KITTEN CABOODLE : In Anaheim, the International Cat Show Has More Felines Than You Can Shake a Feather Toy At

Cats with ears folded over like paper napkins, hairless cats and tailless cats, a contest for the best cat-owner look-alikes, and feathered cat toys that just might reawaken the kitten in the crabbiest furmudgeon.

Yes, there’s fun to be had at the International Cat Show, which is expected to lure some 800 cats and 35,000 visitors to the Anaheim Convention Center this weekend. But it is not mere frivolity.

Entrants in Saturday’s Science Diet Supercat Contest, for instance, must be formerly homeless--that is, adopted from a shelter or taken in as strays. Cats should be altered as well.

An $8 entry fee benefits Actors and Others for Animals, a 22-year-old nonprofit group which, among other things, helps the elderly pay for pet care and offers educational programs.

Actor Earl Holliman is among the judges lined up for this year’s Supercat competition.

“The people who run the International Cat Show care about animal welfare,” said Holliman, longtime Actors and Others president.

“There are thousands of cats roaming the streets. We struggle desperately to get people to understand how important it is to have cats spayed or neutered.”

Holliman, who will appear this fall in “Delta,” a new ABC sitcom with actress Delta Burke, will be joined by fellow judges Fred Bergendorff, host of “The Pet Place” television show (see accompanying story), and JoAnne Worley of “Laugh-In” fame. Tom Hatten, KNX News Radio entertainment commentator, will emcee.

They’ll choose the pussy with the longest whiskers, the most impressive coat, the most impressive tail, the most beautiful eyes and the splashiest color, and they’ll choose a duo for the owner-cat look-alike prize.

A Supercat will be picked from among winners in each category, his or her owner taking home a year’s supply of cat food.

The cat show, sponsored by INCATS, will feature plenty of other attractions, from a cat supermarket with gifts, vitamins and toys, to the Answerperson, an expert ready to answer cat questions (from 1 to 3 p.m. both days at the information counter), to what is perhaps the biggest draw of them all--free cat food samples. This is the show’s sixth year in Anaheim.

Naturally, purebreds will preen for first place in pedigrees contests, too. Among some 40 breeds expected are the down-folded eared Scottish Fold, the Sphynx--which appears hairless but is actually covered with fuzz-like fur--the tailless Manx, and such familiars as Siamese and Persians.

The show’s finale starts on Sunday at 4 p.m. with best-of-breed presentations and, at 5 p.m., the crowning of best-of-show or “Top Cat.”

The Supercat contest, however, is one of four “amateur” competitions in a show that’s ever more democratic, organizers say, and meant to breed participation by the house-cat proud, not just the blue-blood elite.

“The message here is you don’t have to buy a pedigreed cat,” said show co-producer Vicky Markstein, a.k.a. the Answerperson. “Go to the pound and get a cat.”

The other amateur competitions are the Jonny Cat Look-Alike contest, whose winners must resemble the black-and-white mascot of Jonny Cat brand litter; the Whiskas Household Cat-of-the-Year contest, for non-pedigree felines to be rated on temperament, grooming and physical condition; and the Candid Cat Photo contest, benefiting PAWS/L.A., a group which cares for pets of people with AIDS.

Rambo, last year’s Supercat titleholder, likes the proletarian slant. Well, at least his owner Jill Fuehring of Anaheim does.

Fuehring got Rambo, a big and frisky 18- pound red and orange long hair named after the movie character, from a neighbor. Now almost 4, he was the only kitten in his litter to survive; the rest died of ringworm, she said.

“Stray cats can be just as good pets as pedigrees,” said Fuehring, who works at Alcon Surgical, an ophthalmic equipment manufacturer.

“He’s healthy and beautiful and real affectionate. He’s always waiting in the window for me when I get home at night. I know people who have pedigree cats that don’t have as much personality.”

Talented as Rambo may be, winning wasn’t child’s play.

“He was tired at the end of the day,” admitted Fuehring, who plans to enter her cat in a different contest this year.

But the effort was worth it. “Yeah, he thinks he’s pretty cool,” she said.

What: The International Cat Show.

When: Saturday and Sunday, June 13 and 14, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Where: Anaheim Convention Center, 800 W. Katella Ave., Anaheim.

Whereabouts: Take the Santa Ana (I-5) Freeway, exit at Katella Avenue, turn west; center is across from Disneyland.

Wherewithal: $8 for adults; $4 for senior citizens; children 12 and under admitted free if accompanied by an adult.

Where to call: Anaheim Convention Center, (714) 999-8900; International Cat Show, for information on contests, (818) 505-9277.