It’s been 10 long years, but South Surrey will be home to a feline fête this weekend, attracting cats and the people who love them from across North America.
Organized by the Cat Fanciers of B.C., the show will bring 150 cats to the Pacific Inn.
It’s an event any feline fan would be remiss to not look into, said CFBC secretary Cornelia Schofield.
Kinky, Schofield’s household cat (meaning it is not a show cat), quickly slinks away, as her human companion settles in to explain the event she has worked on for months to help organize and promote.
“There will be judging, of course, but there will also be vendors selling cat-related items, and a section with rescues available for adoption,” Schofield says. “We are anticipating people from all over, including the United States. It will be a wonderful event.”
Schofield pulls out a stack of magazines from her bookshelf by the couch and shows off photographs of a few of her “babies.”
Bluesy, Wrapper and Larseboy have posed for many of the photos, but Kili takes the cake with dozens of pictures capturing his striking features.
“He is an ocicat, a domestic breed that looks like a wildcat but has no feral blood,” Schofield says of her prize-winning pedigree covered in silver spots against a chocolate coat.
Kili – named after Mount Kilimanjaro, and short for Sunstone Kilimanjaro of Samphire – is just one of the purebred cats who share a home in Langley with Schofield and husband Roy Yates.
Schofield estimates she has attended than 500 cat shows around North America, some – but not all – with her husband of more than 20 years.
Asked if he loves cats as much as his wife, Yates is quick to issue a denial.
“No, don’t like them. That’s all her. But what can I do?” he said.
Despite his reluctance, he eventually concedes he is a bit more fond of the four-legged family members that roam his home than he initially let on.
“Well, when they’re here and you grow up with them, you get to know them,” Yates said.
His tiny wife has been a full-blown cat fancier for 15 years, a fact that is evident to anyone who walks up their Murrayville driveway.
From outside the front door to the living room, there is a cornucopia of feline paraphernalia, including ceramic cat statues and gigantic stuffed-and-striped fish tied to the three-tier scratching post. The front of their fireplace is covered with trophies from cat shows and competitions, and on the bookshelf there are magazines from Canada, South Africa and Japan featuring her award-winning cats.
“Cat’s here and there and all over the house,” chuckles Schofield, a vocal advocate of how cat shows play an important role in preserving the more than 60 different breeds.
“Each breed has a written standard judges refer to, with points awarded for coat, body, head type and even ear set.”
March 9-11, judges from Albuquerque to Chilliwack will examine the cats in the middle of the triangle-shaped “ring,” before separating them into divisions and announcing winners. After judging, spectators will be invited to go to the ring and meet the owners and the cats.
Although such shows often attract many older cat fans, Schofield dismisses the stereotype of cat lovers being exclusively senior women.
“When I was first starting to go, I remember I used to be so amused by the sight of these big, burly men with their teeny, tiny kitty cats,” she laughs.
“There are so many people who love cats.”
Though Schofield is eager to talk cats and answer questions about hers, she is reluctant to admit if she has any favourites. Instead, she explains why she loves her “babies” so much.
“They’re independent, self-sufficient and you don’t have to clean them and all that,” she says. “But mainly it’s that you don’t know what’s going on in that little head. They are all really unique.”
For more information about the show, at 1160 King George Blvd., visit www.cfofbc.org/catshow
Admission is $6 for adults, $4 for seniors, and 12 and under free (with an adult).