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Plenty Of Fur And Purrs At Show

Doug Carman/Highlands Today

Belinda Blount-Keyser, 10, of Port St. John, Fla., grooms Willy for the Mardi Gras Cat Show Sunday morning. She said she toured with her mother to 27 cat shows so far.

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By Douglas  Carman | Highlands Today

Published: February 18, 2008

LAKE PLACID — "You don't train cats. They train you."

That's how Judy Eastwood, the president of the American Cat Fanciers Association, summarized the experiences of dozens of cat breeders who assembled at the American Legion Post 25 Saturday and Sunday.

Approximately, 50 contestants and more than 130 cats from places as far as Wisconsin packed the post for the "Mardi Gras Cat Show." Through all the breeding, feeding, grooming, pampering and travel expenses, they compete only for ribbons and plaques.

And some make a lifestyle out of it.

Take Leigh Ann Blackmore's itinerary. The assistant human resources director for the Orange County School Board was in Rockford, Ill. two weeks ago, suburban Baltimore a week before that, in Leavenworth, Kan. a month ago and in Sioux Falls, S.D. at the start of the new year.

The University of Florida alumna's cat, Gatormaine Tim Tebow, is always in tow.

After all, she said of everybody at the show, "It's about them. It's not about me.... When they're good and they truly represent the breed, it's not good to leave them home."

Like a dog show, many of the cats here are pure-bred, though there's a "household" category for other cats and an "altered" category for those that are spayed or neutered. The judges look at the cat's fur and physical appearance, making sure the tail is proportionate to the rest of its body, for instance.

Not all the contestants are breeders.

Joe Pitt, a computer consultant from Chesapeake Beach, Md., hops around the cat show circuit with two rescued cats, including a pure-bred Bengal. He said he has been in these shows since 2004.

"You make friends, you get to see the other cats and it's a hobby like collecting stamps," he said.

Belinda Blount-Keyser of Port St. John, Fla., only 10 years old, already went on 27 of these shows with her mom, by her count.

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