Drum roll please…………………………………..

IW SGC MTNest Midnight Cowboy

The Best Championship Cat is MTNest Midnight Cowboy, a black Maine Coon bred and owned by Judy and David Bernbaum. Handsome boy, huh?

The Best Kitten is Kelloggs Love Echoes On, a black silver classic tabby American Shorthair bred and owned by Heinrich and Carly Kellogg/ C Schofield.

IW Kelloggs Love Echoes On

The Best Alter is IW SGCA HMS Prescott of Chaucer, a blue-and-white British Shorthair bred by Harley DeVilbiss and owned by Jeane and Stephanie Camarena.

IW SGCA HMS Prescott of Chaucer

The Best Household Pet is LA SGM Believe in Magic of Luvpurrs, a red ticked tabby/white owned by Vanadis Crawford and Chris Unangst.

LA IW SGM Believe in Magic of Luvpurrs

The Best Household Pet Kitten is Drops O Jupiter of Cristal Cat, a white kitten owned by Crystal D. Jager.

IW Drops of Jupiter of CristalCat

Congratulations to all of TICA’s 2007-2008 International Winners. Every since winner was worth mentioning, but that would mean a very long blog because that would be 100 winners! Wow!

The new 2008-2009 show season started on May 1 2008 and will end on April 30 2009. Check back later and find out who is in the lead for these five divisions!

Single men really do love cats!

Okay, so it’s about time that those single men finally confessed they’re big cat lovers! It’s no surprise to me. I know plenty of single men….and married men!….who are cat lovers.

Yeah, I’m involved in the cat fancy, but I’ve known many men before I started showing cats. My brother-in-law and nephew (his son) are HUGE cat lovers! My brother-in-law was a former college football player; someone you’d never expect to be a cat lover.

And now that I’m in the cat fancy, there are many men who I know that love cats! But finally these guys are “coming out of the (cat) closet”.

This week an article in The New York Times declared these newly found cat lovers something “new and exciting”. But in all reality, they’ve been out there!

In fact, there are many men who retired from “macho” careers that now breed and show cats. I won’t go into that right now….that’s a blog for another time! We’ll let them out of the “cat closet” later.

And you know what…..PURRsonals.com which is the only social networking and matchmaking site for single cat lovers says that they have more men as members than women! Okay gals….you have a whole pot of single cat lovers out there just waiting for you! Join that site and get going. You know, you could help some of those “new” single male cat lovers “come out of the cat closet”!

Tah!

Deb

QGC Rum Tum Timmy

My “initiation” to the cat fancy was showing my household pet, Rum Tum Timmy  (aka Tim). He’s a gorgeous, bunny-fuzz coated blue (most likely he can claim Maine Coon and Russian Blue in his genes!) with HUGE green eyes.

I had shown horses and worked with my Schipperkes (agility, Canine Good Citizen) so as a cat-lover-from-birth, I decided to give the cat fancy a shot. It didn’t take long to realize I was in love: in fact, it was the second day of the two-day TICA (The International Cat Association) show in Fort Worth eight years ago that sealed the deal.

Since then I’ve shown Havanas (i.e. also called Havana Browns in the Cat Fanciers Association), but have always had a household pet under my wing at the shows too. Cocoa Pebbles (aka Beaner) has been the road companion for numerous show cats and just last year won her Regional Winner title in TICA.

Okay, enough about me. What I wanted to say is Cornell University’s newsletter CatWatch recently featured an article on showing Household pets. It’s so much fun to show household pets! It’s a great way to learn the ropes of showing a cat…..help adopt and show off a gorgeous cat!!….let juniors become accomplished exhibitors without buying a pedigreed cat….

Many judges started out showing household pets. And many judges still show household pets!

TICA not only registers household pets, but the cats and kittens can earn the same titles, and regional and international awards as the pedigreed cats.

If you want to learn more….or have a gorgeous cat or kitten that you know loves people and is a “ham”…then go to www.tica.org and see if you can find a show near you. Go visit it, and watch the household pet judging. And talk to the owners at the show!

It’s so much fun.

Well, Zootoo.com is exactly that. And it’s out of the welfare of all animals that it was created. As its tagline says “bringing pet lovers together to help pets and each other”.  Zootoo’s mission is: At Zootoo, every click helps a pet and every pet lover has a voice. Zootoo embraces all animals and the people who care for them every day.

zootoo logo

What’s neat about Zootoo.com is you can help raise funds for your favorite rescue group or animal shelter! Now, how many sites are dedicated to that?

There’s so many features as a registered user — photo wars, video uploads, Q&A postings, event lists, and on and on — that you can dedicate the entire site to not only your pets, but helping pets locally or worldwide.

With all of the registered users–which runs from pet owners to service providers, manufacturers to various associations–Zootoo.com keeps creeping (no, RUNNING) up in search engine rankings thanks to its traffic. According to Alexa.com, Zootoo.com’s It’s traffic is growing so quickly, that The International Cat Association, American Kennel Club, and the local SPCA and Humane Societies have joined the ranks of Zootoo.com.

Okay, so have I. You can watch as I build my own pages on the site. And please vote for my pets in the Pet Wars. By earning points I can help out Little Orphan Angels (my favorite non-profit rescue group located in North Texas).

You know, there’s just so much to talk about … I think I’ll end this post. Just visit my page, and then the rest of Zootoo.com. Share it with your friends. And I’ll keep you  updated on what is going on.

Just remember, Zootoo.com is about:

 Share…and learn about all things pet

Connect…with other pet lovers like you

Help…pets and animal shelters

Making Your Cat’s Summer A Fun and Safe Time discusses how to make your cat’s summer fun and safe, but really, the information is good all year round (especially if you live somewhere tropical and it’s basically summer every day of the year!).

I found the list of dangerous plants helpful because so many times when you find a list online it won’t include all of the plants! And then information on how to keep your garden safe for your cat by using natural pesticides, etc. You can use them in your home too.

I’d recommend it highly! Good source of information, and it’s FREE!

Just register at PURRsonals.com

~Deb

As Sonny Crane, founder of PURRsonals.com says,  “PURRsonals.com allows singles who understand the unique bond between an owner and their cat, to meet and build relationships. Cats are finicky about their owners…and cat owners are finicky, just like their cats, about the people who they date. PURRsonals.com takes the ‘finicky-ness’ out of dating.”

Sonny and his wife, Joan, are  cat owners so they understand the strong commitment and bond cat lovers share with their feline friends. He couldn’t have said it any better than this: “Cat lovers appreciate the importance in finding another cat lover as a friend–or as that “special someone” in their life–who will understand their unique relationship of love and caring with their cat. PURRsonals.com lets them do that.”

I joined PURRsonals.com not only to make friends (sorry guys! I’m married!) but now I can go to one site and read the latest cat news, watch today’s TV news clips (and other feeds off YouTube and other sites!) and enjoy Kitty Literate’s blog. Now I don’t have to do endless searches or read multiple RSS feeds or blog/news alerts.

And for you single cat lovers, I hear there’s a live event being planned in the New York area! I’m trying really hard to get PURRsonals.com to have one down here in North Texas. I’d love to meet anyone–single or married–as a fellow cat lover and friend.

Hmmm…think about this: a cat coffee cafe? Move other dogs! Cats are going to be taking over the single world!

Forgot to tell you: it’s free! So, move overt Match.com, Animal Attraction and those other dating sites! PURRsonals.com will be ruling the world of matching up single cat lovers. Purrfect, huh?

~Deb

How true! I quickly learned that my kitten – Hershey – wanted to do more than toss catnip mice up in the air. He would watch my every move and look me right in the eyes, and upon my verbal command would come, sit, stretch and “strut” (walk with a swagger and swoosh his tail). As he grew up we moved to “volley ball” practice (I’d toss one of  his fuzzy balls and he’d bat it back) and then jumping from table to table and running across them upon my hand and verbal commands.

We were doing it all for fun. Then I heard about the International Cat Agility Tournaments (ICAT). Held at The International Cat Associaation (TICA) shows, I registered Hershey as one of the first cats with the organization (I think he’s number 35 or something like that). Organized in 2003, since then ICAT contests are held around the world and cats earn titles.

Since then, Hershey – who is now a (little) plump five-year-old – has been filmed for various cable shows (and soon a show on national TV) about cat agility. He’s such a prima donna that he really loves being in front of the camera. He’ll strut and swagger, and then do what he loves to do: speed through the tunnel, jump through the hoop and over the bars we go! With each round he gets more excited and jumps higher, and runs faster.

I’ve tried agility with my other cats, and while Tim is just too fat to do it, my two girls can fly over the jumps like gazelles. But will they do it in front of a camera? Heck no! Like any woman, we want to make sure we look our best when being filmed and I think they don’t get to do that by flying through tunnels or over jumps. Oh well!

Hershey’s next big adventure is at TICA’s 2008 Annual Cat Show in Arlington Texas. Not only will there be over 300 cats from around the world competing in 12 rings of judging, but I lay odds many of those cats and kittens will be jumping through hoops! You can’t resist doing it!

Cat agility is not only good for your cat – it helps keep them physically trim and mentally stimulated and happy – but it also provides a time for you and your cat to be together and have fun! Isn’t that what it’s all about?

If you’ve never seen a cat agility contest, check out TICA’s show schedule and see if there’s a show near you with ICAT on site. And if there isn’t you can still do agility at home with your cat! You don’t need any fancy equipment: run them across the bed with a teaser  (or try your hands or a clicker!)…over the back of the sofa…under tables….or jumping over a kitchen or ladderback chair on its side. Your cat will love it..and love you for it!

Happy Hurdles!

~Deb

Purrfect World is written in memory of Bud whose gorgeous brown face, and green, green eyes graces this page! Bud was my, well, buddy….and at a very young age died as a result of eating some of the tainted kitten food off the Menu Food recall. I still mourn for him, and it will be a very long time before I can ever not hurt. He’ll always be in my heart and mind, and will live on in Purrfect World.

Purrfect World will explore what is purrfect for cats (yes, yes, dogs and horses too!) and their owners. Nutrition. Travel. Understanding them. Good books to read. Classes to take. People to meet. Fab web sites to visit!

With Bud watching over my shoulder, I’ll make sure that he’s proud of what I can share with everyone who reads this blog.

So, until next time…..hope things are purrfect!

~Deb