January 2008 Newsletter - United Burmese Cat Fanciers
January 2008 Newsletter - United Burmese Cat Fanciers
January 2008 Newsletter - United Burmese Cat Fanciers
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When Was Your Last <strong>Cat</strong> Show? By Kristi Graafmans<br />
What are some of the reasons that you find to not attend<br />
cat shows? There must be quite a few rationales, as I have<br />
not seen many of the 50 plus UBCF members at a cat show.<br />
I can give a host of wonderful reasons to attend but today<br />
I will stick with one. I find it is nice to get out of the house<br />
on the weekends and meet new friends and old. Sometimes<br />
I get surprised and see a <strong>Burmese</strong> breeder that I have not<br />
met before. And I always have a great time getting to know<br />
new exhibitors and breeders. Let me relate a recent experience<br />
I had to you.<br />
Art and I have a sable female kitten named Maya that<br />
was 6 months old in August and she did really well at a<br />
local campaigner’s show. With only 2 months left to show<br />
our kitten, we decided that we would need to travel if we<br />
were to have a chance at a regional win with Maya. On one<br />
of the weekends where there was no Region 5 show I found<br />
a show in Minnesota with a good judge line up for us – so<br />
off I went with Maya in tow.<br />
The last time I showed in the mid-west was 2 years ago.<br />
I went with a Grand Premier and I was the only American<br />
<strong>Burmese</strong> at the show. I was sort of expecting the same this<br />
time. I eagerly checked the show catalog once I got my<br />
benching set up and saw that I had competition. There were<br />
2 other sable <strong>Burmese</strong> kittens entered in the show. It did<br />
not take long and we <strong>Burmese</strong> breeders found each other<br />
and began to ooooh and aaaah over each other’s kittens and<br />
cats.<br />
Brian Tripp was showing a 5-month-old sable male<br />
kitten and a sable spay Premier and he was there with 3<br />
GC De Bears Maya<br />
of his protégés. I had heard of Brian but had never met<br />
him personally. Brian was nice and a little upset that the<br />
show did not bench the <strong>Burmese</strong> people all together. I was<br />
benched quite a ways away from Brian’s group.<br />
Brian introduced me to his friends which included a<br />
nice couple, Mike and Lauri Henry. This was their first cat<br />
show and they were showing their four-month-old sable<br />
female kitten named Phoebe. When I saw the other 2 <strong>Burmese</strong><br />
kittens I thought --- oh boy, I’ve come a long way for<br />
nothing!<br />
We all went up to our first ring together and Maya made<br />
BOB. Brian, Lauri and Mike congratulated me and told me<br />
how much they liked Maya. Maya ended up making BOB<br />
in all the rings and made all 6 finals. And behind me my<br />
new <strong>Burmese</strong> friends cheered for Maya. The two <strong>Burmese</strong><br />
Premiers, between them made 4 finals.<br />
We exchanged names and emails to keep in touch. We<br />
shared stories and show experiences. Mike and Lauri’s kitten<br />
Phoebe was extremely nice but she was just 4 months<br />
old. I told them how Maya did not hit her show stride until<br />
she was 6 months old. <strong>Burmese</strong> often need time to mature<br />
especially when they are 4 months old and up against other<br />
breeds that are 7 months old.<br />
This show turned out to be more than kind to our <strong>Burmese</strong><br />
kitties and I was glad that the new breeders enjoyed<br />
being at their first show.<br />
Mike and Lauri’s kitten Phoebe is now 6 months old and<br />
they are ready to take her out again. I wish them luck with<br />
Phoebe and will cheer them on from Region 5. I hope to<br />
see them in Southern California with their beautiful kitten.<br />
Region 5 has many shows that I would highly recommend.<br />
I would love to see more of this kind of camaraderie by<br />
seeing more of you out at cat shows.<br />
More good reasons to go to a cat show: educate your<br />
eye – keep cattery blindness at bay, keep in touch with<br />
other <strong>Burmese</strong> breeders, become a certified clerk to build<br />
relationships with judges, join a show producing club so<br />
you get a chance to choose the judges that come to your<br />
local show.<br />
For future newsletters I would love to see a list, from<br />
each of the regions, of judges that you find consistently use<br />
or like <strong>Burmese</strong>. Have someone from each region identify<br />
shows that are <strong>Burmese</strong> ‘worthy’ and invite fellow <strong>Burmese</strong><br />
breeders from other regions to attend. What interests you<br />
and what would get you out to more cat shows?<br />
I find that more doors open in CFA with participation<br />
and one way is by being seen and being involved in showing<br />
our beautiful <strong>Burmese</strong> cats.<br />
Page 16 UBCF <strong>January</strong> <strong>2008</strong>