Winning Isn’t Everything (Loveland Show Report)
Don’t get me wrong — winning is fun and the LostWoods family (and extended family) earned some finals at the show. McCoy was 3rd Best LH CH in one ring, 2nd Best LH CH & 3rd Best AB CH in another, and 9th Best AB Cat in a third ring. Danica earned a 4th best AB Kitten final and Basia got a 6th Best LH final. Colyn finalled in 7 of the 8 rings. His “brother” Logan finalled in one. We were happy and excited about each of those awards. But sometimes the real winning is in fun, friendship, and the opportunity to show off our fur kids.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, there were 13 NFCs entered in the show. They were owned by six different people, so it’s not like any one of us brought a whole bunch of cats to the show. The entry clerk — a friend of mine and a MC breeder — was joking with us Sunday that she thought they were going to have to enter a couple more cats to make sure the wegies didn’t out number the MCs. LOL! All six of us are friends and all six of us were cheering for ALL the cats. There weren’t hurt feelings about Heidi’s cats beating Fin or McCoy beating Deb’s cats, or the like. We were all happy when anyone got a final and disappointed when no NFC got a final in a ring.
As a group, we were happy to share our grooming products and tools, assist the others in getting cats prepped for rings, and do anything we could to help each other out. Now me, I can say that I have a vested interest in nearly every NFC that was there because almost all of them were related one way or another to mine or owned by me. The three exceptions were Sondra’s Maxine, Kris’ Logan, and Heidi’s Narvi. But our camaraderie goes beyond blood relationships to the bond we share because of loving Norwegian Forest Cats and the friendship that has developed in the years we’ve been showing them.
Heidi and Brenda both brought food for sharing and we had a party in our benching area. We laughed. We took pictures of the cats. We talked about breeding plans. We worked on the cats’ grooming. We went shopping for cat toys. We planned for attending future shows and where we’d all be. But mostly we just enjoyed each other and the cats.
The other part of our weekend was showing off the cats to visitors. We were benched near the front of the show hall and our three(!) rows of NFCs was one of the first places visitors came. It’s always fun to talk to people about the cats and it’s always nice to hear them compliment them. I don’t know how many times I heard someone tell me that Basia was adorable or McCoy was amazing. But perhaps the most rewarding was the mother with her four year old daughter who spent a long while talking to me about NFCs because she’d like to get one in a few years for her daughter to show in Junior Showmanship/Junior Achievement. She loved Basia and her wonderful personality and I hope that we have won a fan for the Norwegian Forest Cat.
So even if we didn’t bring home as many rosettes as we’d have liked (yes, we’d have loved to bring home more — I can’t lie!) it was a successful weekend. We had fun and spent time with friends while showing off our cats to many people. Oh, yeah, and I got quoted in a local newspaper article. 
I’d do it again any time.
Some pictures from the weekend (click on them for a bigger version) follow.
Kitten judging in Wain Harding’s ring:
Championship judging in Nancy Dodds ring:
Basia & Danica in Bob Zenda’s ring:
Just for fun, between rings:
January 24th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
I am glad there were so many NFCs in one show. I went to a show and there but one cat. Sure he was gorgeous but I would loved to see more! May I ask who is sleeping? I think the judges would have had a tough time with such amazing beauties competing:)))
January 24th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Brenda is the one “sleeping” under the table. Actually, she was just cleaning up a spilled energy drink and in keeping with a joke we’d had earlier in the week, she pretended to be passed out under the table so I could take a picture. It’s a long story and Brenda would not think it was fair if I gave only my side of it (we’ve been debating the truth behind the story for a couple years now) so you’ll just have to accept that we love each other and both think it’s funny.
I’ll add some more photos to this entry tomorrow. Ran out of time today.
January 25th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Wow! Wow! Wow! Ce’Nedra looks so grown up! I cant believe just a few months ago she had barely opened her eyes! Fin and Basia look perfect together! How is it that cats can look so beautiful and perfect even when they are asleep? Libby is beautiful too!