Calgary cat show draws hundreds

Cats and their owners from across North America have gathered this weekend to decide who's the closest to purrrfection.

It's the Calgary Cat Show and it's serious business for those involved.

A crowd gathered as a judge checks out Sylvia Foulds's well-groomed Persian cat, toile.

"I got her from a French breeder, I imported her, and toile means 'star' in French," Foulds said.

"So she's my little star."

Foulds, from Edmonton, has been showing cats for about 25 years.

toile is being judged on her head, body and coat.

She's competing against dozens of other cats for titles like champion and grand champion.

Jeff Roberts is a judge from California.

"A lot of it's by feel. You can feel right away when you touch a cat whether they've got the right coat, the wrong coat."

Roberts says some cats looks beautiful on the outside, but when you touch them it's just kind of ...well, hard to describe.

"It could be too fluffy, it could just have the wrong texture underneath, could be wet, could be just doesn't feel good sometimes."

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He says the judging is based on a 100-point standard.

"Usually a third of the points on the head, a third of the points on the body and then a third on the coat," Roberts explains.

"You break them down into those little parts and try and look at the distinguishing features that you want to see in the head, body and coat and you are adding points as you are you going along to try and see who gets as close as possible to the 100 points."

Kay Hanvey has been showing cats since 1969.

She says over that period the shows have changed.

"It has gotten a lot more expensive," Hanvey said.

"Many of the same people and a lot more breeds and the shows have actually gotten smaller because of the expense and other people having other interests, I think."

The cat show runs until 5 p.m. Sunday.

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