Cat show not just about fancy felines

January 29, 2010 12:42:04 pm | by Diane McCartney/The Wichita Eagle | Wichita Paws |

Jaime Green/file photo

About 1,500 people attended last year's Wichita Cat Fancy cat show at the Cotillion.

Last year’s Wichita Cat Fancy cat show drew 1,500 people over two days, cat lovers hoping for a chance to check out beautiful, exotic breeds like the European Burmese and Turkish Angora.

Those breeds, along with Japanese Bobtails, Russian Blues, Siberians, Persians, Siamese and Maine Coons, will be at this year’s show, too, on Feb. 6 and 7 at the Cotillion.

But Mary Beth Wegerle, secretary of Wichita Cat Fancy, hopes the cat show will also be an opportunity to remind people about the “not-so-lucky cats.”

“It’s not just about the fancy cats,” said Wegerle, co-manager of the cat show. “It’s about the cats that are less fortunate, that we want to find a home.”

Three local nonprofit groups that help cats — Lifeline Animal Placement and Protection, Pals Animal Rescue and Friends of Felines — will have booths showcasing adoptable cats and collecting donations to help homeless cats in the Wichita area.

LAPP, a no-kill shelter, has 160 cats available for adoption, said director Mary Pat Morriss, and more are on a waiting list. Some are unclaimed strays, and others were turned in by owners who couldn’t keep them, Morriss said. “That’s been big this year, with people who have lost their homes.”

LAPP, which offers cats for adoption at PetSmart and Petco, will not have cats at the show but will have photos of available felines and adoption applications.

Pals Animal Rescue has 15 cats available for adoption and will bring 10 of them to the show, hoping to find good homes, said director Ellen Querner. Pals cats live in foster homes and are also featured at PetSmart.

Querner is hoping to find a home for one special cat that has been in the program for more than a year. Jacqueline is a sweet 3-year-old Siamese mix that is just not very outgoing when she meets people, Querner said. “She’s wonderful in her foster home,” but when she’s at PetSmart she’s scared and “hides in the back and won’t look at you,” she said.

Querner will also have information about Spay-Neuter Kansas, a clinic that provides low-cost spay and neuter surgeries for pets of people who can’t afford them. Since it opened in July 2008, the clinic has performed more than 3,700 surgeries, almost half of those on cats, she said.

Friends of Felines is a group based in Sedgwick that helps feral and stray cats in south-central Kansas. With help from volunteers, director Ray Huff feeds and cares for hundreds of cats when he’s not serving as chief of police for the city of Sedgwick. Friends of Felines will have a booth at the cat show telling people how they can help feral cats in their neighborhoods.

The three groups that will be at the cat show have “different philosophies” about animals and how to best help them, Wegerle said, but “they band together for the show. They have a common goal: to love cats and to help the cats.”

Wegerle loves the exotic cats and the adoptable cats, but her favorite part of the show is the household pet competition, where everyday cats are judged according to their “uniqueness, pleasing appearance, unusual markings and sweet dispositions.”

Cats that win in this category tend to be “striking looking” with a “dynamic personality,” she said. “There are some cats that really stand out, the cats that stand up and look around. There’s more showmanship about them.”

Perhaps the most important trait for any cat showing in any category, Wegerle said, is a willingness to participate. “Judges like cats that want to be there.”

Wegerle enters a cat in the household pet category every year and has had varying levels of success. One cat, Elliott, did well the first year but was nervous the next year and threw up in the judge’s cage. Another, a Siamese, didn’t like judges touching her head. “She was beautiful, but she hated being there,” Wegerle said.

Wegerle said she’s excited about this year’s show, and the chance to raise money for homeless cats. “Along with our beautiful show cats, we will have all these great organizations that help the not-so-lucky cats. “We hope to get several cats adopted out and hope to raise money for those groups and for the ferals. Their needs are so great,” she said.

“If everyone that comes out brought a few extra dollars and gave each group a donation, no matter how much, it would help them out a lot.”

Reach Diane McCartney at 316-268-6593 or dmccartney@wichitaeagle.com.

If you go
WICHITA CAT FANCY CAT SHOW
 What: Cat show sponsored by the Wichita Cat Fancy chapter of the Cat Fanciers' Association
  
Where: The Cotillion, 11120 W. Kellogg
  
When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Feb. 6, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Feb. 7
  
How much: Admission $5 (good all weekend), $3 chil-dren 6-12 and seniors 55-up, or $10 per family.
  
For more information, call 316-722-4201 or 316-773-3964.