On arrival at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology gymnasium on Saturday, I was moved to hideously misquote, albeit only in my own head so it didn’t really matter, the words of noted ex-president John F Kennedy, who absolutely didn’t say “Some people see things as they are and say ‘Why?’, and others dream of things that never were and say ‘Why not lets organize an International Cat Festival and have presentations and vendors and some rescue cats, oh, and a famous guest cat, and stuff?'”.
I had no idea what form a cat festival might take but was pleasantly surprised at the range of the vendors present and the varied scope of the program of events. The events on the main stage were hosted by CTV’s Shawna Randolph and included an informative video-link with famed cat behaviouralist Dr Pam Johnson-Bennett answering questions from the audience (I was relieved to find that the organizers of an International Festival have the same connection issues as I do when I’m Skyping my mum!). Also fulfilling the ‘international’ brief was famed internet sensation Pudge, a 4 year-old Exotic Shorthair cat whom, if I’m being honest, I hadn’t really heard of before Saturday but did cause quite a stir and had not one but two ‘meet and greets’ during the day. She is incredibly cute and worth checking out on YouTube if you haven’t already. The highlight of the program for me was the Mr & Mrs Purr-fect beauty pageant which managed to tread that fine line between surreal and glorious with all cats required to present in everyday wear, swimwear and formal wear and explain how they would make the world a better place, which invariably involved them having more tuna.
Something else I had never experienced before (I’ve clearly lived a sheltered life) was the cat show judging ring where handsome felines sat patiently in cages before being taken out, prodded a bit, stretched to their full length then popped back in again, then judged. In the demonstration I watched, all of the cats were awarded at least one prize each which was nice although I expect that the non-demonstration competitive cut-throat world of cat showing is a little less egalitarian.
Photo by Nanc Price Photography.
Zoe’s were present on the day of course, with an information kiosk near the main stage. It was an excellent opportunity to get our message out to an essentially captive audience. Kath and Lorraine did the honors in the morning whilst Allan and I provided relief for the afternoon session. Special mention goes to Allan’s foster Tippy, who gamely accepted all the cuddles and strokes which came his way as the afternoon went on. His presence achieved two important things, firstly it upped his own profile in terms of increasing his chances of finding his forever home and he got attendees close enough to get Zoe’s message to them and to get a calling card in their hand. An interesting part for me was in talking to people, most were clear about whether or not they wanted a(nother) pet but quite a lot were not aware of the fostering scheme Zoe’s operates and this seemed to pique interest with people who might not have been able to commit to a full adoption.
We met quite a few characters throughout the day and I was particularly enamored by the sweet lady who informed us in whispered tones that she had eleven cats at home. I wasn’t really sure why she’d whispered it until I googled it later that evening. I’m sure most will know the legal maximum per household in a Edmonton is six. She seems all the sweeter now…
