Original subtitles

(kim): A lot of people don't know about our hobby,

"the cat fancy".

(diane): This is a beauty pageant, this is a beauty show.

- (owner): This is freddy kreuger.

His name is spanky.

(devin): This is hot rosita.

Donatella. As in versace.

(kim): The class that I show in, it's very competitive.

(bob): She had a goal in mind

And she was going to try her hardest to get it.

(elaine): Best turkish angora.

(lorraine): My best alter.

(kim): Finally chance was able to be best.

And then, something happened.

- What?! (shattering)

And at that time, kim was a hot topic.

She's hurt. Oh yeah, oh yeah.

(kim): I was just devastated.

What am I going to do?

And so I decided that bobby would come out of retirement.

- How much does he weigh?

- Well he's put on a few pounds.

(kim): He still has it, even though he's chubby.

(dog barking)

We're next to the diving dogs.

(rhythmic music)

Every show is different,

Every ring is different, every judge is different.

- Bobby rises again.

- It's going to be an adventure.

- I'm kim langille and I show cats.

A lot of people don't know about our hobby, "the cat fancy."

But then, they made a documentary about us.

- This is a beauty pageant, a beauty show.

- It's just like a conveyor belt, almost.

People are coming and going.

(kim): The movie follows the race to be number one.

Would it be my cat?

- Bobby, he has his own groupies

Because he's such a lovable, goofy guy.

(kim): Or would it be his fluffy challenger, oh la la?

- You almost don't want to touch this cat,

It's so impeccably groomed.

Just magnificent.

- This is one of the finest cats I've ever judged.

(kim): Spoiler alert: I lost.

- This year's best: Oh la la.

Breeder owner: Shirley mccollow.

(applause, cheering)

- It was very, very hard for me. Because that was not the plan.

The plan was he was going to be the best that year.

When the movie came out,

Life was... Different.

(rhythmic music)

- Being in the film, it was almost an immediate reaction

Of people recognizing us.

- I would wake up in the morning and there would be

Forty-eight friend requests on facebook.

- Joining us now is kim langille. First of all, congratulations.

This is amazing. - Thank you.

- Kim langille is my guest.

She's got a wall of prizes from all the shows she's been at.

(bob): There was a lot of comments of people going,

"I never knew there was such a thing as a cat show,"

So they were just enthralled.

(♪)

- (shirley): (chuckles) I hadn't read that one.

"I finally saw catwalk

And seeing oh la la was life changing."

Ok. (laughs)

- If you walked into your grocery store

And everybody is just calling your name.

- It was a good ego boost.

(kim): Catwalk has been absolutely more

Than the 15 minutes of fame that andy warhol promised.

Cca was thrilled with it.

It really put a lot of visibility on them.

People were showing up at the cat shows

That had never shown their cats before.

- Fully developed, muscular, powerful body,

(applause) he's second best cat.

(kim): Getting all this attention was fun.

But losing sucks.

And I still had unfinished business.

So, the first year after bobby retired,

Chance was my main goal.

(rock music)

Chance is bobby's son.

Bobby and chance,

It's one of the most adorable things you can imagine.

They would play together, they would sleep together, it was amazing.

The class that I show in right now is alter class,

So it's the pedigreed adults

Who have been spayed or neutered.

It's very competitive.

Took him to all the shows, put him in all the rings.

He was best in each of the shows that went along.

(♪)

- Wonderful ears on him.

He's got nice elegance to him,

And he sure is a lot of fun when he's on the table.

(laughs)

(rock music)

- (judge): My best alter.

(applause)

(gentle song)

- (kim): I'm involved in the canadian cat association.

I am a regional director,

So I'm sort of the spokesperson for everybody in the maritimes.

I'm also the vice president.

That means that I'm on the executive of cca.

I help with all the shows in new brunswick and nova scotia.

- Does that make sense?

(kim): You're doing a lot of work.

No, you're doing that off-- no. Take it out.

(♪)

(purring)

- My name is markus mcintyre. - I'm dallas bennett.

- We named him roswell because we thought he looked like an alien.

- This is hot rosita. It's her very first show.

- His name is spanky, after the little rascals.

- This is osaka. His mom was a siamese,

And his dad just wanted to have too much fun.

(laughter)

- And this one we call rusty,

Because of his rusty colouration.

Well you probably recognize team bobby.

(chuckles)

Kim's a friend.

(kim): Even when I'm organizing a cat show,

I still bring my own cats to exhibit.

And this weekend, it's all about chance.

- Turkish angora. You have the hair, just on top of the head.

It's a long body, fluffy tail.

- (kim): With the national standings,

Every cat has an amount of points,

And every final they're in gets them points.

I believe it's 58 points right now

In order to move into first place.

There's a lot of competition here this weekend.

- (judge): Very nice head type, lovely profile, beautiful eyes,

It is my best alter.

(applause)

- (kim): Chance won best alter for the country,

Which is the award that bobby missed by one place.

So he did what his dad couldn't do.

Many times I've been this close to being best.

But it was second place, and it was second place,

And it was like, not quite good enough.

"if you're not number one, you're the first loser.

(echoing): You're the first loser...

You're the first loser...

Born to be second. (echoing): Born to be second...

All the cats that I entered and all the driving that I did.

And finally, I have a cat

That was able to be best alter.

- (katrina): My name is katrina postma.

I am the president for the canadian cat organization,

And we are here at the national awards banquet.

And we are in a beautiful ballroom in belleville, ontario.

- It's an awards banquet. It's an affair.

(indistinct conversations)

- It's a big deal. And even if you're not getting an award, you want to go.

- It's sort of like prom.

- (katrina): We do get to dress up.

It gives us an opportunity also to come together

And congratulate each other and really be proud of each other,

And proud of the organization we belong to.

- (man): It is a big thrill. A real sense of accomplishment.

- (woman): Getting best, that sensation,

That's going to stay with you.

- Double crown winner, kim langille.

(man): Kim langille. - Kim langille.

- Owned by kim langille.

- We swept the awards.

Chance won best alter for the country.

I had a championship national award.

A kitten national award. An alter national award.

The cattery of the year.

They needed a luggage trolley

To load all the trophies and awards.

- Our number one national alter

Lone chance of rain of finland owned by kim langille.

- (kim): I spent such a big chunk of my life,

And I finally did what I wanted to do,

But just when I should have been celebrating

That my cat is best,

I got to sit at home in sweatpants.

Because I wasn't allowed to go to the awards banquet.

(indistinct chatter)

- So how many people tried that cheesecake tonight?

(laughter)

- (kim): The treasurer has apparently been

Pulling my expense form

And going through with a fine-toothed comb.

They've decided that I claimed things

That were not eligible to be claimed,

That I did it fraudulently, and they actually said,

"if we turn this over to the police,

This could be an entire different thing."

I said fine, just tell me what I owe you.

They didn't feel that that was enough punishment,

And they proceeded to ban me indefinitely.

(dramatic music)

(rhythmic music)

(indistinct chatter)

(feedback) - ok, we're going to be in for a pretty exciting day.

I don't know who the show manager is,

But bug the hell out of them.

(kim): I can no longer be a cca member,

I can no longer enter cats in their shows,

I can no longer register cats with their association.

- (sabrina): Most people just love to talk about other folks.

And at that time, kim was the hot topic.

- (sheila): It's a shame, because I think she's good people.

I think a little bit of jealousy had to do with it,

But, she's hurt, very hurt by it. Oh yeah,

Oh yeah. Oh yeah!

- And the top for today is the copper-eyed white.

Again, very nice, short cobby body.

Roundness to the head.

- (shirley): I think that whole issue is a bit controversial.

But I wasn't involved in any of that at all.

So I can't really speak to what the thought process was there.

- (sabrina): Well, I'll tell you this much,

The show hall is a lot quieter without kim.

- (bob): She is a little more boisterous

Than the typical canadian, so to speak.

- (elaine): As a director, kim had a number of committees

Which she undertook

And did an extraordinary amount of work on.

- (sabrina): She did have a lot of ideas on the table.

- (bob): Kim had a good heart.

And she was hard working. But as I say,

Time moves on and situations change,

And she's no longer showing in cca.

(director): Can you tell us what the official reason is

Why kim is no longer involved?

- I really don't know. Like, any comments

That we would make would be speculation and gossip.

(crowd commotion)

- They've kicked out three people in 60 years.

The first person was because he physically assaulted

A board of directors member.

Do you think that maybe someone doesn't want competition?

Do you think that maybe having four national winners,

Having the number one alter?

Do you think maybe that's an issue?

They just didn't go further than, "we have to get kim."

The fact that enough people on the board of directors

Obviously hated me that much,

It's really eye opening.

- We don't ban people because they violated a show rule.

You would have had to do something

Against the organization itself.

Financial irregularities from a board member

Is inappropriate at best, and federally,

There's federal laws governing stuff like that,

And we decided that the director would be banned from cca.

- Yeah, you're gonna get dry, don't worry.

People are sure that I've embezzled

Hundreds of thousands of dollars,

Or we've skinned cats alive and hung them out on the line,

Or I've done these absolutely horrible, unethical things.

- (katrina): I was the one who had to write up the letters

To our membership body.

We have to follow canadian privacy laws.

So I can't state their names

And I can't give you specific amounts of money.

I can say that it was more than a dollar,

But regardless of whether it was a dollar or ten dollars,

Or a couple thousand,

What you did was wrong.

You didn't take any accountability for it.

You didn't explain yourself for it.

- (kim): I was just devastated.

What am I going to do?

(indistinct chatter on tv)

(laughing)

See, we don't hate each other,

We just wish ill on each other's cats.

(laughing) do I ever think about oh la la?

I expect that she misses the shows more than I do.

- (shirley): This was a picture

Done by one of my favourite photographers for cats.

It's pretty cool.

It captures her attitude a little actually.

La, can we do your face?

I am shirley and I am oh la la's

Personal manager, I suppose.

And oh la la was the star of the documentary catwalk.

- Just magnificent. - Here she is in all her glory,

She's best solid persian. Thank you.

- She always has known she's a star from the beginning

And if you put her on a table or a couch,

She does your little primping like she's the star.

(purring)

To me there's nothing more thrilling

Than carrying a beautiful cat out on your arm

To the show ring. To me that's thrilling.

I mean it's fun showing her, but sometimes, as they say,

The journey is almost better than the goal,

And that's actually very true in this hobby, very much so.

You have to have a goal but the journey is the best part.

- Today it's my best all breed alter.

(applause)

- Are we done?

She says we're done.

(chuckles)

(light music)

- I haven't been to a show since that all went down.

I didn't file an appeal, 'cause I just want them to shut up.

I don't want to deal with them any more.

I want to pretend that they never existed.

(water bubbling)

(air hissing)

(♪)

(cat purring)

(indistinct chatter on pa)

- This is camelot sir spencer.

He's a non-pointed himalayan.

- This is reaper. You can't catch it...

No, you can't.

(lively music)

- I can't really speak to what kim is doing.

I only just see her on facebook.

- Devon rex, very short muzzle, very nice coat, so curly.

- I've been in the cat fancy for over 45 years.

I've met hundreds of people that have come.

So it is as the old saying goes, "it is what it is".

- This is my first short haired champion today.

(applause)

- (katrina): It was frustrating. This director worked very hard.

And I also knew that this person could be very temperamental,

And was concerned about what the backlash might be.

- (kim): I want them to fail,

But I don't want my actions to be the reason that they fail.

I want them to fail because they've done this to themselves.

- (katrina): Some of the awards were perpetual trophies

That belong to cca, so usually they get them for one year

And then they return them back to cca.

Between you and I in the gatepost, I am frustrated

That the awards were not returned,

But you pick and choose your battles.

- The award behind you is cca's best alter.

The trophy is staying here forever.

(director): Has there been any request for the trophy?

- Let them make a new trophy.

- (elaine): You know, some people come and go out of organizations,

And with cca, that's no different.

- (bob): There's always new fresh faces and new friends to meet.

Like our registrations are as high as they've ever been.

- And these days it's much more optimistic.

- Thank you all so much.

(light applause)

In fact, I've got a wonderful little kitten that would be fun to show.

Merlot is a boy.

He's a solid red persian.

I kind of fell in love with him.

I think because I did take a picture of him,

I looked at it and thought he just looks like la did when she was younger.

He has some qualities actually I think are better than la.

I don't like to put "better than la' in the same sentence,

But he does have, I think, a little bit better head type in actual fact.

So then I thought maybe, should I try running him?

Which, running simply means going to all the shows.

(rhythmic music)

- (bob): Really good feel to him.

Really handsome guy.

I really like the feel of him,

He's just got wonderful balance to him, great eye colour.

Today he is my best all breed cat.

(applause)

I just love this cat.

- (shirley): I had judges there tell me,

"we're going to see more of him, right?"

"yeah, I think he's better than your girl one."

(laughs)

I took him to a show in the first weekend of may,

He was eight months old. He granded in seven rings,

Which is like, just blew me away.

Really exceeded my expectations.

- (kim): Bobby is now retired.

He likes sleeping on the couch.

He likes eating whatever he wants to eat.

I started breeding since catwalk happened.

And when there's kittens around then there's kitten food around,

And bobby did a little bit better than most of the adults.

(chuckles) so he's packed on some weight.

He seems a little sad.

I do think that he misses the shows.

And you know, I have been snubbed by cca,

And told I was a bad person,

And that I don't deserve to go to their shows anymore.

But bobby is very well-known in the united states.

So, I'm going to start showing in cfa.

- Cfa is cat fanciers association.

- Cat fanciers association.

- (shirley): It's really, in most people's opinion,

It's the leading association.

- They're all over the united states actually.

- (shirley): They're much more extensive than a small association like cca.

- (kim): So I had said to one of the people who spearhead

The sturbridge, massachusetts show,

Do you want bobby to come to your show?

Do you want to take him and he can be your little celebrity

And bring some people in that might want to meet catwalk bobby?

They all said yes.

The only thing that I was worried about

Is that I'm not allowed to go to the united states.

In 2010, I was a sales rep,

And I drove all around new brunswick, nova scotia,

Prince edward island

And new brunswick is bordering with maine.

When I was on that border,

I would pop over, never a question.

I always had work stuff in my car.

Swag to hand out to the sales reps in the stores.

It's one day, I'm going over.

"ok, well, we should probably take a look."

Yeah, sure. Ok, give them the keys.

They go out, start looking through things.

And then, eager beaver customs guard

Holding a coffee mug:

"you didn't tell us you had this."

I'm like, "yeah, it's my work stuff.

I give those out to people."

"these are all made in china. You were smuggling them in.

You were going to sell them on the black market."

(shattering)

So that fun day resulted in

Having my fingerprints taken, a mugshot taken.

It resulted in me being banned

From going into the united states.

(dramatic music)

So that's why I'm not going to the sturbridge show.

But somebody else can take bobby.

(rhythmic music)

- (iris): I'm your other mother.

- (kim): Iris zinck is bobby's breeder.

And I owe everything turkish angora to her.

- (iris): Bobby was born in my living room.

As he grew up, I saw that he had real show potential.

This is his first trip without kim, anywhere.

Kiss for your other mother?

He says, "nah, you're not kim."

- (kim): They advertised him as "catwalk bobby".

They had a handler.

He was treated like the royalty he thinks he is.

- How much does he weigh?

- Well he's put on a few pounds.

- We all gain weight bobby, as we get older.

- (director): Who's your favourite cat in the movie?

- Um, oh la la.

(laughs)

- You're supposed to say bobby.

- I'm really excited that today I get a chance

To show my most famous child.

I don't know how he's going to do because he doesn't know me

And he hasn't been shown in a while.

So it's going to be an adventure.

- (kim): I wanted to hear how things went.

But we're in a different time zone,

So I'm expecting updates earlier rather than later.

And things weren't running quickly.

But, I wasn't nervous.

(♪)

- (judge): Ladies and gentlemen, the siberian,

It's one of three breeds in cfa that we refer to

As the national breed of the area.

It is the only breed in cfa with a triple coat,

Which would make sense because if you were from siberia,

You'd want a triple coat too.

(laughter)

One of my mentors once told me,

"you do not get a white cat white,

You keep a white cat white.

It is a study of perfection."

Smooth, smooth head.

This is my very, very best cat in show.

(applause)

- (director): And what is her name?

- Donatella. As in... As in versace.

- Donatella versace.

That's a fancy name for a fancy cat.

- I handled that cat. It's outstanding.

- It's outstanding.

- (owner): I think she's number four right now in the nation.

- Why do I get the feeling you've done this before?

- (kim): So bobby isn't exactly normal.

He's a special boy.

Like from the first time I took him to a show,

He put on a show.

- (judge): We've got to do a little work.

I've got to judge you, I'm sorry.

(laughing)

(exclaiming)

- And my grand premiere - five-year-old male.

Boy loves to show,

A part of being a show cat is showing off the qualities

Of your breed and being easy to handle.

Beautiful, showy boy.

But today, he's my best of breed.

(applause)

- (woman): Oh, my god, that's bobby from catwalk!

(gasping excitedly)

- (iris): Oh, I think he has shown that he is far from done.

One of the judges said he was a bit of a chunky monkey,

And had he been slimmer,

He would have been about four places higher in the final.

Because he's a beautiful cat,

And he was beautifully presented.

But he needs to go to the gym.

- (kim): He still has it, even though he's chubby,

He's still got it.

And that's probably where it all clicked.

And so I decided that bobby would come out of retirement.

And so I started looking around and seeing like,

Well, what other associations are there.

And I saw that there were a couple of tica shows

Coming down the pipe.

Tica is the international cat association.

Like, it's everywhere in the world.

Getting an international win like that is super difficult.

So we have until the end of April

To get him to a few more shows

And get him some more points.

Iris, she feels that if we get the weight off of him

That he could actually be a contender.

So, we're going to get him toned up, and see how it goes.

(rhythmic music)

So this weekend, after having months off of cat shows,

I'm packing up the car, I'm putting cats in carriers

And I'm heading off to quebec city

To go to my first ever tica show.

(lively music)

- This is mouslin. She's a white persian with blue eyes.

Today we're at the cat show in quebec.

- My name is asa broing. I'm from sweden.

We have cats and exhibitors from all over the world.

South korea, japan, china,

Sweden, of course, I'm here.

- This is wonderland kitty piper,

But I call him papi.

- This is I'm gonna be a star, which is a white oriental.

- (owner): This is freddie kreuger.

(♪)

(dogs barking)

- It's insane, we're next to the diving dogs.

(indistinct chatter)

(crowd cheering)

Having that directly next to the cats.

It's a fantastic idea!

No.

(applause)

(crowd cheering)

A new association, a new way of doing things.

I had never even walked into a tica show,

Let alone exhibited at a tica show.

So every association has their own rules.

How a cat gathers points,

How a cat becomes a grand champion,

What the different ribbons mean.

- Leasing agent. - Oh, ok.

Cool.

I just sort of wandered around, going la dee da dee da.

I have no clue. Oh, my cat's number is up,

I probably should take my cat.

- What a beautiful day in quebec city.

Yay!

- All judges do look for the same things.

They're looking for the breed standard,

They're comparing the cat against what perfection is.

- Beautiful turkish angora, I love the nice foreign body,

Beautiful plume of the tail.

Very nice high ears, straight profile,

Very nicely put together cat.

He is my second best long-haired alter.

Best of breed persian, very nice short, short cobby body.

Very straight profile with a nice break, nice big eyes.

Beautiful coat. He is my best alter.

(applause)

- Oh, my god, judges and persians.

Judges and associations put persians on this pedestal

That they're sort of like, if you can groom and show that cat,

Then you could groom and show any cat.

And I've said it so many times,

I don't appreciate that breed at all.

- So it looks like this little persian has been just drinking milk.

It's got that little mustache.

(laughing)

- It's got beautiful copper eyes. Just look at that.

- It's something you will put your makeup on.

- Yeah, it's like a floating cloud, yeah.

- Poof, poof, poof!

- He's my best alter.

(applause)

- (kim): It was a little bit of a slow start.

The judges weren't finaling bobby

As well as he usually could final.

- (judge): My sixth best.

- (kim): Sixth best.

He's fat.

We're just here, we don't know what we're doing.

(chuckles)

Our cat's numbers go up, we take our cat, that's what we do.

It's like being a newbie again.

(♪)

Bobby is fat,

And if there were another ten cats,

He might not even make the finals.

- (judge): It's my turkish angora.

Lovely long body, a lovely long tail on her.

She is super long.

She's as long as I am tall.

Great straight profile, beautiful ear placement.

Today she's my second.

- Do you think he's a girl?

(chuckling) - I'm sorry.

I do that, you know what, I do that.

(laughing)

- He's so pretty.

By the afternoon he was back to his normal pace,

Getting finals and doing really well.

- This is a turkish angora.

Really, really nice alter, fabulous color.

I like the head type on this young man.

Very, very outgoing.

Ok, now he's showing off.

- That cat looks familiar, but I can't place the name.

Is this bobby?

I knew it.

(laughing)

- Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to present my best alter.

(clapping)

- Bobby rises again.

- (kim): Bobby apparently got enough finals and points

That he is a grand champion

Or whatever they call it in this association.

- (director): Did you hear what he said about bobby?

- What did he say? - He said bobby rises again.

- Oh really?

(laughs)

(rhythmic music)

His initial success made me make plans

To attend two more tica shows,

And he sort of killed it at those shows.

(♪)

I was very happy to be showing in other associations.

I was welcomed.

People knew me from my reputation or from catwalk,

And they also knew bobby.

People were interested.

- Good head type. He's a...

- (kim): And with the small number of shows

That he actually participated in, in tica...

- This is my best turkish angora.

- It was looking like he was going to be

The second best turkish angora alter in the world.

And then something happened.

And it just took me by complete surprise.

- (announcer): The city of wuhan locked down

Due to a rise in coronavirus numbers.

- Europe, very much the centre of the pandemic now.

- Covid 19 is a real threat to everyone on the planet.

- Don't let it dominate you.

- (reporter): It is now official,

Canada has its first case of covid 19.

- It's very simple. Stay home.

- (kim): Well, covid just canceled everything.

Borders closed, no one is allowed to go anywhere.

I certainly had a feeling about two weeks into it

That I don't think any of this is going to happen.

I think what we have right now, that's it.

In the fourth week is when the shows were officially canceled.

And I think he actually ended up in fourth place.

But in a year that was cut short,

It is what it is.

And anybody who won an award in 2020,

They have to know that that award is going to have

That little asterisk next to it.

"so many shows were canceled that this isn't even real."

- (shirley): Well, that was dramatic, sudden and depressing.

There were, I think, three or four shows,

Including one of our bigger shows in ancaster.

- (elaine): And it was the week before the show,

So we've bought all the advertising,

We're all prepared, and then the shock of the virus

Started hitting and then finally we realized,

Ok, we have to cancel this show.

So that was a really expensive first introduction to covid.

- (shirley): I mean, it was sad because all of a sudden, you know,

These cats you have been showing all year are done.

I had plans with merlot but then those plans disappeared.

- (katrina): People are frustrated.

Some breeders have stopped breeding.

Covid has brought that to a rip-roaring, screeching halt.

- It's a little bit scary that we're seeing that

The hobby is disappearing a little bit.

There's less people involved.

- (katrina): Cca will not die. It will never go away.

There will be people always in the background,

Always pushing it forward to be better than they were before.

And you know, we still have those two-hour board meetings

Every month by zoom.

- It's nice to see everybody.

Everyone looks so serious today!

Alexandre, I see you there, hello.

- Hi. - Marjorie, hello.

- Yeah, I only joined early so that I could say to everybody

Because I miss everybody. - As of today,

Basically almost everything in ontario shut down.

But we can always maintain consistency with cca

Through our memberships and as well as online cat shows.

Christine...

You're muted.

So we have our committee reports and the first report...

I hope everyone has had an opportunity

To read our reports...

Ok, and we have michelle deveau,

Our director at large from the maritimes.

- So... There hasn't been much going on with me

Since we don't have too many shows, or any shows.

So here's hoping... And that's about it!

- Does anyone have any questions for michelle?

- I have a question.

I have to leave the meeting.

Bye. - Our goal hopefully

Would be that we could have a show in kingston next year.

So...

- She's frozen.

- ...That are happening. And so please be patient.

I never look at anything in a negative way,

Most of the time, I do think that--

- I move that the meeting be adjourned.

- Second. - Yeah. I concur.

- And thank you everyone, and thank you to the board.

I'm actually starting to see some smiles.

- It's time to leave.

- Have a wonderful afternoon, be safe.

- To everyone in ontario, happy lockdown.

- Goodbye everybody. - Happy lockdown everybody!

- (kim): We'll talk later on. (indistinct)

(chuckling) ok, sheila, have a good night.

- Alright, kiss bobby for me. - Bye bye.

I will!

Covid has been quiet.

Got a little garden going on my back deck.

I did watch a lot of netflix.

Not very much else.

(laughs)

I miss seeing my friends.

And I missed just having the freedom to leave my home

When I want to leave my home.

But that's covid.

I'm terribly lucky to have my cats.

The little pieces of furry love that they are.

I can't imagine ever not having a pet in my life,

But especially during the pandemic.

Because even though they're not human,

They're still company.

And it also gives you a reason

That you have to get up in the morning

Because you have to take care of them.

They kept me laughing on dark days,

They're really good at stuff like that.

Bobby is retired.

I think his time in the show ring is finished.

And he's retired in glory.

I don't really feel like I had unfinished business.

Judges who had never seen him before

And had no idea that this is "catwalk bobby",

They still appreciated him

And saw in him the good that he has.

I always knew that bobby was special from the beginning.

Before we went to a cat show,

He performed exceptionally well.

And he set a standard that very, very few cats

Will be able to meet.

(lively music)

I really feel like I'm not supposed to be a canadian.

I'm supposed to be a mexican.

This is one of the trips that I took to mexico,

It was like a group of 10 people,

And we did a cooking class at hualtuco um... Cooking.

It's pineapple, garlic, a little bit of water, and achiote.

And then you marinate it for a day.

I'm the person who gets stopped at customs on the way back into canada

Because I have a bag full of groceries.

As time goes on, you have your new normal

And you do your own thing,

And I get into a groove with having kittens

And doing things with my friends.

You have to overdo it.

- You have to overflow it. - Overflow it.

- (friend): I think I need a bigger plate.

- (kim): By this point in the world,

I don't really care about cca.

It's part of my history, just like working at mcdonald's

Was a part of my history when I was in high school.

It's not part of my future. And I have moved on.

Three years ago, my motivation was to get up

And go to work to make money

So that I could go to a cat show.

That's not even part of the equation anymore.

Life's different now.

(gentle music)

- (katrina): I'm anxiously awaiting going back to showing.

Cat people are there forever.

It is something that is like really deep down in their gut.

They will go to the ends of the earth to do a cat show,

Because it's not just about them showing their cat,

It's about that I'm meeting someone who has, like,

Some of the same quirks that I do.

You're kindred spirits.

Do I think that it'll die?

Never.

- (bob): Most of these people are like family.

It's like a big family.

- (kim): You can work towards something and, you know,

The universe just goes "nope.

But here, do this.'

Whatever happens, happens.

There's nothing I can do to change

What fate is going to pull out.

The universe just has a plan for you.

(gentle music)

(rhythmic music)

Subtitling: Difuze