Bark-o-ween and more

We went to a "Bark-o-ween Party" and pet costume contest today! It was a lot of fun! It was held at a pet boutique (in the parking lot) and the judge for the contest was Svengoolie, a local TV host, he has a TV show where he shows horror movies and does funny skits (like Elvira.) It was really cool to meet him because I have been watching him since I was a kid, he also used to host a kid's show in like 89-90. I got an autograph and my photo (with Bianca) taken with Svengoolie. That photo will be coming in the mail so I don't have the picture yet.

I had Bianca my German Shepherd and my cat Harlequin. Bianca was dressed as the Big Bad Wolf and Harlequin as Little Red Riding Hood. Everyone thought they were very cute. It was kinda cold so I only had the cat out for the actual contest judging... I've been to several costume contests with them this month and they won first place at every other contest-- we entered the ones at Petco, Petsmart, and Chi Town Dog House.
This time they split them up for the judging. Harlequin got 1st place for "Best Cat" aka the "Brave Kitty award" (she was the only cat there heh...) and Bianca got 2nd place for "Scariest Costume". The overall 1st place was two Chihuahuas dressed as Michael Jackson and Diana Ross.

Bianca won a gift basket full of dog goodies and a $25 gift card for the store. Harley won a gift bag full of catnip toys and cat stuff and a gift card. I also found out that I won one of the store's raffles for a nice pet coat from Scooter's Friends brand.

Every contest we've been to, people comment that their cats would be hiding or would not be so calm/happy, or ask if she is okay with the dogs around and everything. Harley was totally comfortable with the contests or I would not have brought her. She has no fear of dogs and barking doesn't phase her either. She and her siblings were raised around my dogs Ginger and Pooch from 3 weeks old, so they have no issue with dogs. Harley is also very outgoing and likes to explore new places. I've taken her to pet shops, pet shows, and cat shows and she is always fine with it. She does pretty well in the cat shows too because she is so friendly and playful.

Here are some photos from the contest today, and below that are a few from the other contests we entered recently.



"Come closer, dearie..."



Svengoolie announcing the winners





The winner for "Best Pet and Owner costumes" - Marie Antoinette



Bianca and Harlequin at the first contest we went to, at Chi Town Dog House (there was one other cat there)





Bianca and Harlequin at Petco's Howl-o-ween event

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Harley & Blaze's first TICA cat show results

I wanted to share my cats' show results for their first TICA cat show this weekend. We went to the Prairie State Cat Club "Fall Harvest" Show

First in case anyone is not familiar with TICA, (I just learned a lot of this myself) the household pets are give points for best of color, 1st-3rd of division, and then 5-10 are chosen for finals depending on how many are entered. There are 'Specialty' rings and 'Allbreed' rings. In the "Specialty" rings the judges award finals for longhairs and finals for shorthairs separately. In the "Allbreed" rings the shorthairs and longhairs are combined and each judge picks the top cats out of both shorthairs and longhairs into one final.

Blaze is a brown mackerel tabby/white and Harley is a brown ticked torbie and white so they are both in the tabby and white division. There were three cats in the tabby and white division at this show so it was Blaze, Harley, and one other cat in their division. In this show there were less than 20 household pet adults total, so each judge awarded finals for their top 5 cats. There were 12 shorthair HHPs the first day and 7 longhair (so 19 total for the All Breed rings). The second day all the rings were Allbreed and there were 16 HHPs for most of the rings. There were 5 rings each day.

Here are my cats' results-

Blaze (Sat.)

1. 3rd of Division
2. 3rd of Division
3. 2nd of Division
4. 3rd of Division
5. 3rd of Division; special award

In the last ring Blaze got the "James C. Becknell Memorial Award" which is awarded to a household pet with the best a "moustache" or "beard." Blaze was the closest to one at the show.
This was Blaze's first time going to a show and he was scared, so he didn't do very well. He did not hiss or even put his ears back at all, he just kept to the back of the judging cages and kept his tail between his legs. I was considering not bringing him the second day but I decided to go and see if he improved. I was hoping he'd be ok for showing because although he is a little more shy than some of my other cats, as soon as he sees a toy he usually perks up and he is my most playful cat. At home he will play with a string toy (like Da Bird) until he is panting and even then he doesn't want to stop! I'd hoped that when the judges got a toy out he would play but he was too scared to play at the show.

Blaze (Sun.)

1. Best of Division; 3rd Best Allbreed HHP Adult final
2. 3rd of Division
3. 3rd of Division
4. 3rd of Division
5. 2nd of Division

Today Blaze was still scared but he seemed to be a little bit more comfortable but was still scared. He got one final in the first ring of the day-- 3rd in an Allbreed ring (3rd out of 16 household pets) is pretty good! All together he added up 595 points and one final. They need 300 points and one final to get the title "Master" (HHP equivalent to Champion) so Blaze has enough for that title. I'm not sure yet if I am going to show him again. I will probably try taking him out some places and see if he gets a little less scared.



Harley (Sat.)

1. Best of Division; Best Specialty SH HHP Adult final
2. Best of Division; Best Specialty SH HHP Adult final
3. 3rd of Division
4. Best of Division; 3rd Best Specialty SH HHP Adult final
5. 2nd of Division; 4th Best Allbreed HHP Adult final

Harley did really great. I thought she would behave fine because she's been to one show before and did really well. It was a household pet show last March at the Chicagoland Pet Expo, it was only for household pets. She actually got Best in Show at that one. This weekend was her first TICA show though. Harley was at the front of the cage for most of the rings and trying to get the judge's attention ("Hey, play with me!") I also think her ticked torbie coloring helped her to stand out, and her petite size.
Harley got enough points/finals just on Saturday to earn the title "Master" which requires 300 points and one final.


Harley (Sun.)

1. 3rd of Division
2. Best of Division; 2nd Best Allbreed HHP Adult final
3. Best of Division; 4th Best Allbreed HHP Adult final
4. Best of Division; 2nd Best Allbreed HHP Adult final
5. Best of Division; Best Allbreed HHP Adult final!

I was very happy/surprised when she got a 1st place Allbreed for the last ring of the day! Harley finaled in 8 out of 10 rings for the weekend and she got 1825 points total. This is enough for the title "Grand Master" which requires 1000 points with 6 finals under 4 different judges. She only needs 175 more points to get the next title, Double Grand Master but she also needs to get one final as a "Grand Master" for that one so I have to send in her title confirmation form now.
We had a fun show, I was kinda nervous the first day since I had not been to a show since March and I'd only been to one TICA show before with my other cats Church and Harley and they did not do very well.. All the exhibitors were really nice and several helped me with figuring out points and things. I got to meet a forum member too, darlili! I also met some breeders whose websites I'd seen online, got an invitation to come play with some Japanese Bobtails at a cattery I'd been looking into previously, petted a Savannah for the first time and got to hold a lovely (available) snow Bengal kitten. The breeder was showing her to me and had to go get another cat from a ring so she asked me to hold her...the kitten started purring immediately. Oh yeah, I also got to feel a Japanese's Bobtail's tail. I asked an owner what their tails are actually like (can't really tell by looking due to the fur) and he said to go ahead and feel his cat's tail.

I took a video of Harley getting her Best Allbreed and of Blaze in a judging ring on Sunday (to see his behavior), but I can't get them to upload to Youtube so I'm trying Catster...
Here's the link to the videos:
Harley's: http://www.catster.com/video/book?i=815676
Blaze's: http://www.catster.com/video/book?i=1001353


Here are some photos from the show:

Harley in a ring-




A judging ring




Harley and Blaze's benching cage at the end of today (Harley is staring because I was waving a toy). If you look closely you can see Blaze hiding behind the litterbox on the left side of the cage.




Harley showing off her awards

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