Sitting Pretty

I think I’ll enter my cat--his friends call him Rubin--in the household-pet competition in this weekend’s Cat Fanciers Assn. show at Ventura’s Seaside Park.

He is very well-behaved, if you don’t count that time he knocked my 20-inch-screen television onto the living-room floor, and if you ignore his frequent growling-like-a-dog episodes.

He’s certainly healthy, except for that broken jaw he got in a fight with a neighborhood nemesis. But you should have seen the other guy after the fight. And he’s most definitely beautiful--he prefers handsome--if you disregard his scruffy, sun-bleached hair.

On second thought, maybe I won’t enter him in the contest.

Perhaps Rubin is not quite a cat-show contest kind of feline. Nor, when you think about it, am I quite the cat-show contest kind of feline owner.

Not like, say, Valerie Kotas of Thousand Oaks, a computer programmer and cat owner whose Internet Web site includes a visit to “The Temple of the Sacred Cat.”

Kotas and her 8-month-old Birman cat, which goes by the complicated but breeder-identifying name Manipur Under the Sky of Katascali, will compete in the cat show’s championship class all-breed long-hair division.

The goal of the cat is to be selected by a panel of judges as the entrant best matching the standard features of its breed.

“I don’t anticipate any problems getting a winner’s ribbon,” Kotas said of Manipur Under the Sky’s chances.

“His No. 1 feature is his hair. He’s got a fabulous coat--an absolutely fabulous coat--and he’s got a short muzzle, a very broad head with ears set far apart, flared outward,” she said. “And he’s a schmooze. When Birmans are up in front of crowds, they’re schmoozers. He’s a regular Chippendale.”

Manipur Under the Sky of Katascali is one of more than 200 pedigreed cats, representing up to 35 breeds, expected to compete at the show Saturday and Sunday. In addition to the championship (unfixed adult) and household pet divisions, there will be classifications foraltered adults, pure-bred kittens (ages 4 to 8 months) and one category specifically for the revered Maine coon.

The contest, hosted by the Maine Attraction Cat Fanciers, will pay tribute to the Maine coon, a New England native breed considered by many in the cat world to be the epitome of catness.

For many cat owners, like Kotas, this will be just one of a couple of dozen cat shows entered around the country annually, with the hope of accumulating enough points by the end of the show season to be named regional, or even national, champion. There are about eight shows each weekend, or close to 400 a year.

Given the investment of time and money (a $50 entry fee plus traveling expenses), and the bragging rights, prestige and a boost to breeding reputation that accompanies victory, cat shows are not to be taken lightly.

“I enter a lot of competitions, a minimum of 12 shows a year and an average of 20 a year. I went to New Jersey last October, Dallas last June, Phoenix at Christmas,” said Kotas, who also will enter a Birman kitten in this weekend’s cat show. “If you’re there just to win--and I’m there to win just as much as anyone else--you’re going to get burned out. I’ve lost a lot and I’ve won a lot.”

Entering a competition is more than just tossing the cat and a squeeze toy into a carrier and showing up at the entry gate. It takes some serious preparation and focus.

“Once I get the entry form in, I start praying that the cat will stay in perfect health. If it comes down with a sneeze, it is not going to go into the show hall,” Kotas said. “Then comes the grooming, which usually happens the day before a show. It’s a half-day project, with vinegar rinses, blow drying, keeping the cat from licking itself, making sure she’s bone dry.”

And that’s just for the cat. As for herself, Kotas has her own preparatory routine.

“I pack the car the night before a show and have all my clothes laid out. I try to get to bed early, but I’m usually so nervous,” she said. “When I go up to the show ring, it’s important for me to present myself, as well as the cat. If I look like a slob, the judges will think, ‘If an owner doesn’t take care of herself, how’s she going to take care of a cat?’ ”

To get her contest cats into a competitive mood, Kotas uses the old baby-food trick.

“‘Whenever we go to a show, they know they are going to get chicken baby food,” she said.

Keeping a cat happy is important, but keeping a cat’s teeth from clamping onto a judge can be the difference between winning and losing.

“A lot of cats really suck up to the judges, others bite--biting is bad, purring is good,” said George Eigenhauser, a San Diego cat owner and manager of the Ventura show. “If a cat is just inherently evil, it ought to just stay home.”

When he makes the trip to Ventura, Eigenhauser will bring a Maine coon, one of 40 to 50 of the breed he expects to be entered in the show. Eigenhauser is one of those who puts the Maine coon on a pedestal, or at least on a tall scratching post.

“Unlike other cats, with the Maine coon you’re not asking, ‘Is that a cat or is that a weasel?’ he said. “When you look at a Maine coon, you know you’re looking at a cat. It’s a cat’s cat.”

The Maine coon is known for its square, muscular body, upright ears, a nose with a slight scoop to it and a plumy tail.

“It’s the kind of cat that could survive outdoors,” Eigenhauser said. “When you look at it, you know if this cat were outside it would thrive, killing squirrels in the barn, chasing mice out of the cornfields.”

For Oxnard’s Rhonda Avery and her husband Christopher Fog, the cat of all cats is the Persian, one of which, named Rebels in Designer Shoes, they plan to enter in the Ventura cat show.

Most of the couple’s attention, however, will be focused on Rebels Blackballed, a 14-month-old Cornish Rex, which Avery feels could make a run at a regional title by the April conclusion of the cat-show season.

“I’m enjoying showing this boy,” said Avery, who with her husband will host another cat show April 25-26 at Seaside Park.

“He’s figured out that when he comes out and is on the judges’ table, he’s there to play,” she said. “He doesn’t like to be carried in my arms to the show ring. He loves to ride on my shoulder.”

BE THERE

The Cat Fanciers Assn. all-breed and household pet show will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at Seaside Park, 10 W. Harbor Blvd., Ventura. There will be vendors selling items for cats and cat lovers. $6 adults; $4 seniors, children and military personnel; free for children younger than 6. Proceeds will benefit cat-related causes, humane societies and cat-adoption programs. Information: (800) 400-CATS.