Say hello to “Mia”!  She is a Napoleon cat – a cross between two breeds – the Munchkin and the Persian.  Napoleons are now being shown in the “new breed” class at cat shows.  They are simply adorable as they feature the short legs of the Munchkin breed and the face of the old-fashioned Persians. You will fall in love with Mia when you look at her photos above and below.

An interesting difference between dog and cat shows is that at a dog show, each dog is judged within their breed by one judge.  If they win, they go on to Group judging.  At a cat show, each cat is judged by multiple judges throughout the day.  A cat may win Best Cat in Show by the judge in ring 1 and not win anything from the judge in Ring 2, etc.  The cats rotate through the rings at the show until each judge has seen and evaluated them.  One cat, therefore, has the opportunity to win multiple awards – even multiple Best Cat in Show awards – given by the various judges.  The blog image is from the Christmas City Cat Club show in Easton, Pa. on Saturday.  This little Somali was one of judge Brenda Russo’s top 10 cats of the day.   This breed is basically a long-haired Abyssinian and they are exquisite!  They are very intelligent and love to play.  This sweet little one was a real ham for the camera!

It was a bit conspicuous to be sitting in the front row ringside at the cat show with a 70-200mm lens, but without it, I would not have achieved images like this frame-filling shot of a gorgeous Maine Coon.  Just like in dog showing, there is a breed standard that the judge uses to evaluate each cat in competition at the show.  This is a medium to large rugged breed that can endure the climate changes of Maine.  They have a long smooth shaggy coat and come in many solid and tabby colors and patterns.  I love the one paw out in front on this image, not to mention those beautiful eyes!

It’s been a while since I’ve photographed at a cat show … just about a year!  I love seeing all of the different breeds – long hair, short hair, hairless, big, small….they are all precious!  Photographing a cat show has a lot of similar challenges as a dog show – low light, moving animals, depth of field issues, etc., so it was a good opportunity to get some much needed cat photography practice!