/ Getting Kitty Ready For Showing
By Gail Anderson
I like to harness train the young ones and travel to Pets Mart and other areas to get
them used to different sights and sounds. I also crate train by feeding the cats in it
and traveling. It is good to have others handle your kitty gently. they will have many
strangers poking and prodding them. I will also stretch the cat out and handle their
face the way the judges will. Don't forget to handle the tail and judges will check for
2 testicles on the stud cats. Handling the family jewels get many of the boys upset.
It is very important to use a cage or carrier and practice turning the cat around and
coming out backward. This is very unnatural for the cat, which is a forward facing
animal. The judges will only handle them this way, because this is the safest way to
handle the cat.
I like to keep a buddy with a kitten that is new to showing. This helps a lot to calm
the kitten's nerves. I will walk around the show hall with the kitten to allow them to
see and hear things. It is best to do this in carefully spaced times and short intervals.
You don't want to over do it. They need time to decompress in their cage and absorb
all the strange happenings. I will have a bed in the cage so they feel they have a place
to hide and peek out. I once had a girl that hated being carried through a tight crowd
with all those faces and other cats coming at her. She would be upset by the time I
got to the ring. I put her in a small basket and carried her that way to the ring. She
did much better.
I think it is important to not overload the experience on the first show. If you see
your kitty getting stressed then pull them from the next ring to give them a bit more
time between rings. I will also watch judges. I hate to say it but there are some judges
who handle cats like they are flipping hamburgers in a fast food place. This is to
rough for a newbie, I won't show them my animal. I also don't show my cats to
someone who is having a bad day as their stress and unhappiness will be transmitted
to my cat. they are like little elephants they never forget or forgive bad handling.
They have no reason to be in a cat show as it is totally against a cat's nature.
I also like to come a bit early and put the kitten on the table and in the cage at the
judge station. I will use chase toys to play with in the cage and on the table to show
them it is a fun place too, not always scary. Be sure to clean the table and cage when
through.
There are a number of natural calming agents and even meds you can get from your
vet that will help with anxiety. There is a type of kitty Prozac that I think does help
in some cases. However, it is one of the most frustrating problems to have a beautiful
animal that you would like to show; but it is just not an experience they can enjoy. I
think males are especilly hard to show once the hormones start kicking in. Quite
honestly I have not found any way of fixing the problem if it is not your animal's
makeup to put up with all the nonsense that goes on with showing. I think it wise to
remember that psychology of the cat is to be running loose in the fields with
the territory of 5 square miles to a stud cat. That is the reality of what you are up
against. Shy or very dominant cats will always be tough prospects for the show ring.
It is the mellow fellows in the middle range that do best, both boys and girls.
However early training and gentle forward progress of exposure to strange stimuli,
without going past the overstress button, is best.
Gail Anderson
G bar G Ranch Pixiebobs
By Gail Anderson
I like to harness train the young ones and travel to Pets Mart and other areas to get
them used to different sights and sounds. I also crate train by feeding the cats in it
and traveling. It is good to have others handle your kitty gently. they will have many
strangers poking and prodding them. I will also stretch the cat out and handle their
face the way the judges will. Don't forget to handle the tail and judges will check for
2 testicles on the stud cats. Handling the family jewels get many of the boys upset.
It is very important to use a cage or carrier and practice turning the cat around and
coming out backward. This is very unnatural for the cat, which is a forward facing
animal. The judges will only handle them this way, because this is the safest way to
handle the cat.
I like to keep a buddy with a kitten that is new to showing. This helps a lot to calm
the kitten's nerves. I will walk around the show hall with the kitten to allow them to
see and hear things. It is best to do this in carefully spaced times and short intervals.
You don't want to over do it. They need time to decompress in their cage and absorb
all the strange happenings. I will have a bed in the cage so they feel they have a place
to hide and peek out. I once had a girl that hated being carried through a tight crowd
with all those faces and other cats coming at her. She would be upset by the time I
got to the ring. I put her in a small basket and carried her that way to the ring. She
did much better.
I think it is important to not overload the experience on the first show. If you see
your kitty getting stressed then pull them from the next ring to give them a bit more
time between rings. I will also watch judges. I hate to say it but there are some judges
who handle cats like they are flipping hamburgers in a fast food place. This is to
rough for a newbie, I won't show them my animal. I also don't show my cats to
someone who is having a bad day as their stress and unhappiness will be transmitted
to my cat. they are like little elephants they never forget or forgive bad handling.
They have no reason to be in a cat show as it is totally against a cat's nature.
I also like to come a bit early and put the kitten on the table and in the cage at the
judge station. I will use chase toys to play with in the cage and on the table to show
them it is a fun place too, not always scary. Be sure to clean the table and cage when
through.
There are a number of natural calming agents and even meds you can get from your
vet that will help with anxiety. There is a type of kitty Prozac that I think does help
in some cases. However, it is one of the most frustrating problems to have a beautiful
animal that you would like to show; but it is just not an experience they can enjoy. I
think males are especilly hard to show once the hormones start kicking in. Quite
honestly I have not found any way of fixing the problem if it is not your animal's
makeup to put up with all the nonsense that goes on with showing. I think it wise to
remember that psychology of the cat is to be running loose in the fields with
the territory of 5 square miles to a stud cat. That is the reality of what you are up
against. Shy or very dominant cats will always be tough prospects for the show ring.
It is the mellow fellows in the middle range that do best, both boys and girls.
However early training and gentle forward progress of exposure to strange stimuli,
without going past the overstress button, is best.
Gail Anderson
G bar G Ranch Pixiebobs
It's Show Time!!
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