Competing in a CFA Cat Show

What’s it all mean?

 

You have entered the show, the entry clerk when you enter the show hall has told you or shown you on a print out where you will be setting up (Rows may be labeled by letters of the alphabet. Let say you are in  row “E.” Go to row “E” and you will find your name written on the table space that belongs to you. You find your place and set up your show cages and possibly a grooming space. Now what? It can seem quite intimidating the first time you enter a show hall. Different announcers from different rings are all screaming different things. Numbers are being spit out from various voices along with ring numbers.  It can feel very fast, making you feel rushed, behind and lost. Deep breath, it will all make sense in no time!

 

The show begins by introducing the judges and announcing what ring they will be in. You need to be at the show hall about an hour early if it is your first show. This way you can walk around to get familiar with the room set up and where each ring is located. This will help you to not feel lost while being called to a ring. In my experience, CFA will set you up with a buddy. You need to mark the NEW EXHIBITOR box on your entry form. Your buddy will help you tremendously! Some show halls have vendors for food and various items but not all!

 

You may or may not have a physical show catalog (this has recently changed). I recommend paying for a physical copy but you can print out your own copy or use a link to look at the catalog online (I am not familiar with this because it is new and…I resist change). For this we will assume you have a catalog.  On your catalog you will find your cats assigned number. I write it on my hand. Inside of the catalog you will find a list of all the entered cats, their number, competitive category, and color class (plus other things).  We will not go over much about filling out your catalog as it can be overwhelming at first. Long story short, you can fill in next to your cat how they did in each ring, as well as your competitors. This is good to keep up with if you can. It may not be in the cards your first show because honestly, it is a lot to learn. You will find a list in the catalog of the judges and the “planned” order for each judge to see each competitive class. This is not set in stone and more than likely will change. I use this page to mark off the rings I have been in. It can become easy to forget. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More than likely you have brought one cat for your first show. Your competitive class will be Kitten, Champion, Premiership or Household Pet. For this we will be in “Champion” Class. Next you need to know if you are in longhair (LH) or shorthair (SH). Maine Coons are in the “Longhair” class, so let us use that. It should be noted that Household Pets do not have long hair/ short hair, it is just Household Pet (HHP). Now we know our assigned number and that we are in the “Longhair Champion Class.” If you have forgotten how to determine which class you are in, please refer to my previous article, https://www.snowyrivermainecoons.com/education

 

Maine Coons are first judged against other Maine Coons. All the Maine Coons in the Champion class will be assigned consecutive numbers. Let us say we have five Maine Coons in Champion Class. Their assigned numbers could be 40, 41, 42, 43 and 44. You will hear something very similar to, “Ring three would like to see longhair champions numbers 40 through 44. This means the ring is ready for you. You will see your number on the top of your cage. You will place your baby into the cage head first, being careful not to scrap their back on the top of the cage door (Maine Coons can be a little big for some of the pens). You will notice that the number cards will be blue or pink to indicated male or female. If your card is the wrong color, let the ring clerk know. Keep in mind to be courteous while bringing up your baby. You may have a very docile male that loves everyone but someone you need to walk by may be carrying a not so cat friendly baby. Be patient and consider not walking past a judge that has a cat on the judging table. Just my personal preference.

 

Remember, you have plenty of time so do not feel rushed. Your anxiety may transfer to your cat. If there is time, the ring clerk may instead say, ring three has a grooming call for long hair champions. This means that the ring is not ready for you, but they will be soon. This gives you time to groom up your baby if necessary. Stay ready to be called up shortly. You should train your brain to listen for “Long Hair Champions” and if you can do that, you will be able to sort through the noise. Each class will only show in one ring at a time.

 

Your precious baby is in the show cage and waiting to be judge. The judge will pull each cat out one at a time. He/she will be feeling the body of the cat, judging the conformation, color, and temperament. Each Maine Coon will be judged in their color class first. For this article we will have five Maine Coons with two of them being brown tabbies. The judge will look at the color pattern and hang 1st in color on one and 2nd in color on the other. If two of the five Maine Coons are black smokes, then one will get a 1st in color and the other, 2nd in color. If the last Maine coon is a red patched tabby, then she will get 1st in color because she has no competition. Those ribbons confuse a lot of people due too there being multiple 1st and 2nd place ribbons. After the judge hangs the color ribbons, he or she will hang the Best in Breed Ribbon (brown), Second Best in Breed Ribbon (orange) and the Best Champion Ribbon (purple).

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Grand Champions compete in the same class as Champions that have not earned their Grand Champion title. However, Grand Champions are usually (not always) awarded the BOB (Best of Breed) and the 2BOB (2nd best of breed) ribbons. This has to do with points and we will not complicate it here. Just know that those ribbons give you regional points and that Grand Champions that are still competing are either going for a regional title or a national title.  What you want to see as a Champion cat in a show ring is that BEAUTIFUL purple ribbon. The purple ribbon tends to be awarded to a Champion and will give that Champion points towards a Grand Champion title. It is the only ribbon (in a regular ring) that will give you points towards your Grand Champion title and the hope of getting a “Call Back.”  If you get the BOB ribbon or the 2BOB ribbon that is FANTASTIC and you will earn regional points.  Make notes in your catalog for your placement in each ring.  So, let’s say we have the following for ring three:

 

GC Brown Tabby Male- BOB + 1st color

CH Brown Tabby Female- 2nd color

CH Black Smoke Female- 2BOB + BC (Best Champion) + 1st color

OCH Black Smoke Male- 2nd color

CH Red Patched Tabby female- 1st color

 

How do the points work? Champions compete only against the Champions and not against the Grand Champions. Grand Champions compete against the entire class. So, for this, the CH Black Smoke Female has beaten out 3 champion cats (the Grand Champion does not count), earning her 3 points toward her Grand Champion Title. She will get regional points (which are different) for the 2BOB but let us save that for another time. What I will say is just to imagine it as two separate competitions or races.

 

This will happen for all the rings. Each ring is its own competition and each judge may surprise you. You may take everything in one ring and get very high praise and walk away at the bottom of another ring. Do not let it discourage you. It happens to all of us. Be supportive and encouraging to your fellow breeders/competitors!  So, what comes next. Let us pretend we are showing in six different rings that day. After you compete in each ring you will be waiting, hoping, and praying for a call back. You are the OCH Black Smoke Male. Remember OCH is an Open Champion, meaning this is their first show as an intact cat that is 8 months old or older and/or has not completed his Champion title requirements.  Here is how you did in each ring.

 

Ring 1 = BC + 1st in color (3 pts earned)

Ring 2 = 1st in color

Ring 3 = 2nd in color

Ring 4 = BC + 1st in color (3 pts earned)

Ring 5 = 2nd color

Ring 6 = 1st in color

***Color placement does nothing for your points***

 

At some point in time after the judge has seen all the cats in the champion class. He/she will pick the best cats to bring back and award ribbons to. We will say the judge will bring back 10 cats (this varies). You want a call back! This is where you get the most points.  If you get a call back in a ring (like ring 1), your points for the BC ribbon go away.  You should earn more points during the “Call Back” then you did for the purple BC ribbon.  Your purple ribbon points are considered a “breed award.” If your breed award is worth more points then your “final award” then you will keep the breed award. However, this would be rare.

 

You hear over the speaker that ring 1 has a call back for cats in champion class numbers 42, and all the other numbers that the judge chose. They will name each number for the call back. You are #42! Yay!!  If you miss the numbers, you can always go check the numbers on top of the cages. You take your baby up and again place him in the cage with your number on it. This time the judge may not get any of the cats out. They will hang ribbons and state where each cat placed. Usually talking a little bit about each cat and why they were called back.  You were given 3rd Best Longhair (you get to keep this ribbon unlike the ribbons in the first ring).  You did not receive any other call backs. So how many points did you get?

 

The entry clerk will announce when they have tallied the official count of cats for the day.  When they do, you will want to go to their desk and take a picture of it. You will need it to calculate your points for the call backs. You may need some help. You will need to know how many cats were in Championship (long hair & short hair combined), not counting Grand Champions. You will need to know how many champion cats were in longhair and how many were in shorthair. 

Grand Champion point scoring in finals is done in 10% increments. Here is a link that explains more as well.  https://newexhibitor.cfa.org/calculating-points/

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​​Best = 100% of the count

2nd Best = 90 % of the count

3rd Best = 80% of the count

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When you look at the official count tally, the total champions are 50. Shorthair Champions is 30 and the Longhair Champion count is 20. Total Champion count is 50 (without Grand Champions). You received 3rd best Long Hair. You will receive 80% of the Long Hair count MINUS YOU so the count becomes 19.

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19 X .8 (80%) = 15.2  (So 15)

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Here is a great cheat tool to calculate points! I suggest you save it.  https://marykats.net/tools/score.html

Be sure to hit the bubble for Grand Champion before entering in the numbers. Your total points towards your Grand Champion title for this show is 18 points. This includes your 3 points you earned in ring 4 but didn’t receive a call back.

 

Let’s say you get a 3rd best all breed ribbon. The difference is in the title “All Breed.” You will add the shorthairs and longhairs together. Take that number and minus one. Points are still calculated in 10% increments as stated above.

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20 (LH) + 30 (SH)=50

50-1(you cannot beat yourself) = 49

49 X .8 (80%) = 39.2 (39) points

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You might get a 3rd best LH and 3rd Best All breed in the same ring. You do not get the points for both. You take the higher scoring placement which will be the “All Breed” due to it being a larger number of cats that you beat.

Great News! You’re OCH Black Smoke male has now competed in 6 CFA rings under at least two different judges. He was not disqualified for anything. This means he has completed the requirements for his Champion title. You will request your Champion title in your eCat account and pay a $20 fee.  That is it. You have a Champion cat. Congratulations! You have also secured some points towards your Grand Champion title. Even better news, these points do not go away at the end of the show season (Which ends at the end of April). You can keep accumulating points for as long as it takes to get your GC title.

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You must obtain a total of 200 points to earn your Grand Champion title through CFA.

 

Regional & National points are earned only from BOB / 2BOB “Breed Award” ribbons. We will not go into much detail but if we have the original 5 Maine Coons:

BOB = 4 regional /national points awarded (He beat 4 other cats)

2BOB (95% of the count) = 4 X .95 (95%) = 3.8 points

 

In a call back or “Final Award” only BEST CAT ribbons will earn regional or national points. This is calculated with total champions including Grand Champions. Let’s say the total is 55 cats (LH + SH).

Best Cat = Total Count (minus himself/herself) = 54 points

2nd Best Cat = 95% of total count = 54 X .95 = 51.3 points

3rd Best Cat = 90 % of total count. Award continues to decrease in 5% increments.

 

*** Regional & National points reset at the end of the show season***

 

Regional awards are a competition within your region (I am region 3).

National awards are a competition within all regions.

 

 

Let’s practice!

 

10 Maine Coons in Champion Class with 2 being Grand Champions.

Total Cats in Championship = 60

Total Shorthair Champions / Opens = 25

Total Longhair Champions / Opens = 28

Total Champions / Opens = 53

 

You are judged in 5 rings and awarded the following as a Champion Cat:

Ring 1 = 3rd color

Ring 2 = 1st color / BC (purple)

Ring 3 = 1st color / BC (purple)

Ring 4 = 2nd color

Ring 5 = 1st color / BC (Purple)

 

CALL BACKS

Ring 1 = No Call Back

Ring 2 =  Best Longhair Champion & Best All Breed Champion

Ring 3 =  No Call Back

Ring 4 = No Call Back

Ring 5 =  2nd Best Longhair

 

How many points did you get in each ring? Total points = 83 points total

Ring 1?   0

Ring 2?   52

Ring 3?   7

Ring 4?   0

Ring 5?   24

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