Pads, paws and claws

Pedro, a Maine coon from Cambridge.

Katikati's getting catty and cattier – but in the loveliest, feline kind of way.

Cats, dozens of them, long coats, standard coats, in-between coats, flash cats, exotic cats and even the local neighbour moggy will be there.

Perhaps a siamese, an abyssinian, birman, bengal, burmese, sphynx, Maine coon and munchkin – and possibly a Cornish rex or two. Wonderful names for what are widely held to be wonderful animals.

'New Zealand loves cats,” says Patches and Pointed cat show co-ordinator Chris Lowe.

The Patches and Pointed cat show will be at Katikati War Memorial Hall on Saturday. 'There are huge numbers of owners and breeders. People are fascinated with cats.”

Tomorrow breeders from as far afield as Wellington, Palmerston North and Auckland will be in town with more than 100 well coifed cats.

'After all, it is a beauty contest,” says Chris. 'They have to be groomed. You can't just pull your cat out of the backyard the night before and expect to win.”

That means the cats will have been bathed last week and possibly again this week. Despite conventional wisdom, cats it seems don't mind water. 'Some degreaser and shampoo,” says Chris.

If not a bath in the laundry tub, then a shower, a shared shower.

'I know some people who take their cats into the shower with them.” It probably makes the whole task eminently more manageable. 'And believe me, the cats don't mind it. They get used to water.

'They even like water.”

Then there's combing – three times a week for a long-haired feline and once-weekly for short-haired cats. 'Nothing too intensive. And this is ongoing maintenance as a lot of the breeders would have been showing their cats all year.”

Katikati has already demonstrated it's cat-friendly. When the last cat show was in town in 2014 they took more than $2000 at the door. 'And considering entry was a gold coin that was a lot of people in just a few hours.” It's cheap family fun and they get to see a huge variety of cats, they see them being judged and they can talk cats to people who know cats best.

What about the fanciers themselves. Do the claws come out at cat shows?

'It is a particularly competitive environment. But as in any competitive environment people know the boundaries,” says Chris. 'Behaviour is one thing we police on the day. You cannot be loud-mouthed or abusive, not that it happens much. We have strict protocols.”

Are cat fanciers obsessive sort of people?

'I guess so – as are most animal lovers or hobbyists.” Chris herself has worked in administration for the NZ Cat Fancy, the governing body for cat clubs, for about 17 years.

And when she's not doing that, she's travelling the world judging cat shows. She's had as many as six or seven breeding cats and now owns three.

So is that obsessive? 'Maybe. But it's fantastic. Cats have taken me to many interesting countries; and I have met some wonderful people.”

Patches and Pointed is a six-ring show where every cat is judged by each of the six judges in categories such as own breed, colour and sex. And at the end of a complex process in which many ribbons are won, each of the six judges choose their best cat of all the best cats at the show.

Which brings us logically and conclusively to songs – which make specific reference to cats. And there are many of them. The Katikati Ukulele Club and local schoolkids will perform a couple of 20-minutes gigs at Patches and Pointed. And they will perform cat songs, of course.

We looked up a few. ‘What's new pussycat', ‘Walking my cat named Dog', ‘Nashville cats', ‘Cat scratch fever', ‘Cats in the cradle', ‘Stray cat strut' and ‘The Alley cat song' to name just a few.

The ukulele kids are raising funds for a cat rescue organisation in the area.

Patches and Pointed cat show is at Katikati War Hall, Main Rd, on Saturday, September 2, from 10.30am-3.30pm. The supreme final winner will be announced at 3pm.

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