This year the Cincinnati Cat Club is bringing in a judge from war-torn Ukraine, Elena Podprugina. She will be judging on Nov. 30.
“This is Elena’s first time in the United States, and she has never seen or judged a cat in the United States before, which is really an exciting thing for people. This is the first time we’ve had an international judge,” she said.
Podprugina will join nine other judges in the show’s 10 rings. There are five judges in five rings on each day. There are four main categories, including kittens, premiership, championship and a household pet division.
Each category is divided into long-haired and short-haired cats, and those cats compete against each other. Then, there will be a “Best Overall,” which is the best cat in the show. Cats compete in various shows throughout the year and accumulate points from the judges.
“Two years ago, at our show, a participant flew in with their cats from Taiwan to compete here,” Searles said. This year, there’s a lady coming from California with five or six cats.”
She said, “It’s not just a beauty contest. It’s not only based on the color of your cat. It is bone structure and keeping with the purity of the breed. Then, household pets are a different story.”
All donations from this year’s cat show will be sent to Podprugina’s hometown shelter. Those who donate online are asked to mark the donation “Ukraine.
“She told us about what’s happening there … so we are going to try help the best we can with the fundraiser and send it to her hometown shelter,” Searles said.
The Cat Fanciers’ Association is a worldwide, not-for-profit organization, headquartered in Alliance, Ohio. The association has clubs all over the world, including the Cincinnati Cat Club, which puts on shows and educates the public about cats. About 600 people attended the Cincinnati Cat Show last year.
The Cincinnati Cat Club was founded in the 1940s and incorporated as a nonprofit in 1953. The majority of the members’ have been showing cats for many years.
“Each year, we host a show the weekend after Thanksgiving,” Searles said.
MORE DETAILS
The Cincinnati Cat Show is 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Nov. 29 and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Nov. 30. Admission is $15 for adults, $10 for seniors/military and children and $40 for a family of four. Children ages 5 and younger are free. Tickets are available at the door or online at ticketleap.events/tickets/cincinnati-cat-club/cincinnati-cat-show.
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