She, like any doting parent, gushed as...

She, like any doting parent, gushed as she fingered his baby pictures.

He, the passive 4-year-old, lazed nearby.

“And this is him when he was 2. And this is him and his brother when they were little, and. . . .”

On she went.

“His personality is fantastic. He is so mellow! But definitely all man. The girls tell me this.”

Per-Bastiti’s Mafek Khepera does have a catnip-like charisma. Only fitting for a guy whose name in ancient Egyptian means “The Emerald Light of Khepera.”

But Susie Lawrence, owner of the champion oriental shorthair and several other breeds, admits to being a little obsessed with cats of all persuasions.

“They’re my children. I don’t have the two-legged kind, just four-legged. I luuuvvv them--they’re so super,” purred Lawrence, a free-lance artist from Norwalk.

Lawrence’s cats and about 200 others spent a lazy Sunday at the Glendale Armory, lounging in carpeted cages, snacking on kibble and competing for blue ribbons at the American Cat Assn.’s New Year’s Cat Show.

It was a perfect day for a good scratch, a lot of attention and extra feline rations as more than 2,000 spectators visited the show. Some were cat connoisseurs, discussing mating trends, pedigree rankings and frustration with hairballs; others were simply looking for household kittens on sale.

The show, one of the association’s eight held in California, offered something for all.

Cat magazines, cat jewelry, videos of cats playing. Cat cups, cat statues, cat toys. “Portraits of your cat” (from a photo). Cat beauty supplies. “Kitten-maker” services (cat mating agencies).

Cat-fancier mania.