WILD THINGS
80 | July• 2019
smarts, proven by her punishment of
peeing on our bed every time we go
away on holiday.
Her vindictiveness isn’t a trait ad-
mired by the cat-fancy world, but it’s to
be respected and, occasionally, feared.
When she hunches down and her ears
fold back, when her tail lashes and the
claws eject from her paws, you can see
in her dilated pupils 30 million years of
natural selection.
We couldn’t have known this when
we adopted her as a kitten, but per-
haps we manifested it when we
christened her Darwin. We named
the boy cat Orwell because I liked
the theme of brave historical figures,
but he never lived up to his title. It’s
clear which of the two would survive
in the wild and which would do bet-
ter in a beauty pageant.
A
T THE CAT SHOWin Ed-
monton, Janae and I carried
Orwell in his kennel, along
with treats, a litter pan and a big blue
ribbon for the gold participation
stickers he was guaranteed to win.
We ventured past a few dozen fancy
pedigrees to the ghettoes of the show
hall, where calicos, tabbies, torties
and the other non-purebreds were
stationed.
Spectator attendance in the
cat-fancy world is strong, thanks to
the internet’s fascination with felines,
but exhibitor numbers are historical-
ly low. It’s an ageing and expensive
hobby, and showing is surprisingly
physical for the elderly exhibitors,
requiring almost non-stop schlep-
ping of pets from one side of the show
hall to another for two long days.
But at $60 to $100 per cat to exhibit,
compared to just $10 for specta-
tor admission, the household pet
category is a decent revenue driver.
The vast majority of the contend-
ers in this category are rescues, en-
tered without charge by local char-
ities in the hope that someone will
adopt ‘Norman’ or ‘Hamish’ after
seeing what these scruffy orphans
are really made of. Knowing my
semi-exotic cat would be up against
these specimens gave me confidence- but not Orwell. Our boy was cow-
ering in the corner of his kennel.
Janae was hesitant about my idea of
putting him in the show, and thought
I’d traumatised him enough the night
before when I’d surprised him with a
bath and mango-scented shampoo.
Grooming and hygiene are vital
in the household pet category.
Contestants are primarily scored on
grooming, condition, health and also
personality – a criterion subjected
to judges’ personal tastes and worth
30 points.
Our decision to enter Orwell over
Darwin was validated after learning
about the rules on aggression set out
by The International Cat Association
(TICA). While allowances are made
for timidity in rescues, aggressive-
ness won’t be rewarded, and biting
results in disqualification.