CATCLUBNEWSUK. Diary Date. Welcome to the biggest ever issue!!!! People News. See the results and more on the inside pages now >> 23rd February 2013

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1 June 2012 ISSUE 15 CATCLUBNEWSUK NEWSLETTER OF FELIS BRITANNICA - THE FEDERATION OF CAT CLUBS REPRESENTING FIFE IN THE UK Welcome to the biggest ever issue!!!! A bumper issue for June as there is lots to tell you all about plus results from the ACC show. There s a call out for Category III cats for the GOE show in Moulton, an article on the Maine Coon Special at the VCC show in September and Frank Mandix has written an article on an amazing show experience held recently in Denmark As usual, if you have any comments on the newsletter or have articles you would like to be published, don t be shy, this newsletter is for you the exhibitor so let me know what you think. We are getting so many fantastic comments from new and established exhibitors about what they like so much about our shows that it does make it all worthwhile for the show teams. Remember this is a hobby and the people who work hard to put on the shows do it all for free and those little thank you s go a long way so keep them coming in. Log on to the facebook page and leave your comments too See the results and more on the inside pages now >> People News Caroline Bailey Read Caroline Bailey Read Caroline Bailey Read your bubbly steward recognisable by her pink attire is now an intrepid reporter for the Your Cats magazine. She will be writing a diary for the magazine and her first article will be in the August Issue which is due out on July 15th. Well done Caroline! Diary Date 23rd February 2013 The Annual Awards Dinner to be held in Northamptonshire

2 The Aristocats Cat Club held a 2 day show on June 16th & 17th at the Leisure Centre Lutterworth Winners Saturday June 16th Best in Category II Tracey & Chris Spooners Norwegian Tiganlea Duke Swayze Best in Category I Ann McEntees s Exotic Zendique Vivienne Westwood Best in Category III Cathy Nichol s Korat Nikelsilva Midas Best in Category IV & Overall Best of the Best Elizabeth Basham s Siamese Labash Shameless Unrecognised Breed Ash Molloy s Tibetan Yushi of Puddah s Palace Sundays Winners >>

3 Winners Sunday june 17th Best in Category II & Overall Best of the Best Spooners Norwegian Forest Cat Tiganlea Duke Swayze Best in Category I Caroline Bailey Read s Exotic Bronjoy Brimstone Best in Category III Wendy Chapman s Burmese Talitoe Theodore of Wendele Best in Category IV Sue Millers Oriental Shorthair Barbecco Miranda HHP Joy Lancasters Sophie Unrecognised Breed Mary Stewarts Australian Mist Rumtumtugger Maram Jannali << Saturdays Winners

4 Royal Canin Is beauty only skin deep? A cat s coat is often considered a mirror of their health and nutrition, with any changes in quality or condition immediately obvious to owners. In fact, it is true that your cat s skin and coat is a great reflection of their diet. The skin is the largest organ in the body and has a high nutrient demand, and because hair is always growing and the skin is constantly regenerating, any effect of diet in supporting these areas is readily visible. There are a number of key nutrients important in supporting healthy skin and a quality coat. The skin needs a good supply of high quality protein to help support maintenance and repair, as well as hair growth. In fact, around a third of a cat s daily protein intake is actually used by the skin and coat. quality protein, along with omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, helps to nourish a delicate skin and coat, and a special nutrient complex helps to strengthen the skin barrier. Hair and Skin 33 is a great option for cats with mild skin and coat sensitivities or where coat condition is a particular concern, and it shouldn t take long to notice a difference a 2006 Royal Canin study demonstrated a significant improvement in coat shine within 21 days of exclusive feeding. We all want our cats to look their best. Clear skin and a shiny, glossy coat not only gives some peace of mind about their health and nutrition but will hopefully attract a few compliments too! For more information about Royal Canin products visit or call Certain amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, are particularly useful. Because sulphur-containing amino acids are used in high quantities in the construction of hair, choosing dietary proteins containing plenty of these sulphur amino acids really helps support hair growth. Another amino acid, l-tyrosine, is a precursor for the skin pigment melanin and we know that supplementing with l- tyrosine helps to optimise the coat s natural colour. Of course, as well as looking good, the skin has a number of important roles, not least in providing a protective barrier to external conditions and pathogens, as well as preventing water being lost from the body s surface. Poor skin health can result in a defective barrier function, causing drying of the skin itself and leaving the body vulnerable to external insult. Many of the nutrients important to skin health act to support this barrier function. Some of the omega 3 and 6 fatty acids for example, are essential to help maintain the lipid which cements skin cells together. Some B vitamins and other nutrients are known to work together to further support this lipid layer. Other nutrients such as antioxidants, vitamin A and minerals like zinc and copper all combine together to help nourish the coat and skin. For many cats a good quality, highly digestible diet, such as a tailored health nutrition product, will provide all the nutrients required at optimal levels to maintain a great looking skin and coat. However, some cats have particularly sensitive skin and need some extra help. So Hair and Skin 33, from Royal Canin s Feline Care Nutrition, is a targeted nutritional response to specifically help support skin health and maintain a glossy coat. A high content of

5 3 shows-in-one-day A busy day reported by Frank Mandix On March 10th the three Danish cat clubs Racekatten, Katteklubben and DARAK held a special show in a sports centre in Rødovre. It was a special show and something completely new as 3 shows were held back to back on the same day and in the same venue. The cats could take part in one, two or three shows with the entry fee per cat decreasing with the number of shows the cat was participating in. All cats, no matter how many shows they competed in, had to remain in the sports hall for the whole duration from 8 AM to 10 PM. The judging of the cats was done parallel for the three shows and then followed by three Best in Shows. More than 500 cats took part and 31 judges were needed. I participated at the show where I was stewarding. I later spoke to a lot of participants, judges, organisers, and guests and interviewed a judge, a person working in the secretariat and a chief steward. Judging at the show Waltraut Sattler category I, II and IV judge and also chairman of Hessischer Edelkatzen Club e. V. Mrs. Sattler was a judge for the club DARAK at the show. What do you think of the idea? Mrs. Sattler has experienced something similar in Russia where different cat clubs held shows at the same time and the exhibitors could enter in the different shows. The challenge is that everyone wants to go the 3 shows exhibition more certificates Judge Mrs Waltraut Sattler in less time and you save transport time and money. However it means less exhibitors at the next show, which also was the case in Denmark I am told. The execution of the show Some of the class changes were arriving late at the judges. There was a lot of noise at the show. An electronic display should be used for calling the cats which would have made it less noisy. When it came to best in show there was a big difference from the first (of three) and the last. At the last the cats looked tired. The venue at Rødovre The show ran smoothly and was well prepared. In conclusion The show was a success and an excellent contribution to make shows more attractive. However, some changes could be made to improve the system. Two shows on a day will be do-able but the number of 2-showsin-a day should be limited as it takes entries from the normal shows. Working in the Secretariat Aase Nissen, was working in the secretariat. Mrs. Nissen is also a category I and II judge as well as being the chairman of DARAK (Dansk Racekatte Klub). What do you think of the idea? Mrs. Nissen got the idea together with Inge Nord who is the chairman of Katteklubben. Mrs. Nissen continues We wanted to give the exhibitors something new Judge Mrs Aase Nissen and different and to see if 3 shows on a day is possible. Would it be possible to entice the exhibitors with this? The show was fully booked after six or seven days! It would have been easy to get more cats but it was important to complete before 10 PM. Normally the sequence of cats is left for the judges to decide but on this occasion it was important that the judges followed the sequence decided by the

6 organisers and thus avoiding that the same cat were to be judged at the same time at all three judges. The execution of the show The exhibitors were a bit worried about how to meet this new concept and how it was going to work. The nomination of cats took a bit longer as some of the same cats were nominated with several judges. Because the 3 shows were running concurrently it was important that class and colour changes were reported immediately and to all three secretariats. This did not always happen. This also meant a lot of more work for each secretariat and some speed was required in the secretariat to get everything right in the IT systems. Some of the cats found that 3 shows back to back were a bit too much. Here you have to think of the cat and not your desire to get certificates and win prizes. In conclusion Some of the cats became best in show 3 times. What a success! It was an experiment and many wanted to participate. It was success. A centralised entry and catalogue is a necessity. A lot of adjustments were made to the software. Logistics is the most important issue. It was hard work. The show was arranged in the city centre to attract visitors which certainly was the case. One of the positive outcomes was that it was possible to cooperate between the three clubs with a good result. Working as chief steward Lars Seifert-Thorsen was the Chief Steward for Katteklubben, where he also is a committee member. Lars is a very experienced chief steward and has held this position in Denmark for a long time but also taken on this responsibility many times abroad. The execution of the show The way the show was run was that the 3 shows were run in parallel and then each of the clubs held their best in Chief Steward Lars Seifert-Thorsen show. Overall the show was a success and given that this is the first time 3 shows in day has been attempted there was very few things that went wrong and when something did not go according to plan it rarely affected the exhibitors. It was a noisy show. The concept was novel to the exhibitors and they have to pay more attention to when their cat is to be judged. Though no cat was due at the same time at any judge the cat still had to be judged 3 times during the day. This was new to everyone and caused a lot of calling for cats and together with the many visitors that created more noise than desired. It was expected that the nomination would create some waiting time for the judges as the same cats were expected to be nominated by more than one judge but this was not really the case. There is always waiting time when nomination takes place. The three best in show ran smoothly. The high number of stewards meant that you were never short of stewards. For the cats (and the stewards) there was less stress. In conclusion This was first time that 3 shows in a day were tested and it went well. There are a number of economical advantages to the clubs but also to the exhibitors. The latter was reflected in the number of exhibitors from abroad and how quickly it was sold out. A lot of planning is required and getting the logistics about right is essential. The execution of the show went smoothly and everything worked well. Should or could the 3 show-in-a-day be attempted here in England? I was working at the show and there I met the judges, the organisers, the exhibitors and of course the cats first hand. Among some of the exhibitors there was some disgruntlement; everything was not working smoothly they thought but in my mind it was important to remember that this concept is new to everyone and you should take into consideration that it will require more attention by everyone than a usual show. The fact that the show was sold out within a week and there was a waiting list speaks for itself. Both to the clubs and the exhibitors the format has a number of advantages which was reflected in the number of foreign exhibitors coming from Sweden, Finland, Poland and the Czech Republic. It is a fact that the format takes entries away for the usual shows so the format must not be overused but it does have a number of advantages that speak for a repeat performance. What I hear from regular and non regular exhibitors is that the cost of showing is an issue. The new format makes it less costly per certificate for the exhibitors but also includes financial benefits for the clubs. This format is in my mind worth doing again but maybe with just two shows in a day. In Denmark they have decided to do another show with two certificates but running over two days with category II on the Sunday and the rest on Saturday.

7 A first for a UK show Exciting event taking place in Alcester on September 15th put the date in your diary now! The Viking Cat Club are planning to have the first Breed Best in Show for Maine Coons at a Felis Britannica show since the new show rules came into effect. A Breed Best in Show takes place separately to the main Category II (Semi-Longhair) Best in Show, Only Maine Coons will be nominated to compete for their own Best in Show. They will not compete in the Category II Best in Show with the remaining breeds and this Best In Show counts towards FIFe DSM and JW awards. The winner of the Maine Coon Best in Show will then still be able to compete for the overall Best of the Best alongside the other category winners Maine Coon For the Breed Best in Show to go ahead the club need to have at least 50 Maine Coons entered and in competition on the day. There also needs to be at least 50 cats of the other category II breeds entered and in competition. This not only benefits the Maine Coon exhibitors who have their own BIS but also the other breeds within Category II as they will not have to compete with the Maine Coons for nominations for BIS so all exhibitors with Norwegians, Neva s, Siberians, Turks, Ragdolls and Sacred Birmans have a better chance of being nominated for Best in Show too. It is a win win situation for everybody. All the club needs is your support and entries. The Club have invited 3 very experienced FIFe judges from Europe, Charles Spijker, Alexey Shchukin and Henry Hornell and if the entries come in as they expect, they are ready to invite another judge too. Let s all get behind the VCC and support them in this new venture. This is the First show the new committee have put on and it is very encouraging that the committee not only feel they are able to put on a show but that are going to be the first UK club to put a Breed Best in Show on. You can register your support now by joining in the event on facebook or ing your pledge of entries to felisbritannicapr@gmail.com This will enable to club to gauge if another judge will be needed. C O N TA C T U S Enquiries: President Frank Mandix President@FelisBritannica.org Vice President Robert Bryce VicePresident@FelisBritannica.org Gen Secretary Cecilia Macleod GeneralSecretary@FelisBritannica.org Dep Gen Secretary Mel Sweby DeputyGeneralSecretary@felisbritannica.org Show Commission Chair Josie Hughes ShowCommission@FelisBritannica.org Disciplinary Officer Wendy Chapman DCO@FelisBritannica.org PR Officer John Tipper FelisBritannicaPR@gmail.com Breeding Health & Welfare Chair Louise Mitchell BreedingandWelfare@FelisBritannica.org Rules Administrator Nick Chapman RulesCoordinator@FelisBritannica.org Registrar Rose Kitching Registrar@FelisBritannica.org Treasurer Tracey Spooner Treasurer@FelisBritannica.org Please remember when contacting anyone at that the officers and committee are all volunteers and are not paid for their service. Please be patient waiting for a reply as all have full time jobs which they have to perform and attend to FB business in their spare time. Some are only able to deal with enquiries on certain days.

8 The Theme for the Garden of England Show in July is the Olympics, just enough time to see what you can all come up with to decorate your pens for this show, lets have some flags and some bunting and perhaps a few medals. What can you come up with? Call out for Category III cats at the Garden of England Show in Moulton, Northamptonshire July 15th & 16th We need as many category III cats as possible to come along to the Garden of England Show in July because we have been asked by a probationer judge if she can come and assess cats in the UK as the last part of her training. Laura has written a little passage below to explain what it takes to become a judge so you can see how important it is to her. It is rare that we in the UK get the chance to be able to help one of our future judges and we should all be proud that someone wants to come to a UK show to do this and it helps to make us part of the FIFe so please come along and support this show with you category III cats. Hello to you all My name is Laura Boshoven, a Burmese & Burmilla breeder and member of Fife since I live in The Netherlands in a small town. The club I belong to is Mundikat. For our club magazine I started to write everything about all the things that happened during my education as Judge, like how the Judging world works, what difficulties a pupil or Judge has to face. I write every magazine and people react on that very well, because I was exhibitor for many, many years and now see things from the other side, it opens up eyes of lots of people. When I started it was clear to me that I wanted to be a FIFe judge someday. I waited for my children to grow up and then I started to get my 20 steward certificates and all the other obligatory things to do my pre-exam. Since April 2010 I have been a pupil and that is not easy. Learning for Category 3 that means knowing how to judge 24 different breeds (from next year 25) is not easy. Because I really want to understand every breed I travel sometimes far from home, several times to Finland, Norway etc. Seminars must be followed and do not forget everything I must pay for myself, flights, hotels and other expenses, all must be paid by the pupil. I worked very hard for this and learned and learned more and now appreciate every single breed for its own characteristics. Standards must be learned and rules too. In this category you must see at least 900 cats and every breed, although and exception is made for the Sokoke (rare breed) and German Rex but I saw the German Rex. As you can only pupil 30 cats each show you can imagine how many shows I must go to, I saw more than 1200! Also I visited breeders at club meetings or at their home to learn more breed specific things that you cannot learn at a show. After my parallel judging at the end of the pupiling I finally did my exam at Gislaved show in Sweden 21 April 2012, and made it with flying colours. The exam is a theoretical part that you have to do the day before and if you fail you cannot enter the practical next day. I had in my practical 43 cats (4 absent) and it was really exciting to do. Laura Boshoven So now I am a probationer Judge in Category 3. To become an International judge I must fulfil 3 stages supervised by another Int. Judge. I have already done one of the stages with good results and now I come to your club Garden of England which was so nice to have me, for my last two stages. To succeed I need to see at least 26 adults (can be neuters also) and 11 kittens and/or juniors, otherwise it is not enough. On my first stage I had 38 cats, kittens and adults together at one day. So I hope that you all come with your category III cats and a full list is given below. For me it is very important and I hope for you to, a new Judge is fresh and need to see a lot, so please enter your cat, every cat or kitten counts!! I am so pleased to be able to meet you all and I hope that I can show you that I had good teacher and do a great job! Kind regards Laura A full list of all the Category III cats is given here: Abysinnian, Bengal, Burmilla, British Shorthair, Burmese, Chartreux, Cornish Rex, Cymric, Devon rex, Don Sphynx, European, German Rex, Japanese Bobtail, Kurilean Bobtail (LH & SH) Korat, Manx, Egyptian Mau, Ocicat, Russian Blue, Snowshoe, Sokoke, Somali & Sphinx

9 Saving Nelson! - Part One Lottie was a first time mum, big and round like a ball she was, the kittens were due on 27th April, and everything was in place, carers to take care of mum, the day before until 29th, sorted! Not. Day , kittens were still moving, a trip to the vets showed on the scan that they were fine. I prebooked a cesarian for the morning of day 70, just in case. Lottie however was serene, and eating her head off. Night of day 69, eyes need splinting, tempers are fraying, at last 10pm, a sign of contractions, here we go! Lottie had a nice bed, private, soft, warm, huh! She dragged everything out to the middle of the room, rested her head on my lap, and proceeded to give birth, well that s all she did, she took no interest in what was going on down there, obviously that was my job, so I dutifully cleaned and prepared her babies, one by one, and put them in a little bed next to her, she sighed and asked me to peel her a chick. Five kittens, all good weights popped out quite neatly, and she rested a bit more. Then about 2.30 am she started to contract again, but this was hard, and painful, not like the others, a leg and a tail was visible, the worst presentation, though still not critical, just more difficult, at 2.50am the kitten was finally out, clearly furious at being kept hanging about he was kicking off the sac with vigour [indeed it was a he, a brown mackerel tabby and only 104g] he spat out lots of fluid, and set off in search of milk, I did tip and swing him a few times, as I felt he may have inhaled fluid, but his yells were piercing, and I guess he got it out! I settled them all down, Lottie graciously, after her initial surprise, allowed them to suckle, sleeeep at last. After a couple of hours sleep I re weighed them all and checked sex and colours, all had put on weight, the last only a little, but up is great. All day everything seemed OK and I had to sleep at mothers that night. Next day I dashed home, and first thing, checked the kittens, the brown tabby had lost 2g. Got to keep an eye on him. That evening when I checked to my horror the brown tabby was laying still and flat looking, I picked him up, he was floppy, but warm, I massaged him a bit until he started to wriggle, he had LOST another 4g, he would need help. I prepared everything, and decided to feed him 1ml of milk hourly with a little glucose until he rallied, it was when I went to feed him I saw something I had overlooked because he was so small, I had checked inside all their mouths for cleft palates, but had MISSED that he had a hare lip, something I had never seen before, but I decided to press on, and he took syringe feeding very well, so soon on to 2 hourly feeds, day and night. It soon became apparent that the lip was not the only problem this kitten had, he also had what seemed to be an eye missing [actually it was very deeply set] Oh hell, was I doing the right thing feeding him? [I was pretty tired by then, and thought patterns were not that lucid] But worse was to come, as the other eye opened it was completely opaque, he seemed blind, and there was only one answer to that in my mind, he would have to be put to sleep, one eye and a hare lip, OK, but blind too, I could not condemn him to life. With a heavy heart [remember he had been with me day and night for a week, feeding every 2 hours, we were attached] I took him to my vet, for the only kindness I could offer him. I could hardly see to drive, the tears, and sobs came thick and fast. Oh Nelson [that s what I had named him, tongue in cheek] I whispered, I m so sorry, I love you to bits, I took a deep breath and walked into the surgery. What happened next will be in Part Two, it was breathtaking! Kaeren Daunt Jones Produced and distributed by statusdesign.co.uk

10 Forthcoming UK Shows European Exhibitors can now enter UK shows as the Pet Travel Scheme is now in line with the rest of Europe and cats only need a Pet Passport, Microchip and Rabies vaccination 21 days before travel Garden Of England Show Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th July - Moulton, Northamptonshire 2 day 2 certificate International show, Moulton College, Northamptonshire. For schedule please visit: Contact: Mel Swebey, Judges for Garden of England Show Mrs Lone Lund (All Breed) Denmark Mr Martin Kabina (All Breed) Czech Republic Mr Yan Roca Folch (All Breed) France Laura Boshoven Cat III (Netherlands) Mrs Lone Lund Mr Martin Kabina Viking Cat Club - Saturday 15th September - The Greig Centre, Alcester, Warwickshire 1 day 1 certificate International show with a Maine Coon Special Best in Show. For schedule please visit: Contact: Margaret Scott, Aristocats Cat Club Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st October - Bourne, Lincolnshire 2 day 2 certificate International Cat Show, Bourne Leisure Centre, Bourne, Lincolnshire. For schedule please visit: Contact: Steph Gower, Mr Yan Roca Folch Laura Boshoven The first Joint Viking/Aristocat/ Garden of England Club Show Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th December - Swanley, Kent 2 day 2 certificate international Cat Show, Swanley, Kent. Judges to be announced Contact: Eddie Kitching, Annual Winners Show Sunday 27th January Swanley, Kent 2 day 2 certificate International Cat Show, Bourne Leisure Centre, Bourne, Lincolnshire. Contact: Steph Gower, Attending European Shows Many people from the UK are now thinking of attending shows across Europe and many people have already attended some since the change to the UK Pet Travel Scheme in January of this year and here is the link to the FIFe show calendar: Anyone wanting more information about attending shows in Europe or the regulations for entering the UK with your cats, please felisbritannicapr@gmail.com and we will try to help