CATS AND THE CAT FANCY IN NORTH AMERICA 1930s - 1950s
THINGS LOOK UP FOR ST LOUIS CATS St. Louis Post Dispatch, 5th March 1936
Something at last is being done about the more abundant life for cats, that subject much agitated in our Letters from the People Column lately, some of the writers advocating more abundance, some complaining of the too abundant cat life in this town. The Greater St. Louis Cat Club has been organized with the avowed purpose of uplifting the status by improving the breeds of cats in St. Louis and surrounding territory. That obviously does not mean greater abundance in the sense of quantity of the cat population. Real cat culture would seem inevitably to mean fewer and better cats, and that would seem to be an argument on the side of those who have been complaining of too many cats monopolizing the neighborhood vocally these mild spring nights. Still, let not either opponents or proponents of the common alley or house variety of cat claim too hasty a conclusion of the argument.
"We want to encourage all cat lovers, said Carroll F. Chase, leading spirit in the organization of the club. "We don t want people who have grown fond of certain cats, however common, or have been protecting the strays, to sacrifice their pets or abandon their humane intentions. What we want is for people who just naturally like cats to appreciate that there is a difference in cats and realize that while they are maintaining common low bred cats they might as well be giving a home to one with some standing in the cat world, one that does not need to be apologized for, a cat, indeed, that with prize
money and desirable progeny will more than maintain and justify itself.
There are some low born cats who deserve a far better fate than roosting on the back fence as a target for old shoes, he told me. Tabby cats, for instance. Although I had always thought Tabby a generic name for all cats of feminine gender, they are, I was informed, a distinct breed, officially recognized and much sought after by cat fanciers. They are to be recognized by certain officially prescribed but accidental markings and are likely to happen in even the most poorly regulated cat families. Also a male tortoiseshell cat of breeding potentialities is so rare that, though his ancestors may have roamed the alleys for generations, could one be discovered he would be seized upon and elevated to the nobility of catdom.
St. Louis is shamefully behind other cities in the quality of its cat citizenry, or rather in recognition of those it has, I was told. Even Joplin and Springfield have their cat clubs and Kansas City is a hotbed of cat culture. The purpose of organizing the club is to find out what the cat situation really is here. Already there are some fine cats in St. Louis but there had been no organized means of finding out and disseminating information about them.
"For instance, said Chase, I have a pedigreed champion silver gray Persian for whose kittens I ought to get from $25 to $50. I have got those prices in Indianapolis, Philadelphia and New York. One order came by telegraph from Peoria. But here in St. Louis I can hardly give away kittens because there is no organized source of information about them. Our club already has about 38 members, some real fanciers among them.
Mrs. Akard succeeded to the fine cattery of Mrs. Nash in Kirkwood, several members having pedigreed cats. When we get going good we will issue a monthly bulletin listing specialists in different breeds, the kind, color, sex, price of stock on hand, when and where they can be contacted for for breeding purposes. In the fall we intend to have a real point cat show by which we hope to qualify for membership in one of the big regional or national associations and take our place in the cat world.
Right now, continued Chase, it is more of a social club. You d be surprised what a common meeting ground an interest in cats affords. We meet and discuss our experiences with our cats, questions of care, feeding, discipline, training, and the fine points in breeding by which cats are judged. There are clubs within the club, each particular breed having its devotees who get off together and discuss only Persian or Siamese or Manx or Maltese or Tabbies. And then these groups separate into smaller cliques who are interested in propagating a certain color or combination of colors in one breed.
"There is a lot to learn about cats with changes and improvements going on all the time and the fashions to be kept up with. Somebody started a vogue for green-eyed tabbies, for example, and it almost spoiled the expression of their faces and influenced the strength of their black marking, but the breed is getting back to their normal hazel eyes again.
Among short haired cats right now the royal Siamese is perhaps the most popular and becoming numerous although not many generations ago, even as cat generations increase, their breeding and propagation was confined exclusively to the royal palace grounds of Siam. During an uprising of some kind a pair of them is supposed to have been smuggled to England. We have
two breeders of Siamese in our club, Mrs. Charles Moll in Overland and Merle Horzmann of Belleville.
Among long haired cats the Angoras and Persians, practically the same breed now, are most popular, but new breeds come into favor. We are hearing a lot about Tabbies. They may be either long or short haired, silver gray, brown or red in color with strong black markings. They are recognized as a distinct breed with several points to be lived up to but the important point insisted upon by the judges is their marking. They must have large, bold, jet black circles on each side of the body and a butterfly in stripes on the back of the neck. Their breeding almost invariably is accidental. It seems impossible to reproduce them by design. They are likely to happen anywhere, but so rarely as to make them much sought after.
Other club members just like cats or favor one particular kind regardless of commercial value. Durward Howerton, our president has a black and white spotted cat known as a magpie. He is interested in perfecting this style of cat, and promoting it as a show class breed.
Some rules of cat care and culture arrived at in club discussions are:
Cats are carnivorous and require raw meat or fish, some vegetable foods, but no starches. But don t feed kittens raw meat. On milk with an occasional egg in it they should thrive after they are weaned. Always leave saucers of milk and water where a cat can re-fresh itself at will. Otherwise feed at regular periods once or twice a day. It is well to keep a box of growing wheat for them in winter. Cats need grass as a tonic.
Cats must get out on the ground now and then they are likely to have fits if they don t, and must have tree trunks or fence posts to sharpen their claws on. For hair balls (when they lick their fur and swallow it) dose with castor oil or mineral oil. Never allow a weakly or deformed kitten to live. Drown it at birth.
Handle your cats frequently, get them used to being petted and they ll never be savage. Intelligence depends upon the way a cat is treated. They can be taught tricks as well as dogs, but they have to be treated more deferentially. Never reprimand with your own hands but with a ruler, yardstick or some object kept for the purpose. Then they will learn to fear the instrument of chastisement rather than the person administering it. I have a yardstick standing in the corner and my cats give it a wide berth in passing, said Mr. Chase, a slight young man who, with his wife, raises families of cats with three progenitors under a well regulated system of birth control, in their three-room apartment at 3609 Nebraska avenue.
Cats are prone to ear cankers. When they scratch their ears and hold their heads on one side, their ears should be examined and attended to. They should visit a cat dentist once or twice a year to have tartar and decayed teeth removed.
The English are the best authorities on cats as they are on all small animal pets, observed Mr. Chase. There is an extensive literature on the subject, mostly of English authorship, but cat culture is flourishing in this country, too. He turned over the pages of a prosperous looking nationally circulated periodical. It proved a lively chronicle of news and events in the cat world. Vital statistics included marriages, births, touching obituaries of dear departed cats. Society notes, big shows with important cats figuring in them, their pedigrees, decorations, titles listed, some picturesque, some imposing names among them; beauties described in detail to the kind of fur they are wearing this season, the color of eyes, the kink in a tail and something about the personality and disposition of each. Gossip and cat interest stories, anecdotes, surprising accomplishments and tricks some cats are up to. Domestic notes on the care and feeding of cats. Architectural notes on up-to-date catteries. Medical notes on the cure and prevention of feline diseases. Beauty notes, powders and cosmetics in the interest of glossy coats. Besides separate departments devoted to news and interests of each of the cat families of recognized social standing, that is, the Angoras and Persians, the Russian, Siamese, Mexican, Manx, Abyssinian, Australian, but not I regret to say on behalf of the poor little house and alley cats not much news of the hoi polloi, the native cats.
DETROIT PERSIAN SOCIETY - The Cat Gazette (1937)
The April meeting: of the Detroit Persian Society was held April 3 at the Hotel Detroiter with 26 members and two guests present. Two new members were voted into the club. Mrs. Mary B. Warfel wrote the society that she will be happy to judge the Detroit cat show in December. - H. B. Zieses, Sec y.
ANOTHER NEW CLUB - The Cat Gazette (1937)
Another club was organized in Toledo, O., on March 20, 1937. It is to be known as the Northwestern Ohio Cat Club. The first meeting was held at the home of Mrs. Ray Nenzer and the following officers were elected: Mrs. W. B. Habbeler, president; Mrs. C. Baumberger, first vice-president; Mr. Otis Quigley, second vice-president; Mrs. Ray Nenzer corresponding secretary; Mrs. Agnes King, treasurer and Mrs. Otis Quigley, recording secretary.
CLEVELAND CAT FANCIERS - The Cat Gazette (1937)
The Cleveland Cat Fanciers Club met at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Klabuhn on Saturday evening, April 10. Mr. Hall, first vice-president, presided in the absence of Mrs. Olive Nott, president. After the usual routine of business, the report of the annual meeting of members of the Cat Fanciers Association was read and discussed. Much consideration was given to the choice of a judge for their early November show, who will be announced later. Mrs. Myers and Mrs. Paul Becker were accepted into membership, also three out of town breeders. After the club's adjournment, the members enjoyed a scrumptious repast and it was generally agreed that Mrs. Klabuhn was the perfect hostess. The next meeting will be held at the home of Dr. and Mrs. Woodruff on May 8. - Mrs. W. Limpert, Sec y
Mrs. James L. Bryne of Bowdoin avenue, Dorchester, is one of the many Boston women who go to New York next week to attend the eat show. Mrs. Bryne has four prize pets to be entered, and she is confident they will return with additional honors.
[WESTCHESTER CAT CLUB] THE AWAKENING Daily Mirror, 13th July 1940
Our American friends are facing up to it at last:- "The Westchester Cat Club (New York) formed a committee to investigate and make recommendations on what steps should be taken to safeguard the lives of cats in the event of a foreign invasion. Mrs. John S. Hunter, of Mount Vernon, is leader of the committee. Plans for the evacuation of cats to safety zones and the establishment of cat registries and first-aid stations in the event of enemy air raids were discussed."
[CENTRAL MAINE CAT CLUB] Lewiston Evening Journal, 18th March 1953
Cat lovers have organized the Central Maine Cat Club "to Promote appreciation, understanding, and good care for all Maine cats." Now that's a worthy purpose and its main purposes are to exchange information on the habits, care and breeding of cats, and to promote measures meant to alleviate abuse of cats. Miss Alta L. Smith, assistant treasurer of the Good Will Home at Hinckley is president. Miss Ruby D. Dyer of Skowhegan is secretary-treasurer. She was formerly a copywriter in New York City, and Miss Smith is not only founder of the Woodshed Theater but is co-author of two recently published books"As Maine Goes" and "Heads 'N' Tales." Skowhegan Lensmen's Club members are acting as official photographers for the Cat Club. Organization of this club revives an early Maine activity. The Maine cat was officially considered the most choice cat in the United States, and cat clubs and cat shows used to be featured in current events. Even today, after generations of haphazard breeding, Maine cats are noted for their beauty, docility and intelligence, as witnessed by the many kittens which are taken annually to new homes in other states. Many Maine coon cats are erroneously being called angoras or persians by owners familiar with the newer long haired breeds but unaware of the original coon cat rating. Professional cat breeders, however, are concentrating nowadays on more recently imported stock and no class has been provided for Maine cats, either domestic short hair or coon, at the shows. In recent years Maine has been one of the few states without a cat club or a cat show.
WHAT A LIFE! The Courier Journal, 21st November 1954
The alley cat may have nine, but the show cat spends his one pampered - and worried over. By Kent Previette
The alley cat may have nine lives, but the show cat has only one - and what a life! It s a vacuum-packed-wrapped-in-cellophane affair, constantly in touch with human hands. Served and coddled and groomed by its owner, the show cat must do only two things: win the All American Grand Championship and produce - produce the best of its kind. For every bushel of rosettes and ribbons won for a doting mistress, there are years and hours and minutes of servitude in reverse.
Alley and show - they are brother cats, though born on opposite sides of the track. They can claim dogs and bears as cousins - just a few times removed. The common ancestor, Miacus, started the line 40,000,000 years ago; and a while back there was a half brother, the saber-tooth tiger, but he didn t live long, geologically speaking.
There are two kinds of aristocrats - the Long Hairs (sometimes called Persians, though there is no longer a true-blooded Persian, since the present breeds come from a cross with the Angora) and the Short Hairs (including Siamese, the tailless Manx, and the Abyssinian). Each has 13 breeds with as many colors, ranging from the solids through chinchilla and smoke of the silvers to tortoise shell and blue-cream of the tabbies. The domesticated cat of today apparently originated in Egypt, where it reached a god-like status and lent its face and head to Pasht, the goddess of light and fire, of song and music, of pleasure and social delights.
The cats of Mrs. Raymond E. Hackel, 167 N. Crescent Ave., have names derived from the very lore and history of the land of the Nile, on which she has spent many years of research. Her blue-creamed Persian, Tita Shera, was named after a queen of the Sixth Dynasty (about 2600 B. C.). One day she hopes to have a solid black of pedigreed lineage so she can name it Queen Nitocris, about whom a story involving a lost slipper and a Pharaoh has been told. This was possibly the origin of the Cinderella story and concerned a jealous stepmother and a father who made the cat-headed images used in the worship of the goddess Pasht.
Louisville will be a focal point for cats when the Third Championship Show, sponsored by the Kentucky Cat Club, opens next Saturday in the armory at St. Matthews. Mrs. Hackel s Queen Tita Shera will compete with 150 other entries from as far south as Texas and Florida and north as Minnesota and Pennsylvania. Some will have names far more grandiloquent but none likely so historical.
There is one cat in town that has come from farther afield. Though not regarded as having looked upon kings, it has fraternized with heads of state. Once a barracks mascot at Argentia, Newfoundland, Tommie is now the privileged pet of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Scofield, 2521 Talbott Ave., Louisville. Tommie is a lady despite her name, but as far as she is concerned just plain cat, though her dark tongue suggests good ancestry. She s content not to compete with the grand champions at St. Matthews. After all, what one of them has seen Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in a historical meeting in Newfoundland, or been photographed with the Prime Minister of England? She was raised from a kitten by a Louisville sailor, Charlie Hipple, 1737 Gregg, who was stationed at Argentia and who kept her in his desk drawer, Scofield was a naval officer, and after V.J. Day returned to Newfoundland to serve as civilian personnel officer, taking Mrs. Scofield with him. When Hipple was transferred he gave Tommie to new friends from his home town.
Mrs. Margaret Bergamini, 140 Brown Ave., says that every cat has a personality. She can tell 17 stories, one for each cat in her Sheromar Cattery. (Cattery is a term applied to cats as kennel is to dogs. Mrs. Bergamini derived the name Sheromar from letters in the name of her daughter SHEri, her son ROnnie, and her own name, MARgaret.) Perhaps she will break the communication barrier and learn what her Chinchilla Silvers think about when she grooms them for the eight shows she is attending this winter.
Maybe the alley cat would surrender all nine lives, willingly, at the sight of the hospital tray that Mrs. Bergamini uses when she grooms Sheromar s green-eyed Persians for their draped cages in the November shows at Cleveland, Columbus, Atlanta (or St. Louis), and Louisville. Later there will be shows at Cincinnati, Dayton, Detroit, and other cities. On that tray the alley cat would behold cotton, baby powder, boric acid, rubbing alcohol (to sterilize shears, combs, and nail clippers), and an antiseptic solution. His eyes would be cleaned, his ears swabbed, toe nails and fur trimmed, head combed with a small comb, and body groomed with a larger comb that has been imported. For a show taking place on Saturday he d get a bath on Wednesday and be dried with a hair blower. He d be brushed out and dusted with perfumed face powder, which in turn would be combed out completely during the three days following. Rules of cat shows require all powder to be removed to prevent its concealing skin infections.
As for the green-eyed Persians, Mrs. Bergamini worries over each litter because the higher the pedigree, the less the resistance. All my cats could be wiped out by one germ, and I always carry antibiotics with me to every show.
For the exhibitor there is only one health hazard cattery blindness. Sometimes it afflicts an owner who thinks her cat is always the best.
The most deadly of all cat diseases is endoritis [enteritis], an infection of the digestive tract. All cats less than a year old must have shots against it before being shown. Mrs. Nikki Horner, owner of the Shawnee Cattery. Prospect Ky., advocates giving endoritis [enteritis] serum to kittens when 6 to 12 weeks old, and after the twelfth week, two shots of vaccine a week apart. This, she says, gives them life-time immunity. Another disease common to males is uremic poisoning. Mrs. Horner's long-hair Champion Shawnee Copper Coach was a victim of this ailment. She recommends as a preventive fresh water, exercise, and 25,000 units of vitamin A every day.
Although always interested in cats, Mrs. Horner turned to breeding in a sort of desperation. Dr. John W. Taylor, former president of the University of Louisville, brought her a pet Siamese which he obtained from a baroness in England. When the cat's calling time came (a female calls repeatedly when in heat) she had to do something about it, or else never would have gotten any sleep. Just a month ago her Champion Shawnee Heather (blue-point Siamese) won seven rosettes and two ribbons at Chicago. Heather is to be entered in the Louisville and other shows, and Mrs. Horner is determined that she win the grand championship.
Besides her blue-point Siamese, she breeds seal, chocolate and frost the last so new that it has not been recognized in the standards of the Cat Fanciers Association. Her specialty is Dark Solid Red in the long hair line. By breeding black to red she gets torties (tortoiseshell), which are always females. These she breeds back to red, and then repeatedly blends with others for build, getting desired factors from different lines of the long hairs. For pets she recommends that males be local club, and neutered and females spayed.
According to information supplied by Mrs. Dorothy Hyman, Route 1, Crestwood, Ky., the first pedigreed cat in Kentucky was a long- haired brown tabby named Willow Brook Emperor II, owned by a Mrs. Roger M. Smith of Worthington. It was listed in the stud book as V-11-1901. Mrs. Hyman is president of the Kentucky Cat Club and is manager for the show taking place at the St. Matthews Armory next Saturday and Sunday, November 27 and 28. She said that according to a history of the American Cat Fancy, published in Cat s Magazine for June 1950, the first cat club in the South was organized in Kentucky, known as the Louisville Cat Club, sometime during 1900, with a Miss E. Converse as secretary. (Harry P. Converse, 44 Hill Road, said that there was no doubt that the Miss E. Converse referred to was his sister Ellen, who owned at the time more than 20 Persians.)
The Third Championship Show will be a four-in-one affair, with Miss Kay Thoma of Ohio as All Breed Judge, representing the Miss Dorothy C. Hunt of Virginia, the Specialty Judge, representing International Solid Color Club, American Tabby & Tortie Club, and American Silver Fanciers. Trophies, cups, ribbons, rosettes, subscriptions, and candlesticks will be on the award-list for Best Cat, Champion, Grand Champion, Neuter, Spay, Novice, Kitten, and their sex opposites.
Even the alley cat can enter the show, provided he is examined by the show s veterinarians and found to be of no hazard to the royalty ... bu-u-u-t ... he d_ better watch out. Despite the fact that the judge who handles him dips her hands in alcohol before and after each benching ... he might pick up one of them pedigreed germs.
BREEDING CATS AS HOBBY TAKES UP SPARE TIME OF LSC TEACHER The La Crosse Tribune, Wisconsin, 15th July 1956
Rachel Salisbury, a member of the summer session faculty of La Crosse State College, is a person of many interests, but one which has taken considerable time since her retirement from Milwaukee State College two years ago is the breeding of pedigreed cats. At her home in Milton Junction, she has a basic breeding stock of 15, all pedigreed and some champions. They are of the long-haired variety, as cat breeders know them, but they are also known as Persian or Angora. Dr. Salisbury's pride is a mutation called cameo, whose coat is in shadings of red, which give an impression of pink at a distance. The pink is a mutation of the silver haired and at present the Milton Junction kennels boast three adults and three kittens in cameo.
According to the breeder, it takes about five generations to set the color so that the color of the offspring can be predicted with certainty. A British geneticist who developed the silver long-haired has been a consultant for Miss Salisbury in. the development of this new variety. Professional breeders of cats are increasing in the Midwest, Miss Salisbury says. Pedigreed kittens sell for from $15 to $65 in Wisconsin. Care of the cat is important and breeders are eager to tell buyers how to best care for the animals.
The increase in the number of pedigreed cats is proving a spur to veterinarians to learn more about cats and their diseases. Sometimes they think that the treatment which is good for a dog is also good for a cat and the same idea prevails about medicine, "The field of cat medicine is relatively unexplored. However, what is good for a dog may kill a cat." The diet of the cat is important with emphasis upon 50 per cent raw meat. In addition, a cat needs vitamins, raw eggs for the coat, and the ingredients which go into the prepared animal foods. “Apartment owners are now finding that new devices such as the sanitary litter are making the cat a favored household pet. The cat now requires less care than does any other household pet.”
Miss Salisbury is a member of the Central Maine Cat Club, an organization of some 400 members. This organization which has such illustrious members as Sen. Margaret Chase Smith is extraordinary in that it caters to the ordinary, unpedigreed cat, rather than to the long-haired. Last spring Miss Salisbury served as a judge for the annual show of the organization at Skowhegan. Last year she was instrumental in organizing the Rock Valley Cat club which has as its motto, "There is no such thing as an alley cat." Miss Salisbury contends in defense of the motto that an unpedigreed, short-haired cat which lives in a good home should never he insulted by being called an alley cat. "An alley cat is such only if it is a homeless, neglected animal." In judging a cat, Miss Salisbury points out that the quality of the coat, the personality and the general welfare of the cat are important. Personality traits include gentleness, friendliness and intelligence.
The author of several books herself, Miss Salisbury points out that creative people have always been devoted to cats. She notes in particular Virginia Wolf, Dorothy Canfield Fischer, the Sitwells, and Charles and Mary Lamb. Gertrude Lawrence, the actress, was reported by her husband in her biography to have taken cats on her vacations into New England. Several books have searched into cats in various roles. Robert Downing, who incidentally directed "The Cat on Hot Tin Roof," is writing a book on cats and the theater. The Lockridges who write the Mr. and Mrs. North stories are the authors of "Cats and People."
During the six weeks summer session, Miss Salisbury is staying in a cabin on the Lloyd Thrune farm on the outskirts of Coon Valley, where the countryside reminds her of Vermont.
ETEX CAT CLUB MEETS MONDAY IN LONGVIEW. The Marshall News Messenger, 26th July 1959
The East Texas Cat Club, newly formed from a group of interested Longview and Marshall cat fanciers and designed to include the entire East Texas area from the Louisiana border to Grand Saline and from the Gulf Coast to the Oklahoma boundary, is to meet at 7:30 pm. Monday. The session will be held at the home of Mrs. Nellie Sears, 8 Rowland Drive in Longview. Eligible to membership are the owners or breeders of long- or short-haired cats registered or household varieties. Membership fee is $3 per year and charter members will be accepted through August. At the close of acceptance of charter memberships, officers are to be elected.
At the session scheduled Monday night Mrs. Eugene Bullock will report on arrangements for a cat judging demonstration to be held during the Gregg County Fair, and Mrs. John Finch will report on further developments towards the Cat Show planned for later in the year. Tentative by-laws are to be presented for approval and revision. Any Marshall area residents interested in becoming members of the organization are asked to contact Miss Rebecca Cameron at WE 38-1163. All interested persons are invited to attend the meeting in Longview on Monday night. Purposes of the organization are to promote the welfare and well being of all cats, to encourage breeding to standard of both long and short haired cats, to hold shows and promote interest in and knowledge of cats and cultivate sentiment of friendship and common interest among breeders and pet owners.
Working with Mrs. Bullock to establish the East Texas Cat Club is Miss Rebecca Cameron of Marshall, who with Dr. Shirley Handler, head of the biology department at East Texas Baptist College, is currently engaged in a cat breeding project which may have three possible developments: the establishment of a new strain of cats, the admission of Texas bred cats to the Russian Blue class (an extremely rare breed in the US), or a simple addition to the already famous 57 varieties. Two generations of this strain have bred true and may be recessive to the Russian Blue which is one of the breed ancestors of the Blue Point Siamese from which these temporarily named Texas Blues have been developed. There is still much work to be done on this project.
NO CALICO CATS, THESE PETS OWN HOMES Chicago Tribune, 30th October 1960
Club Devotes Time to Help Feline Pals. BY Leslie Ator
The old adage, They fight like cats and dogs, is unfair to both types of animals, believe two members of the North Shore Cat club. I have two miniature poodles who were grown and had never met a cat until they came to my house, said Mrs. C. F, Stack, a club member who presides in a Hazel Crest household which includes 15 cats. The dogs and cats get along wonderfully, she added. In fact they eat together.
Several of our members own dogs, said Mrs. Margaret Haenisch, 3546 N. Halsted st., club president, who owns two Persian cats and two toy poodles. The animals get along fine when they are raised together.
Altho some club members appreciate canines, they are banded together to promote and enjoy cats. Some 40 women and several men own an average of two felines per household. Most of the pets are Persians and domestic shorthairs. The club will hold its 14th annual championship show from 9 a. m. to 10 p. m. Nov. 12 and 13 in the Midwest hotel,.6 N. Hamlin av. Four judges will view some 200 animals from as far away as Texas and Florida to award ribbons, trophies, or cash prizes.
Breeds in the show will include Himalayan, Abyssinian, Manx, Burmese, Russian Blue, and household cats, the mixed breed type, said Mrs. Stack. People call the domestic shorthairs alley cats, but they re not, she said. They're purebred and incidentally, probably the easiest to train. The alley cat is found in the household category. Often the owner doesn t know the pet's background
Another fallacy concerning cats is that they love cream, said Mrs. Haenisch. Not all do, she contended. There are some cats who won't touch the stuff.
Problems of raising felines include insuring diets and good grooming, she continued. Practically every owner has his formula for feeding. Mrs. Haenisch s Persians receive fresh horsemeat mixed with biscuits, cod liver oil, mineral oil, and vitamins. Her kittens receive bone meal to prevent rickets.
I prefer cats because you can t train a kitten, as you can a puppy, to do anything, said Mrs. Stack. You have to learn to live with and love a cat as he is. He's intelligent, with a mind and personality of his own. Some cat fanciers, however, do manage to train their animals to perform tricks and retrieve objects, she added. This is possible if the cat loves its master and thinks he will be pleased by his cooperation, she explained. But his cooperation also depends on his mood.