POT PURRY
«DIE GROSSE KATZEN! WUNDERBAR!» This was the Maine Coon Cat’s reception when they were introduced to the German Cat Fancy at the XXIX Internationale Rassekatzen-Asstellung held on November 1-2, 1975 in Munich, West Germany.
Pat Robbins and I escorted Heidi Ho’s Henry Sayward and Molly Stark and Gemutlichkatzen’s Sebastian (Henry’s son by Bo Chat’s Emily of Gemutlichkatzen) to the big event. There were 807 entries including Persians (422 of them), Colorpoints (Himalayans), Birmans, Angoras, European Shorthairs, British Blues, Russian Blues, Abyssinians, Siamese, Burmese, Havana Browns, Devon and Cornish Rex, and our Maine Coon Cats.
The show format was remarkably similar to American events. We felt right at home standing in line for the vetting in (very thoroughly done), collecting our exhibitors’ badges and catalogs, hanging cage curtains, and settling down for a cup of coffee from the trusty thermos. The main difference is the manner of conducting the judging.
Instead of the owners transporting the cats to the ring, stewards do this. The judging takes place in a secluded area with no audience. Results are posted on a bulletin board. The judges are assigned specific breeds to judge; each cat is judged only once. On the final day each judge calls back his/her best cat of each breed and the entire judges’ panel selects Best Cat of Show, Second Best, etc. The catalog format is the same as ours. One other difference is that the cats are benched in numerical sequence according to the catalogue. This makes it much easier for the spectators, but the poor breeder who shows more than one breed or has cats in several classes needs roller skates!
We could have created an international incident over the catalog listing because our Maine Coons were placed under «other color Persians!». However, since they were plainly labeled Maine Coon in bold type, we didn’t. We have learned that there is a misconcep tion over here that the Maine Coon is the product of breeding Persian to shorthair. I have also seen a booklet which labels them «Halb-Angora» (half Angora). So, instead of getting uptight, we did our best to educate our audience.
And what an audience! The show was held in a football field size exhibition hall at Messegelande, site of the famous Oktoberfest. The gate opened promptly at 0900 hours and within ten minutes that hall was filled! According to the Munchen Bild (Munich paper), total attendance for the two days was 25,000!! The show day ended just as promptly at 6 P.M. Everything seemed to run like clockwork. Because of this prompt ness, I was able to commute between Munich and Stuttgart and give the troops a chance to relax at home between sessions. Besides, Henry in a hotel would be a CATastrophe!!
Our fun began in the vetting line. Sebastian and Molly made quite an impression (Sebastian at 5 months weighed in at 82 lbs.) but when I hauled all 15 lbs. and 3 feet of Henry out (he’s a bit skinny right now) our vet nearly lost her cool. She later came around just to be sure she had seen all of that cat in one piece!
When the spectators arrived, we really were put to work. People were 3 and 4 deep in front of our cages all day long. Bridging the language barrier proved to be easier than we’d expected. On Saturday, we had an interpreter friend with us, but Sunday we were on our own with my 10 German words, Pat’s 20 and her dictionary. A lot of the people speak some English but most beginning language courses don’t contain much «cat fancy» lingo. However, where there is a will, there is a way. If you can’t find the exact word, use something similar. I understood perfectly when one lady asked if Henry was a husband!
I had a very bad moment on Sunday when I discovered that Molly’s cage oor was open and she was gone! Then someone informed me that a steward had taken her to the judge’s ring. Two more stewards arrived for Henry and Sebastian. This puzzled us because Maine Coons are not eligible for championship show (Maine Coons are not yet recognized by Federation International Feline) and we were entered for exhibition only. The stewards came back with the tribe and one informed us that the judges could not judge them because they did not have a standard. We came prepared sent them 10 copies. After awhile the steward returned with three certificates and attached «critique sheets» and told us to take them to another area for our prizes. We did and were awarded an «Ehrenpreis» for each cat. Someone explained that this indicated that the judges felt the cats were good enough to have earned champion status had they been eligible.
On Sunday evening as we were packing to leave, we were visited by Mevr. R. van Haeringen Schov, a judge from Eindhoven, Nederland. She had been judging shorthairs and had not had the opportunity to meet our tribe. She knows and judges the Norwegian Forest Cat and was familiar with the Maine Coon Standard. After seeing our three, she said that the Forest Cat and the Maine Coon appear to be the same cat. Perhaps the historians among us should pursue this back further.
Henry and Sebastian are going to be «famous». Henry’s picture appeared in the «Bild» article and they were both photographed by professionals for Frau Theis who writes books on various breeds of cats. She plans to do one on the Maine Coon. We also supplied her with a handful of MCBFA literature to help her get the facts.
It is unfortunate that Sebastian, Molly, and Henry don’t understand Deutsch- they would have had a real ego trip. We could have sold 50 kittens on the spot at most any price we chose. We would have to put our girls on the fertility pill if we tried to fill all the requests for kittens. However, we both feel that we should go slowly and attempt to establish a sound Maine Coon breeding program here. I would urge all Maine Coon breeders to work through MCBFA and, if you do receive requests for kittens, send only your best. The cats we saw at the show were excellent examples of their breeds. We want to assure that Maine Coons in Deutschland meet the same high standards.
Connie