When to stop showing ?

When you are at a cat show you see roughly three kinds of cats:

-The cats who seem enjoy all the attention and can't get enough of it.
-The cats who seem indifferent.
-And the cats that are miserable, some are just silently scared but some others kick up a real fuss.

These aren't very neat categories, and I've often seen cats who were OK with showing at first but started to dislike it later.

But when to stop seems to be a very hard decision to make, especially when you've got a cat that does well. I'm struggling with the decision now so I'm asking you guys: when to stop showing ? Where do you draw the line between the fun you get out of showing and the wellbeing of the cat ?

Ok, I want to explain about some of my experiences.

I show with a group of friends and I've seen the reactions of their cats to showing. The worst example was my best friends cat, she loved him a lot but enjoyed showing so much she kept rationalizing his clear unease until she just couldn't ignore it anymore. This cat was car-sick to begin with, so he always arrived kinda miserable. At his first shows he didn't like being benched much, being around so many other cats stressed him out. But when he went to the judge he would really present himself. After a few shows he hated showing so much he started to growl at the judges. He would often vomit in the car on the way back. We would stop to clean him up and at those moments my friend swore she would stop showing him. Then the next show would come up, all our friends would be going, she started saying maybe if she'd do something or other differently he would be allright and entered him into the next show. At his last show he attacked a kid who was poking her hand into his cage, after that he was really upset and totally freaked out on stage when they went to accept his best-in-variety (akin to best of color) award. She told us again she would really stop showing. A few weeks later they went on vacation and left the cats in a boarding cattery, soon after they came home he developed FIP and died. And she was left thinking; what if....

There are some more people in our group who have cats who started out OK but didn't like showing later on, they just leave those cats at home. But because they all breed they always have another cat to show.

I like showing too, my two eldest are HHP, I'd love to show them sometime but they are not used to riding in cars so I won't take them. I've taken Flynn the Somali to a show twice but the second time he was uncomfortable so he gets to stay home too.

That leaves dEUS the Birman, according to his breeder he's the best cat her cattery has produced so far (she couldn't keep him for breeding due to an agreement with the studowner). I don't show a lot compared to other people I know but dEUS has come a little way, I show with the independent cat associations in the Netherlands and abroad (we have those and Fife, there are not enough CFA or TICA shows around here to make showing with them worthwhile), dEUS is an International Premier and is one show away from his Grand International Premiership. (after that there is European and Grand European premiership). At half of the shows he competes in he got nominated for Best-in-show (but he always came in as second so far).
He is very easygoing, from his first show he has been sucking up to the judges big time and he likes meeting new people (it's the same thing at home)
When I take out his showthings he is all over them, the days after shows he just has to sleep in his showbed:



He likes to sleep in his carrier, but last week before we went to a show in Blegium he saw his carrier and disappeared. I spotted him under the spare bed, he saw he was "discovered" and came out. Only to disappear behind a lounging chair. Uh-oh. My friend was already waiting in the car downstairs so I put him into his carrier and we went on our way. He slept through most of the show, he wasn't showing off with the judge, it didn't sit well with me. I talked to my friends about it but they didn't see the problem (true, there wasn't much to see). We were scheduled to do another show yesterday (that show was too close to home to pass up) to complete his title, but I withdrew him. I don't even know why exactly, in my head I could come up with all kinds of reasons to go (you'll lose your entry fee, he's so close to his title, he's still behaving better than other cats) but it didn't feel right at this moment. Maybe we'll try again in september or something, but not right now. (see ? I wanna keep showing because I like it so much )

I've shown for over 25 yrs - HHP and pedigrees. I've been thru cats that hated it to love it.

IMO you stop showing a cat when he/she doesn't want to be show - no matter how wonderful, beautiful, # of awards. Its not fair to the cat, judge, other exhibitors, and the general public to keep showing a cat who hates it. Does no one any good - and does hurt the reputation of the breed, the exhibitor, etc.

I showed a turkish angora that was a wonderful example of the breed - he should have granded easily. However, after a few kitten shows, he just didn't like it - he was hissing a lot, hated grooming, and I did not want to stress him any more - it was not only my reputation on the line, but the breeder's rep and the breed's rep - long time ago TA's were very bad cats in the show ring - to the extent that judges did not want to handle them - so you show only those who enjoy showing. The TA was given to a friend of mine who loved him and didn't want to show.

Spooky (my rex) was a real ambassador to the breed - he loved showing, was a ham, the judges loved him too. He probably was my BEST show cat I've owned He was shown up to the age of 6-7 yrs old (from a kitten).

Ling went to one show and hated it - so she was never put in another one. I've had some females that didn't like showing as a championship cat, but tolerated it as an alter (where they granded).

Charlie loved his first show - we will see how he handles shows as an adult in the alter class.

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

IMO you stop showing a cat when he/she doesn't want to be show - no matter how wonderful, beautiful, # of awards. Its not fair to the cat, judge, other exhibitors, and the general public to keep showing a cat who hates it. Does no one any good - and does hurt the reputation of the breed, the exhibitor, etc.

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I totally agree with you, but determining when a cat doesn't want to be shown seems to be a very personal thing (and of course you know your own cat best). I pulled dEUS now while he wasn't "hating" showing, I even received an email from a breeder who I barely know asking why i'd withdrawn him because she knew him to be so calm. (not very helpful when you're trying to make up your mind)

Yes, there are the occasional persons who keep showing a cat that goes to the judge literally kicking and screaming. I know this lady whose white Turkish Angora (I'm not making this up) has even attacked her a couple of times till she bled. She wrote on a messageboard she just wanted to show him to Championship and stop. She did. Then he was neutered and she decided to show him to Premiership You can imagine what it did to her reputation.

But apart from the cats that obviously hate shows and the cats that seem to love them you also have the middle category, personally I think a lot of cats at shows do not misbehave but would really rather stay home. What about them ? And where does hating shows stop and tolerating begin ?

You're right - sometimes its hard to tell. I feel that if its a little upset, then you try again. If the cat gets worse ring by ring - you know they don't like it. That's what happend to Ling in her 1st show - she was fine but scared in the 1st ring (understandable). But the 2nd and 3rd, she just acted up more and more. So DH said "let's just pull her from the last ring". Smart man considering its only his 2nd cat show at the time

Maybe test him again. I had a RB female who despised showing - I pulled her quickly. After a litter and after being spayed she started becoming more friendly to people who visited (something she never did before). So I tried her in the show ring as an alter - this was about 2-3 yrs later. She was far more tolerant this time - and while she didn't really like it, she did get enough finals to grand

Originally Posted by Mimosa

But when to stop seems to be a very hard decision to make, especially when you've got a cat that does well. I'm struggling with the decision now so I'm asking you guys: when to stop showing ? Where do you draw the line between the fun you get out of showing and the wellbeing of the cat ?

Click to expand...

So far this haven't been a problem to me. My cats have either belonged to the category "I hate this" and they simply haven't been taken to any more shows than that very one when they showed me they're not going to put up with this or they've belonged to the indifferent group and those cats have been shown a few time, so far I haven't shown any of those cats more than six times.

It's not fun showing a cat that dislike the whole thing.

Here's my story...

My Stevie used to really really like being shown...until he mated for the 3rd time. Then his interests lay elsewhere . He still actually likes being shown, even now, provided there are no entire females within 10 feet of him - impossible no, in a show hall?? Unfortunately for me, I DO need a GC in my foundation and Stevie is only 2 points away from that now. I have promised him no more shows after the ring he grands in - be it he finals or no - just defeating Reecie and Dodo (both Champions, Dodo is out of Stevie and Reecie) will be enough for him to grand. Both Stevie and Reecie's bloodlines are impeccable. And they both breed true ( Suria, Bulan and Dodo). So in the end, he needs one ring to grand - the next show should grand him (4 rings) and if he grands on the 1st ring of the day, I will withdraw him immediately from the competition - he's done his job.

I have found a solution for hissy, aggressive and shy cats in the show ring - it's worked for the last 2 shows that Stevie was in. In fact he was an absolute sweetheart in Bangkok!

On another note, I have the perfect HHP BIS candidate at home - Milo is his name and he is a chocolate seal point Domestic Semi Long Hair with a wonderful kinked tail! . Shown once and then never again. He is just not suited for the show rings.






So the moral is...you WILL know when to pull your cats from showing and from the first show, you will know if the cat is suitable for showing!