Feline Felicity : Furry Guests Find Hotel Offerings the Cat’s Meow

Bridget Paley arrived Friday morning at the Anaheim Marriott hotel with one bag. Her cats had nine.

On the fifth floor of the hotel, there were no humans staying in Room 533--just 700 pounds of kitty litter, 120 pounds of cat food and a whole bunch of disposable kitty litter boxes.

On the third floor, a parade of cat owners were drawing stares from the smartly dressed Sony executives attending a conference.

With the eighth annual International Cat Show being held at the Anaheim Convention Center this weekend, the hotel has become something akin to cat manor. Considered one of the more prestigious contests among feline enthusiasts, the two-day cat expo is expected to attract 35,000 people and 800 cats.

“If it exists in catdom, it will be at the International Cat Show,” said Elinor Silverman, a cat show spokeswoman.

On Friday morning the Anaheim Marriott, playing host to the feline crowd for the third straight year, got a preview. About 600 preening pet owners and at least 300 well-groomed cats began checking in and preparing for today’s big show.

“When I was walking down the hall to the room, I was getting these stares from the Sonypeople,” said Christine Gill, 44, of Tustin as she washed her Persian cat, Purrtee Paws Felix, in a hotel bathtub.

“Staying in a hotel can be real difficult because you never know what you are going to get, what size the bathtub is. That kind of thing. A slow drain can be a nightmare,” said Gill as she was blow-drying her treasured pet.

Cat owners staying in the hotel picked up a tip sheet during check-in on how to keep their rooms clean. They were urged to avail themselves of the supplies in Room 533 but were required to sign a waiver stating they will pay for any damage to a room caused by the cat.

Cleanliness is critical, say show participants.

“You have to make the room absolutely spotless,” said Gill, who writes for a number of cat publications. “Otherwise they won’t invite you back.”

Hotel officials, who normally allow “clean, domesticated pets” anyway, say the cats and their owners are welcome guests.

“They have always been very conscientious about maintaining the rooms,” said Jim Luce, the hotel’s marketing director. “They make sure nothing gets soiled, and we always inspect the rooms after they leave.”

Paley, 31, a professional cat breeder from Ontario, had her eight Norwegian forest cats in a small tent Friday morning. She hauled in nine suitcases of supplies, including spare kitty litter, a bathing box, cat toys, combs, blow dryers and other grooming products to care for the cats, which can fetch as much as $1,500 each.

“Most cat owners are like Olympians,” said Silverman, standing in her suite amid 15 cats and a half-dozen owners. “They are so strong because they are used to carrying around so much.”

The center of attention, as usual, in Silverman’s room was Bar-B Battle Hymn of Java (Battle Hymn, for short). The regal, solid cream Persian is a retired grand champion and a renowned feline throughout the elite cat circles.

With the cat’s resume and portfolio in one hand (there’s a Battle Hymn video, too), owner Lise Girard of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., said she is trying to get the wonder cat into the movies during her visit.

“We think Spielberg will like him,” said Girard, 43, who runs a cat-grooming business. “Maybe I’m dreaming. I don’t know.”

Throughout the hotel, cat owners rarely let a chance pass to knock the opposition--dogs. Feline lovers trumpeted the fact that cats have overtaken dogs as the nation’s most popular pet. There’s about 63.2 million cats compared to about 54 1/2 million dogs, according to the Pet Food Institute in Washington.

The growing popularity of cats reflects, in part, the urbanization of the country, cat enthusiasts say. Usually, cats are owned by singles or working couples in cities, where they don’t have time for a “high maintenance” pet, like a dog. The cats and the owners respect each other’s independence, cat owners say.

“Obedience is not why you get a cat,” said cat show organizer Vicky Markstein of Woodside, Calif. “It’s more an art Deco reason--they are beautiful and quiet.”