Shirl's Kitty Marley

Although I love Ragdolls to pieces, I am not a big cat show person.  I think I could get into them, but I have not had great experiences with them – people seem to be rude, cold and just generally annoyed with anyone that is excited about their cats.

So as a result, I haven’t stayed on top of many of the ongoings when it comes to Ragdoll Cat Shows, but Shirl, a Floppycats.com reader and a member of our Yahoo! Group posted the other day whether or not anyone had been to the International Ragdoll Congress Cat Show in Denver Colorado.

I was a little embarassed that I didn’t know what it was, especially since I have a websitea ll about Ragdolls.  However, I have decided that I shouldn’t be embarassed because my experience with Ragdolls has been with them as pets and while I appreciate the folks that like cat shows, I am not sure if I will ever get into them. 

I do know there is a lot to learn from breeders and people that are into cats through cat shows.

I was interested in Shirl’s visit, though, so she shared some photos with me and I asked if I could share them with you guys.  Denny Dayton, one of the original Ragdoll breeders, made an appearance and Shirl had some photos taken with him.  Here they are:

Shirl, Denny Dayton and ?

Shirl and Denny Dayton

Thanks to Shirl for sharing your visit with us!

Did you go to the Ragdoll Congress?  How did you like it?  Did you meet Denny Dayton?  Share with me and others more about this stuff to see if we can get into it!

© admin for Floppycats | Dedicated to Ragdoll Cat Lovers, 2010. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Denny Dayton, ragdoll cats, Ragdoll Congress

Rag Time in Kansas City Cat Show 2008: On August 9th and 10th, 2008 at the Overland Park Convention Center in Overland Park, KS the Mo-Kan Cat Club presented the “Rag” Time in Kansas City Cat Show. The Judges included:

• Ring 1 – Norma Placchi – Las Cruces, NM

• Ring 2 – Larry Adkison – Springfield, MO

• Ring 3 – Wain Harding – Ukiah, CA

• Ring 4 – Ken Curvie – Fairfax, VA

• Ring 5 – Rachel Anger – Wayne, NJ

• Ring 6 – Kathy Black – Duncan, OK

• Ring 7 – Carla Bizzell – Pensacola, FL

• Ring 8 – Brian Pearson – Kansas City, MO

Since Ragdolls were the focus cat at this show, I decided to go to get some video footage as well as photos for Floppycats.com. These are photos and videos I took while I was there.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

© admin for Floppycats | Dedicated to Ragdoll Cat Lovers, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Kansas City Cat Show, Rag Time in Kansas City Cat Show 2008, Ragdoll cat show

Ragdoll Cat Shows are becoming more common as the breed becomes more popular.

Attending Ragdoll Cat Shows is an excellent way to come in contact with a number of breeders or Ragdoll owners and a great way to get a quick audience to ask them questions and what not. You can always get a good idea of how they treat their cats. You can also get a good idea about how much they love their cats by looking at the cats they have with them and watching how they interact with them.

Certainly, a reputable, caring breeder is the best way to go. Someone that really has passion for their cats and loves them as members of the family rather than seeing Ragdolls as a way to get rich quick.

Since it is hard to get an understanding of Ragdoll cat shows when you are there, here is some information to know before you go (if it’s your first or third time and you just don’t know!).

Cats are judged in the color classes (blue bi-colors against blue bi-colors and seal bi-colors against seal bi-colors, etc.)–the Best of the Division or the best confirmation for their group pattern. So if one kitty is a blue bi-color and the other kitty was a seal bi-color, then they can each get best of color since they were the only ones in their color classes for the breed.

They then judge them against each other for best of breed. The judge re-examines the winners and looks at all the #1 and #2 Best color and Divisions and picks 3 of the Best of the Breed Ragdolls. Unfortunately, sometimes size seems to play a part with the judges. So, in summary, cats are judged by colors in that breed. And then after the color classes are judged, then all of the cats in that breed are judged to find which one is best of breed and 2nd best of breed.

That isn’t it though.

Once the best of breed is chosen in each individual case, the owners showing their cats, take the kitties out of the judging area and go back to the benching area and wait. Each Judge then looks over their score sheets and chooses which cats of ALL the different breeds of cats in the show they liked the best. (This is called Final). A cat can be #1 Best Color, #1 Best of Division, #1 Best of Breed, yet not get called back to Final against all the breeds in the show. The Judges really have to break the show down to what they really feel it the best cat of the whole show. Usually only 10 cats get called back depending on the size of the show. Sometimes it is 5 cats. After all the cats in Premiership (spayed/neutered) class have been judged — this means all breeds — then the judge will choose the top 10 for his final and these are the cats that get the rosettes.

All breed classes choose 10 from all of the breeds entered in Premiership. Sometimes you will have specialty classes which means they judge all of the longhaired breeds and then choose the top 10 from the longhaired breeds for the long haired final, and they also will do the same for the shorthaired. Most rings, though, are all breed, which means the final will include the top 10 from all longhaired and shorthaired Premiership cats — after they were all judged. Only those top 10 get rosettes. This is the TICA show. CFA runs a little different but with the same concept. TICA and CFA are two entirely different organizations. TICA allows more breeds of cats than CFA. Also, TICA allows declawed cats whereas CFA does not. You’ll see lots of Bengals in TICA where you won’t see any in CFA, etc.

There are more Ragdolls that are shown in TICA. CFA Shows are usually cheaper–there may not be as many judges or rings, as a result. Many TICA shows are three day shows.

There are a couple of options on this page to search for Cat Shows — you can use the Google Search Bar, or you can click on the links listed below for Ragdoll cat shows. TICA (The International Cat Association, Inc.) is a registry of pedigreed cats and there is a link to their sponsored shows. So almost every reputable breeder is either listed with TICA or CFA (Cat Fanciers’ Association, another registry of pedigreed cats). You’ll notice that there is also a link to CFA’s sponsored shows.

On August 9th, 2008, Floppycats.com attended the “Rag” Time in Kansas City Cat Show. There are videos and photos of the cat show on this website here:“Rag” Time in Kansas City Cat Show

On an additional note, if you aren’t showing your cat, you might want to visit Ragdoll cat shows just for the shopping! There are a lot of great booths. People sell cat toys and cat beds, usually of the homemade variety at Ragdoll cat shows. They also sometimes have unique products that you don’t find in the larger pet stores.

CFA Show Calendar

TICA Show Calendar

Missouri and Kansas Cat Events – Ragdoll Cat Shows

© admin for Floppycats | Dedicated to Ragdoll Cat Lovers, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: cat shows, floppy cats, Ragdoll Cat, ragdoll cat info, Ragdoll Cat Shows