiful enough as it is, plus I take care of my own coat pretty well, and any bits of my coat I miss Oliver and Ruby tend to take care of. Also I have stopped moulting for the summer. This would mean my coat would be a little coarser and sticky-uppy, which is a good thing. The technical term is “crisp” or “cracking”, which describes how the coat breaks over the contours of my body. You can sort of see that if you look closely at my picture.

Well! Scott’s not sure if not brushing me had anything to do with it but I can tell you now that not only did I win First in my Breed Class but I also was awarded Best of Breed! Hooray! I finally beat my nemesis!

In my side classes I got two seconds and a first. Most importantly though, I was awarded my third PC – Premier Certificate. This means I have now reached Championship status and have gained the title of Premier! I know!

My next stop is the annual GCCF Supreme Show in Birmingham in late November – wish me luck!

My Day at the Show. By Miss Rose

Well hello there! This is Rose!

You know, before I begin I need to say that we are very upset that Scott is only letting us get to the computer for special occasions lately. I mean, aren’t we cute any more now that we’re all more than a year old??

Anyway, here is a shot taken of me today at the Merseyside Cat Club All Breed Championship Show. Yes – I did win a few little prizes: let me list them for you. To begin with I came first in my Open Class – that’s the most important one! The judge liked me so much that she awarded me a Premier Certificate. That’s my second Premier Certificate this year (it’s the silver one in the middle). One more PC from a different judge and I will gain the title of Premier cat! I know!

I also come first in two of my side classes and second in another (I know – I was robbed!). If you look carefully at the picture you will see that I won my first cash prize! That was a special Queen’s Diamond Jubilee category that I entered (here in the UK we are celebrating the Queen’s sixtieth year on the throne this weekend). I spent the money there and then on a set of three toy mice (they are wearing tuxedos because they are the Rat Pack), a blue toy ball with feathers, and a collapsible cat play box!

I have to tell you though, that my Nemesis was there today and Scott was very worried. My Nemesis is a big blue colourpoint British Shorthair – he is four years old and he is huge, masculine and magnificent, whereas I am young, feminine and pretty. He won Best of Breed over me once again! Hmph! I won the Premier Certificate though so that’s actually better. I confess though that it would be nice to beat him at least once in my pageant career! I’ll keep you updated!

Love and kisses to all our bloggy friends! A special hello to my boyfriend Genji!

 

Miss Rose Reports

Well hello there! This is Rose.

You know, I should have realised that Scott was getting me ready for something on Friday, because yesterday we drove to the Lancashire Cat Club’s 64th All Breed Championship Show.

It was a pretty big cat show as you can see and there were hundreds of entries. My job was sit in my pen and look as beautiful as I could. So “how did you do?”, I hear you ask.

Well! In cat shows let me explain that red rosettes mean first place. That’s right! I gained a first in my Open Class, and two firsts and a second in my miscellaneous classes. Hooray!

“That accounts for four rosettes Rose” I hear you say. Well! I got another rosette too, which was awarded with a certificate:

This is my first Premier Certificate and it’s a great honour! If I get two more of these in future shows from different judges I will be awarded the title of Premier. That’s like a supermodel cat! I know! And this is what the judge wrote on the back:

 

If I became a Premier cat I wouldn’t let my success go to my head though. I’d be sure to remember all the little people like Oliver and Ruby who believed in me from the very beginning.

(My autographed 8×10 glossy will now cost £5, that’s US$8)

My Day at the Show

Well hello there! It’s Rose.

Yesterday I went to my first cat show: The North West Cat Club’s 27th Annual Championship Show. It was held in Leigh, Lancashire, about forty minutes’ drive from here. At first I wasn’t very happy with the car drive but I eventually settled down: Scott kept talking to me to reassure me that everything was OK.

We  got to the venue and I was examined by a vet to make sure I was healthy and could take part in the show. I was then assigned my pen: number 129. Scott disinfected the pen and set it up for the show. The rules state that everything in the pen must be white – the blanket, litter tray, food and water bowls. Nothing extra is allowed that might identify us, our owners or breeders. This ensures that the judging is unbiased.

Then Scott had to leave the hall for the judging. This is when the judges and their stewards visit all the pens and take us out to look at us very carefully. The judges are looking to see how closely we match the Breed Standard for our type of cat. They then award places for the best cats in each class – for example, my class was British Shorthair Colourpoint Kittens. The darker parts of my coat are called points and points come in many different colours. Some cat’s points are cream, others lilac, chocolate and so-on. My points are called blue, which is a kind of grey.

Well guess what? I came first in my class! That’s what this big rosette is for. Red is for first, blue second and yellow/orange third. The coloured cards at the top of my pen are for the side classes. You can see by the red card that I came first in British Debutante Kitten (that’s a class for kittens that have never been shown before). I also came first in British Maiden Kitten (that’s a kitten that has never won a prize before). The yellow card is for my third place in British Novice Kitten (that’s a kitten that has never had a first place before). It was a great day!

The Best of Breed went to this kitten here. He was three months older than me and looked almost like an adult. Scott says he has had more time to mature and develop the features that match the breed standard. He had cream coloured points.

Scott had a walk around to see all the other cats. This is a Maine Coon – they are huge!

Here are some semi-longhaired cats.

Here is a hairless cat called a Sphynx.

An Oriental Red.

My next door neighbour looked just like Oliver!

This one reminded Scott of Uncle Orlando, who went to bridge earlier this year.

Towards the end of the day all the cats who are declared Best of Variety are moved into these special pens for the final judging.

A single judge has the honour of declaring the Best in Show. Here he is looking at one of the contenders.

And another. He then added to the drama by selecting a shortlist of three cats and looked at them all again.

The Best in Show was awarded to this semi-longhaired cat. Scott thinks he looks like Oliver with hair extensions!

See? MOL!

All in all it was an exciting and tiring day!

Our Day at the Show

Hi everyone it’s Ruby here! Let me tell you about our day at the Merseyside Cat Club Thirty-Second All Breeds Championship Show.

I knew something was up a few days ago. Scott was spending extra time brushing and combing me. He was cleaning around my eyes and in my ears and he and Mark even clipped my razor sharp claws! They were doing the same to Oliver but I had seen them do all that to him before. Oliver doesn’t mind the pampering but I am an independent female feline and feminist – girl cats rule and we don’t need to have rollers in our hair to be successful.

Scott was up super early on Saturday morning so things were very suspicious. Oliver and I, however, are quite trusting so we made no fuss when the doors of our travel cages were opened. I got straight in and Oliver walked into his cage when asked. Scott put us in the car and we drove for about half an hour to the show venue, stopping to pick up Brigitte, Scott’s show buddy, along the way.

It was a beautiful warm sunny day and while other cats, especially the long-haired ones, looked a bit uncomfortable with the heat at the venue, Oliver and I were fine. I hadn’t been to a cat show before. I wasn’t quite sure what to do so I thought I’d just lie in my litter box. Scott says I was deliberately trying to sabotage all of his grooming by rolling in my litter, but really it was just something familiar in my very unfamiliar surroundings. Oliver was in the pen next to me though, so we kept each other company.

Scott and Brigitte had to leave the venue during the judging while Oliver and I were examined by the  judges of our various categories.

My brother Oliver had what is called a Red Card Day. This means he came First in his Open Class and First in all of his side classes! I was very proud of him.

As for me, I came first in my open class, like Oliver, and second in all of my side-classes. Now for the embarrassing bit: Mrs Higgins also judged me Best of Breed! This means not only did I beat my brother but I was judged the best British Blue Kitten in the Show!

Scott is now calling me a Beauty Queen, humph! He also says that my boyfriend Teddy Westlife will be happy that he is dating a supermodel, but I say Teddy isn’t that shallow!

Scott also says that my win qualifies me for entry into the GCCF Supreme Cat Show in Birmingham in November, which is the cat version of Crufts!

I’m going on strike.

My Day at the Show. By Oliver

Hi evfurrybody it’s Oliver here! Let me tell yoo abowt my day at the Lancashire Cat Club’s 63rd All Breed Championship Show.

It all began at 7:30 in the morning when Scott and I drove north to the town of Wigan for the show. We met up wif Auntie Jane and went through “Vetting In”, which is where the vet looks at yoo to make sure yoo don’t have werms. I was in Pen 209.

There were lots of other cats wif their owners. Scott and Jane went to have a look at them and also collect the Show Catalogue. My job was stay in the pen and look handsome.

The judging started at abowt 10 o’clock. The judge and their assistant visit yoor pen and take yoo owt and put yoo on the trolley table. They want to see yoor face and eyes, ears, furs and uvver fings to see how well yoo fit the Breed Standard. They then choose which cats are the best. The first judging I had was for the Open Blue Male Kitten. I did my best but I didn’t get a place.

The kittens that got places were all much older than me so they have had longer to become like mancats. Later Auntie Jane found the judge to ask him abowt me and the judge was kind enough to come and talk to us. He said I was very handsome but a bit young. This means my furs were a bit too fluffy and my face not as round as some of the other cats. He also said my eyes had a little bit of green in them but that I would probably grow owt of that. Scott was still very prowd of me though. The kitten that came first was huge and at least eight months old – I’m only five and a half months!

Scott was then lucky enuff to see the judging of me for the other categories I was entered into. He was so proud of how good I was when the judges were looking at me. He said that some other cats scratch and hiss at the judges but that I was as good as gold.

Then guess what happened? I was awarded a place for the British Novice Kitten – I came second! This is a picture of me and my rosette. Scott and Jane were so happy for me!

Then I got anuvver prize! I came third in the British Maiden Kitten class – that’s two rosettes in one day!

We stayed right until the end to see who would win Best in Show.

The big prize went to this British Blue male – he was judged the very best cat owt of the hundreds there that day. It was extra special to see a British Blue win cos’ he’s like me!  Yoo can see what the Breed Standard looks like – a big round head wif little teddy bear ears, big jowls and a smiley face, nice copper eyes and a thick chunky coat.

One day I hope I look like him, but he is a MANCAT – Scott says I will be a NEW-TER instead.

It was a great day and we got home abowt 5:30pm. I had a little snooze in the car on the way home. Ruby and Mark were waiting to hear all abowt my adventures when I got home.

Ruby and I were allowed to stay up late and play.

Byooty Sleep

Hi evfurrybody! It’s Oliver here!

I need to make sure I get my byooty sleep tonight as tomorrow Scott and I are going to the Lancashire Cat Club 63rd All Breed Championship Show.

I am in four categories: the Open, British Shorthair Novice Kitten, Debutante Kitten and Maiden Kitten. It will be tough competition but I will do my best to be as handsome as possible. I will also be seeing my Auntie Jane as she is going to be Scott’s show-buddy!

I will tell yoo all abowt it tomorrow!