Feline fanciers flock to the fairgrounds

Stefanie Frith

Susan Levine is addicted to cats.

So addicted, in fact, that she helped to start the now four-year-old

Top Cats & Tails, an Orange County-based club that hosts cat shows once a

year in Orange County. This year’s show is taking place this weekend at

the Orange County Fairgrounds. Show organizers expect around 500

attendees.

Wearing cat earrings, her arms scraped by cat claws and her pink top

covered with cat fur, the Anaheim resident said she just can’t get enough

cat shows under her belt.

“It’s just so much fun to go to them,” Levine said, as her cat Willie

purred happily next to her. “You get all kinds of people here. Trailer

trash to Ph.Ds. It’s a nice way to meet new people who share a common

interest.”

More than 175 cats will be judged by 12 people during the weekend in

categories like longhair, shorthair, best kitten and alters -- meaning

they are pet, not show-quality, cats. The show is recognized by The

International Cat Assn.

Fate Mays, a Texas parole officer who also judges cat shows, said that

for him, picking the winning kitty is not as difficult as one may think.

“There’s a written standard on what the cat should look like,” he said

as he prepared to judge shorthair cats. “What’s hard is that each cat is

somebody’s best cat. But there is beauty in every breed. And for me, it’s

relaxing. It relieves stress to be around and pet the cats.”

Danette Rudden of Hesperia agreed that attending the cat shows is

relaxing, though hard on the pocketbook. Her brown tabby, Bouncer, would

cost $2,000 if she sold him. Bouncer won the “Supreme” title Saturday,

the highest title available for his class.

“People ask me all the time how I can pay so much for my cats or how

they are worth so much,” Rudden said, picking cat fur off her blouse.

“But hey, people go out and spend that much money on a round of golf, and

here I am with new friends and cats.”

Rudden said that in order to keep her six cats in perfect show

condition, she is required to groom them every night. It takes her three

hours to groom all six.

“But it’s very relaxing for me to come home and brush them. They are

very relaxed cats, and when I am all done, I feel so much better,” she

said.

Most of exhibitor Dianna Clark’s cats are of the shorthair American

curl variety, and although she doesn’t have to spend time grooming long

fur, she did say that attending cat shows can be a costly hobby.

“We travel all over California and [my husband and I] have put 80,000

miles on our car just from driving to the shows,” said the Hayward

resident as she stroked Peter Pan, her seven-month-old American curl

kitten. “[Peter] just loves coming to the shows. He loves life in the

hotels.”

FYI

What: Top Cats & Tails Cat Show

When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today

Where: Orange County Fairgrounds, 88 Fair Drive, Bldg. 14, Costa Mesa.

Cost: $6

Call: (714) 708-FAIR.