Dance, kitties, Dance! Or how to show a cat.

I have wanted to show cats for as long as I can remember. Finally, FINALLY, the pandemic was going to allow me to realize that dream. shows have continued in many parts of the world and even in this country. But not on the West Coast. No shows for us. The second I saw show listings within a days drive, I signed up the whole MyLuckyDay team. Denise mom started sewing and shopping, two of her favorite things, and i started ordering grooming supplies ans navigating registration forms. The first couple of times, those forms can be confusing. Thank goodness for a few really great registration clerks with the patience of saints!  
The list of things to gather can be quite simple or it can be astonishingly complicated. You need to consider car travel, hotel stays, and your benching area at the show. Crates and beds and litter boxes and dust busters, kibble and combs and toys and cages, towels and logos and fans and table
skirts…….the list can be overwhleming. But we’re excellent planners and shoppers, Mom and I. Hotels booked, shows registered, snacks packed, we were ready. Wait, we have to wash the cats. 
I’m one of those no nonsense girls who washed her hair with whatever is on sale, brushes it once, and goes about her day so sourcing cat shampoos from across the country was pretty funny. All in, i think I spent a few hundred dollars just
on grooming products for the cats. Hundreds of dollars on cat shampoo! Bahahaha!  BUT I’ll tell ya, after a six part bath and blow dry, they look stunning!  And then you put them into the car for 8 hours. And then you check your hotel room for escape routes and hiding places and the best place for a litter box. AND then you drive them to the show hall where they’re greeted by sights, sounds, and scents aplenty. AND THEN you ask them to smile pretty while strangers touch their preciously clean faces. If you’ve been born into the pandemic and haven’t seen anyone but your Two person human family since you left the breeder where you also didn’t meet many people, this might be a challenge for you.  You, the cat, might be feeling a little bit of stress. You, the cat, might be looking at your humans wondering what exactly was going on and why these strangers keep touching your nose with a feather and asking you to dance. You might. 
The humans might be holding their breathe hoping the kitties will relax and show their true personalities: Windy’s gentle loving pride, CeCe’s floppy love, Rummy’s flirtiness, Penny’s bold playfulness. Orrrr we could all just grit our teeth, win our titles, and call it a season. And so we did.