New Supreme!

I call the Arcadia show my “commuting” show, since it’s just a short trip on the freeway to get there. These shows are often rather small, but that does not mean they are easy! The number of cats I was competing against as an Alter was so small (only between 17 and 22 long haired and short haired Alters combined), only about 5 to 7 cats could final in most rings (the usual is 10). And of the five to seven long haired altered cats competing this weekend (the number differed from ring to ring), three of them were Supreme Grand Alters like me, two of them are in the top four Alters in my region (I’m number 5, but I’m way below them in score), and the newest cat is a hot white Persian who just came out of kittens a couple of months ago and is headed for great things. And that was just the long haired cats — there were also the short haired alters, including a Scottish Fold who is also a top four cat! These cats were tough competition.

My half-brother Chilly didn’t have it much better, although there were enough cats competing with him for 10 final positions, so he had more chances to place.

Plus the judges enjoy having him in their rings. He’s fun! For this show, he was going through the same thing I did last season — he had enough points to become a Supreme Grand Champion, but to earn that title, you also need to be Best Cat in one final… and that is not easy to get, especially for a breed like us Somalis! The Best more often goes to Persians, Maine Coons, Bengals, etc. — the more common and well known breeds. For Somalis, it is a big deal to get Best in a final! Sometimes it takes months for a cat to get that coveted Best that makes them a Supreme. It doesn’t often happen in one season for our breed.

But guess what? He did it! And it was crazy because he had just come from another judging ring where he was second! It was very exciting for his breeder, and for me. My human wanted to get a photo of him with his New Supreme ribbon, but at first he wouldn’t cooperate.

Finally he realized what my human was trying to do and posed for her. That posing thing seems to run in the family.

In the end, Chilly got seven finals to accompany his New Supreme ribbon — he had an excellent show!

I only got two finals, but I was glad to have those considering my competition.

I’m already looking forward to my next cat show — it’s weekend after next in San Jose!
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My 2016 calendars are here!