May 21st 2009 10:45 am
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I may be #17, but that puts me in the Regional (National) Winner Class for Japan for this past season. Whew! What a year! I am now officially retired from show biz (but sorta miss the intimacy with Meowmy). I hear that Chibi is going to produce some of those (nasty, nasty) kittens, but what can I do about that? Anyway, it was a long, long haul, and both Meowmy and I are exhausted.

Meowmy and I don't care about my ranking, as long as I managed to get into the top 25. Her biggest contenders--who went to every show--ended up being #10, #11, and #12 respectively, which in the scheme of things is not so superior to #17. I WOULD have scored higher if I'd been more cooperative with the judges (apparently no one likes having a hissing cat lash out at their jugular), but, well, I march to the beat of a different drummer. My main competitor was a cat in the same color class (red tabby and white), and by the end of the season, she was getting those black "First" ribbons because she was so good-natured and just LOVED playing with wand toys. Bah. I don't even really like wand toys at home--why do I have to pretend to like them in the show hall? I do things MY way; and while I'm happy that Meowmy's happy that I'm now a Regional (National) Winner, this is not a career that I would care to pursue any longer. Oh, the sacrifices we cats make for our selfish Humans.

It hardly needs mentioning that the #1 cat was a Persian. It's a kind of rule in the cat world. Maine Coons are popular and even overrepresented, but we almost never make #1. Having said that, the #3 MC Internationally last season (I've mentioned this before) is my distant relative (same mother), so Japanese cats are, generally speaking, highly competitive in the cat world.

Being a Regional Winner means that we can go to a big bash at a plush hotel in July. They show slides of us winners on a big screen while each owner goes in turn to get a really big ribbon. Big deal. We'd prefer cash. Meowmy wants to invite Breeder Daddy, but he works on Saturdays, and isn't sure he can make it. I also think he's a bit shy about being seen with Meowmy. But hey, I come from his cattery--he should get some credit. And his breeding career is about to come to an end; it would be nice if he could attend the Award Party and show people that he's produced some very good cats in his time.

Stay tuned for some REALLY goofy pictures of me by Chanan. I am not photogenic like Chibi (check HER page--hate to admit it, but she sure looks good).