Cat’s Out of the Bag: Morgan Is Prettiest Kitty

Tinbats Morgan’s Passing has a purr-fect reason to think he’s the cat’s meow these days.

After all, the Chatsworth cat is the winner of the feline version of the Miss America Pageant. He is now officially the most beautiful cat in the world--beating out nearly 1,300 other pedigreed cats for the honor.

“We get a vicarious thrill out of this cat,” said Lynn Martin, who with Reginald, her husband of 16 years, is the proud owner of Tinbats Morgan’s Passing, called Morgan for short.

Morgan, a ruddy Abyssinian male, won a trophy and a bouquet of flowers at the Cat Fanciers’ Assn. International Cat Show in Atlanta on Sunday. Hailed as the “Rolls-Royce” of cat shows, each year it draws felines from as far away as Australia and breeds ranging from Persian to Manx.

That title makes Morgan the most beautiful feline in the world, said Craig Rothermel, president of the Cat Fanciers’ Assn. and one of the three judges who crowned the Abyssinian winner. To be granted the honor, a cat must match the standard for its breed more closely than any other cat in the show, Rothermel said.

For ruddy Abyssinians, it means a certain shape of the head, an orange coat with black ticking on its back and sides, and black marks on its face, he said.

Morgan, though only 9 months old, is no stranger to fame. He’s won 14 cat shows so far and knows full well when the lights and cameras are on him, Martin said.

“We’ve gone all over the U.S. with him,” she said.

Morgan, along with three other Abyssinians at the Martin home, dines on only top-of-the-line cat food. Martin sometimes cooks them chicken and beef dinners, and they are given vitamin supplements.

He is bathed regularly and, when he’s in a show, his coat is washed with extra-body shampoo and hair rinses for humans. Then his silky pelt is held in place with a form of hair spray.

The cats don’t get their own room, but they have the freedom to roam where they please in the house.

“There isn’t any place they can’t go. We want them to have a lot of spirit,” Martin said. “We don’t say no to them a lot, so they’re very undisciplined.”

Martin and her husband have enjoyed the people they meet through their hobby and are now happy to bask in the glory of having the top cat.

“We feel incredibly lucky. We’re very excited,” Martin said. “It’s like being a star for a day. We’re very proud.

“There’s a tremendous pride in being able to breed a cat so beautiful that it can compete,” Martin added. “And it’s a heck of a lot of fun.”

The Martins have been breeding cats since 1986 and have shown their Abyssinians in five international shows.

They name their cats after book titles. Morgan shares his name with an Anne Tyler novel. Beach Music is also the name of a Pat Conway novel, and the Martins had a cat named My Own Private Idaho, though they called him Keanu--after the movie version’s star, Keanu Reeves--for short.