Sunday, November 20, 2011

Best in Cat Show

             There was certainly a buzz in the air this weekend at the Westchester County Center in White Plains, NY which hosted a cat show. Okay, maybe there wasn't really a buzz, but there was a cat show. With a five dollar parking fee and a thirteen dollar entrance fee, it was more expensive of a visit than I was anticipating, but I was there anyways so it was on to the show.

             The Westchester County Center has two main show rooms, one upstairs another downstairs. This event took place in the larger upstairs room which is also able to accomodate concerts, basketball games, and other major shows. Before getting there visitors walk through a hallway in which small tables are set up, mainly for animal avocate groups handing out brochures, etc. After that, then people may enter the large room to see the cats in action. The center of the floor room had about seven rows of cats on display(with their owners), the right side had three main tables where judges examined and inspected the cats, the left side had a few tables selling cat-related merchandise, and on the stage was a few more avocate groups and some small conference that was going on. Although at the conference, even with the microphone, it was almost impossible to hear the speaker over the noise of chatter and judging announcements.

             Cats were on display in all shapes, sizes, ages, and breeds. Only a small number of them were able to photogrpah well as most were either asleep or moving around too fast to take a decent picture. It must have been a long day as most of the owners looked sluggish just lounging in their chairs, like their cats. There were a few interesting people, one guy was actually listening to a walkman(I didn't know those existed anymore), another lady was using her walker to carry a wide variety of items, including her oxygen tank, which I found creative. I was beginning to feel hungry after a while and their was a Nathan's concession stand in the back, but at the time I wasn't in the mood for burgers or hotdogs. Next to the Nathan's stand there's the bathroom and water fountain area, in both cases signs were put up informing owners not to wash their cats in the fountain or take them into the bathroom.

             As I walked around a I noticed a number of the cats had a black ribbon on their cages, so I would assume they won something for whatever category they were in. I believe there was a contest for shorthair, longhair, as I heard it over the loudspeaker. If there was anyone interested in taking a cat home, there were a few shelters exhibiting potential candidates looking for a couch to scratch up, some of the owners were also professional breeders selling their stock, and others just had displays for selling kittens. I overheard one lady mention that her husband warned her about going to the show and said if she did, to not bring home anymore cats. Alot of the people in attendance were wearing leopard colored clothes or shirts with cats on them. It was the quintessential definition of when people are called "cat people", and I found them more entertaining to look at than the cats...
                        







































                                                    

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