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[photographer] Okay, oh yeah, oh yeah.

-[shutter clicking] -Come on, okay work it, work it, oh yeah.

All right, just a little bit to the left, yeah, just a, just tilt your head.

Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX

Oh, yeah. Oh, that's perfect. Oh, great.

[upbeat synthesizer music]

[woman] He has his own great piece, he's such a lovable goofy guy.

Muscled but not overweight.

Fine boning, well presented.

It was always my best cat.

All of a sudden, a cat that was incredible shows up.

[man] The grooming was impeccable.

There wasn't even a hair that was out of place.

- She never had a bad hair day. - [man] it was just right.

The kind of cat that gives you goosebumps.

I certainly enjoyed handling her, I did the whole,

"I hope to see you again."

[man] No one is going to beat you

unless you have a bad hair day and as Elaine said,

she never had a bad hair day.

[Elaine] Then the race was on.

[bouncy pop music]

They're very low energy.

Seamus is like a grandmother with soap operas.

He has to watch his stories and he really likes to watch Westminster Agility as well.

[laughing]

My name is Kim Langille and I show cats.

12 years ago,

I picked up a little red Abyssinian

from his breeder.

I made up my mind, that, well,

every cat with a family tree that we know of

should have the chance to become a champion.

So, I got Clancy to become a champion

and then the next cat I got, I got him to become a champion,

then I dragged them around the country showing them off.

Usually, the way that it works,

every cat that enters a cat show,

when they come in the door, they're given a rosette.

I'll just point this one out to you.

It has Seamus' name on it.

It has a long a strip of ribbon

where we can put our plaques.

Every time a cat is in a final, they're given a plaque.

That's basically it.

Bobby has 30 himself.

Probably about 20 for Shamus,

and probably another 20 for Chance,

because he's been going to the shows right along

since he was a kitten.

[cats hissing]

[Kim] Let's not do that, okay?

People can grasp the concept of a dog show,

they cannot even wrap their heads around a cat show.

Well, what's the difference?

Like, what, what, huh?

Do they have to walk on a leash, like, they just can't get it.

[upbeat music]

First thing in the morning, people will arrive,

they'll set up their benching area.

I'm Bob Gleason, an all-breed judge

in the Canadian Cat Association,

and I'm a Burmese breeder.

Ring two, ring two, now, lookin' for 114,117, 120.

Once it gets nine o'clock, the cats are called to the ring,

and this is where the cats are brought to be judged.

[man on P.A.] 121,123, 124,125,

126,128, 132 into ring two.

[Bob] It's just like a conveyor belt almost,

the cats are coming and going.

[bright music]

As a judge, you're judging, so more cats are coming up all the time.

Ultimately, it's a beauty show, beauty and confirmation.

I'm Elaine Gleason,

I also am an all-breed cat judge.

You come to the show, groom to the specifics of your breed.

If you're a really long-haired breed,

your owner has to know how to groom a long-haired breed.

If you come up to the evaluation table,

and you haven't had all the knots combed out,

well, you lose a whole bunch of points for that.

[Bob] So, as a judge, basically the first thing you do

when you look at any cat is just go,

"Do you look like your breed?"

We have 30, 40 breeds. The standards are divided,

a third for a head type, a third for body,

and another third for color condition, things like that.

[Elaine] You have to be able to see the points necessary on a pedigreed cat

so that you can make an overall judgment,

and getting the cat to perform for you is, to me, the best way,

because then you see the grace which makes a cat a cat.

[Bob] When they get to the end of the class,

the judge will sit down, figure out its top 10 in that division.

We have a ribbon for almost everything,

but the one everybody wants in CCA is black ribbon,

which is best of breed.

All judges do look for the same things.

They're looking for the breed standard,

they're comparing the cat against what perfection is.

[fast synthesizer dance music]

[lion roar]

Bobby's a good specimen of the breed Turkish Angora.

He has a nice head.

He is very well-muscled,

he's not flabby.

He's large.

He really does show off

the type that he should be.

He's just a friendly, happy-go-lucky guy

who puts on a show.

And if you've got a cat that sits there

and goes, "I don't wanna be here," and then you've got Bobby going,

"Ahh! This is the best place I've ever been in my life!"

If you've got this and this and everything else is equal,

what are you gonna do?

The class that I show in right now is Altered class.

So, it's the pedigreed adults who have been spayed or neutered.

That is the most competitive class in the country.

So, the beginning of this show year,

Bobby did have a lot of moments.

My Best, Turkish Angora.

He was Best, Best, Best

in each of the shows that went along.

[electronic springs]

He was batting a, you know, 99, not 100, but 99.

It didn't really seem fathomable

that anyone could take away his first place.

- [excited screaming] - That's where Oh La La

and Shirley showed up for the first time.

[whip snaps]

[Kim] Everyone was like, "Who's this?

Who's this Shirley chick and who's this red Persian?"

[suspenseful western music]

La was actually retired. Yeah, it was my intention to retire her,

but she wasn't happy and neither was I.

I don't know, we just weren't ready to stay home.

So, when the CNE show came up, I was off that weekend.

I thought, "Well, I'll just take her out."

Gorgeous, gorgeous Persian.

It's like the standard on four paws.

- Best Cat. - [audience applauds]

It was gonna be a one-time thing,

except we were too damn nice to her.

I don't know if the bug nips you and then you think,

"Could I go to the next show?"

And I realize that, "Oh, they like her."

[Shirley] I actually sat down and did the math, it was pretty iffy.

Kim had 2000 points when we went to the CNE, so that's a lot of points,

which means I had to gain 2000 points on her.

And she came back another show,

and she came back another show, and she came back another show.

We decided we'd just give it a shot.

[hard-driving rock music]

Today is my Best All Breed Altered.

[woman] She's my Best Cat.

Thank you. [laughs]

[woman] She's just gorgeous.

Here she is in all her glory,

she's Best Solid Persian.

- She's my Best Cat. - [people cheer and clap]

[robotic clicks and springs]

[soft whimsical music]

[meows]

[cat purrs]

[Shirley] Oh, she just eats up here with everybody else.

She does push anybody away if she wants to eat.

Mostly they defer to her, I've noticed that.

There's obviously gonna be a hierarchy with them,

just like they know.

These are entirely CFA trophies.

This is Apollo, he was in Premiership a couple years ago.

I probably should've ran him a little bit more,

he was 19th in Premiership.

Crazy, I got a regional win,

ran the following year in CCA and he was Best Cat.

Whereas La's, that was 2012 and 2013,

she was 7th Best regionally.

We just missed a national win that year. [laughs]

Most of the excitement is the showing part

and the show to show thing, the traveling, the event,

the actual trophies, yeah, you know.

Looking after this breed

is constant care and maintenance.

They get a bath every single week.

[playful band music]

[cat purrs]

[cat purrs]

[machine whirs]

[symphonic line growing in intensity]

[electronic springs uncoiling]

[cat meow]

There would have to be some sort of incident

in order for Bobby to start beating Oh La La on a regular basis.

Either Shirley's gonna have to get sick,

or break her leg and not be able to travel,

or Oh La La is gonna have to blow her coat

and have bald patches.

What else could go wrong?

I mean, Bobby could fall off the kitchen cupboards

and break his leg.

Anything can happen,

these are animals we're working with.

[a cappella anthem]

Well, the first year we did it, it was just sorta like,

"Oh, well, why don't we have a cat show in Moncton?"

I got sucked into show manager the first year,

and then I ended up co-managing each show that we've had.

Allie and I have been the managers since then.

Those cages right there.

[Kim] Got it? Great.

We're a pretty well-oiled machine now.

Ah, it's sticking.

You do that and then I'll go get more.

- [Allie] Okay. - [Kim] Oh, we've got a system now.

[ominous music]

So, the Lions Centre, they've had a change in management.

They didn't even know we were booked.

All that was scribbled

in the calendar was "cats".

Well, we seem to have a little bit of a problem.

And I said, "Well, we were booked for Friday from noon

until Sunday at, like, 7 o'clock.

We're gonna set up."

"Yeah, well there's wrestling."

[rock music]

[Kim] They're setting up at 11:00 a.m.

They are supposed to be out of the building at 11:00 p.m.

So, usually, when we would be done at 7 o'clock at night on Friday,

we will not even have begun. [laughs]

[whimsical music]

I believe we had four different exhibitors

that were traveling from Toronto to Moncton,

and for some reason the flights were just getting canceled left, right, and center.

Shirley got bumped, Jamie got bumped,

every cat got bumped.

I did start wondering,

"Oh, this could be very interesting.

This could be another fly in the ointment.

I wonder what's gonna happen here?"

Well, we flew to Hamilton on that discount NewLeaf, so...

- We were fine. - We were fine.

We were probably the only plane taking off from Hamilton...

[laughs] ...other than cargo planes.

No, the flight was great, it's always fun to do these shows,

because there are cats we don't see through the season.

It's different cats, and different people.

I can use all my old jokes.

[both laugh]

[crowd roars]

[loud rock music]

[crowd roars and cheers]

[brisk wind]

It's been a bad day.

[cat meows]

I thought maybe Kim was trying to keep me from coming.

- [interviewer] Why? - Yeah. [laughs]

As long as we go to all the shows, we'll be okay.

If we even miss one, it will be too many points to catch up

in that short a time period.

[interviewer] It's good for us that she showed up, I suppose.

No, it's not.

[laughs]

How can it possibly be good for anyone but Shirley?!

["William Tell Overture Finale" in a cappella]

I got it.

[Kim] I keep putting myself in these positions

where nothing's organized

and I have to do a lot in order to get anything done.

So, I guess I'm doing it to myself, yes.

[music continues]

[wood clatters]

[Kim] The end would be Gleasons, Tames.

- Okay, so that end. - Whoops.

Yeah, sorry.

- Pumpkin gingerbread loaf? - Oh.

Pumpkin gingerbread loaf? Pumpkin gingerbread loaf?

- Oh, I'd love to. - Pumpkin gingerbread loaf?

- Oh. - Pumpkin gingerbread loaf?

I'm good, thank you.

- Did I give you a piece? - I don't want a piece.

Pumpkin gingerbread loaf?

There are not going to be any left.

Do you like pumpkin?

Pumpkin gingerbread.

Nah, I'm good.

You're good?

[song ends]

This is a household pet.

She's a rescue kitty, her name's Bailey.

She belonged to a friend who died.

You can see how calm, she won't stop purring.

- [purrs] - Yep. [laughs]

[polka music]

- [laughter] - We don't hate each other.

We just wish ill on each other's cats.

[laughter]

And I said to them when I got here yesterday,

"Was Kim trying to manipulate the air flight?"

- Hmm. - [laughter]

No, but I had nothing to do with that.

That's what you've been planning.

So, yes, Oh La La will be here.

I believe in Bobby

and I know the judges like Bobby,

and it just depends on who shows up at a show what happens.

So, Oh La La might be first in every ring here in Moncton,

she might not. You don't know.

Absolutely a delightful cat.

Wonderfully playful, very energetic as you can see.

Not as much maintenance as the Persian. Just as much fun.

Beautiful example of a Turkish Angora.

I doubt I can say anything about this Red Persian

that has not been said already before.

This requires daily grooming.

Every single day, you comb this cat every day,

you clean it's eyes and its face every day,

and this is what you end up with.

My Best Cat in Show.

Thank you so very, very much.

Thank you for allowing me to handle your babies.

It was my pleasure to be here.

[Elaine] A cat show, it's a beauty show.

Differences from dog show to cat show

is usually with dog shows you'll come under just one judge

and you do your bit, and you go home.

Whereas with cat shows, you generally get

four to five different opinions,

so that makes it interesting.

[bouncy bossa nova music]

[man] Quite often all you have to do is pick up a Ragdoll

and you know whether it's a good one or not.

Beautiful profile

and very nice hair set.

She is my Best Altered today,

All Ragdolls have blue eyes

because it works with the pointed colored gene.

Very good example of the breed.

He sort of has a presence about him.

[man on P.A.] Numbers 28, 29, 30 and 69 to ring number three.

["Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies" from The Nutcracker]

My name is Katie Graham, I'm from Nova Scotia.

I've been doing this for six years.

[woman] Katie has autism.

We've always encouraged her to try new activities,

and when she wanted to start doing cat shows,

we decided, okay, we'll give it a shot.

This is very hard environment for an autistic person,

because of the noise, the background.

It's a struggle for her to come into this building,

to talk to different people.

This is Mocha.

I got him from my French teacher.

I couldn't say no.

Like, I just fell in love with him.

[woman] She's improved immensely.

She talks to people, she makes eye contact,

which is very hard for people with autism.

Her cat has placed nationally, which is huge for a cat from the Maritimes.

She's excited. Like, she's got a real plaque, she can show it off.

You know, she's done really well. We're very proud of her.

[electronic rattle with bouncy music]

This is Colin, he's a Norwegian Forest cat,

and he's now in the Altered class

and back out in the show circuit. He loves it.

When you look at him, first of all you notice his size, but then it's his coat.

You just look at him and go "Wow, that's a..."

- [woman] That's a cat. -...cat, yeah.

Yet again, it's numbers 44, 45, 51 and 60

to ring three, please.

Very regal example of the Norwegian Forest cat.

Exquisite profile on this cat, lovely grooming.

Beautiful condition and beautifully groomed.

Nice rub, he thinks he's king. He is.

This is my Top Cat for today.

[audience applauds]

Thank you all very much. Thank you.

Colin, he's really trying to upset things, our big boy.

He got number one on the last ring.

We're kind of upsetting things today

and how they're coming out in the standings.

It wasn't an upset. [laughs]

I think the only little upset

is that Kim and I look at each other and go...

[laughs]

Really what matters is the difference between

where La and Bobby place,

because if Bobby goes over La,

that's points that she doesn't have and vice versa.

[woman] Second Best to the Best is Boston Rob on inland,

owned by Kim Langille, and he is a Turkish Angora.

And the Best of the Best Altered is Oh La La,

and she's become quite famous.

[Shirley] Lots of bling.

- Congratulations, everybody. - Thank you.

[audience applauds]

[Kim] I am glad that it's over.

It was a successful show,

everybody seemed pleased.

And tomorrow, the laundry starts,

and then Thursday, I repack the car

and start driving back to Toronto for yet another cat show.

Whew, heh-heh.

[interviewer] Is it worth it?

[sigh]

[electronic ticking]

Cat shows are sort of like organizing scuba divers.

No one's ever on time,

the boat never leaves the dock when it's supposed to,

someone has to poop in the judging cage,

all sorts of things happen.

[gentle music]

[seagulls cry]

[Kim] One of the dive shops was having a deal,

$200, learn how to dive,

buy this much gear and we're going to teach you how to dive.

Off I went, and I never really looked back.

How do you do there, divemaster Kim?

- Good. - All right. It's all good.

What I like about it, I love the fish.

The fish just...

They're amazing.

It's changed my experience of life.

I've met people that I never would have met before.

And it's given me patience in dealing with the cats.

[woman] Cheese.

There you go.

A few years into diving, I went tropical.

Cozumel, Mexico is my second home now.

I will retire there,

so I have my little dive community in Mexico,

and I have my dive community in the Maritimes,

and my friends.

My friends are more than my family.

My friends are my family.

They push me along,

I drag them along places.

We look after each other.

[rapid violins]

[Kim] People remember who number one was.

People don't remember who number two, three, four, five,

six, seven, eight, nine, blah, blah, blah were.

If you're not number one, you're the first loser.

But if you're Best, people see your cat

as being an example of what a cat should be.

[bouncy music]

This is Zoomer, He's a Japanese Bobtail.

My name is Sharon Soules, I have Ladiluck Exotics,

and this is Ladiluck's Tulip.

My name is Sabrina,

I'm a breeder of Maine Coons,

and this is Magic Star here with us today.

My name's Connor and this is my cat, Jaeger.

[cat meows]

My name is Rachel Anchor, I'm from the Detroit area.

I'm licensed as a judge in another association,

and I'm here today as a guest judge.

It's a treat for me,

it's a pure judging experience.

I've never seen any of these cats before,

so there's no pre-conceived notions

or what did this cat look like last weekend,

and so every cat is a surprise.

And this is what you do to win,

you just look cute.

[audience laughs]

[Sabrina] When I put my heart into something,

I want to be the best at it for my own self.

Sometimes you just need attention,

extra attention to feel better about yourself,

so you bring out the best of the best,

when you have certain people

that you want to compete against just so that when they go home,

they still know you're the best.

I think whenever you come to the cat shows

and you're showing a certain breed,

all of your competition is your enemies by default.

We're all human, we all have arch enemies somewhere in our lives.

[man on P.A.] On recall, I'm calling one, four, 10,

11, 12, 13, 14 long-haired to ring one.

Let's keep you busy.

[Kim] It's always interesting to see what happens at a show.

Every show is different, every ring is different,

every judge is different.

[Bob] Turkish Angora.

Great length and style to him.

Another Maine Coon.

He's done this before, I think.

It's a Red Persian.

You almost don't want to touch this cat,

it's so impeccably groomed.

Just magnificent, like you guys could have picked this,

This is the Best Altered in Show.

[Shirley] So far, so good,

I thought she probably could have been combed

a little bit better up there.

- [interviewer] Really? - [cat hisses]

[indistinct chatter]

[Bob] Maybe we'll have the owner...

[cat shrieks]

[Bob] I came with ten fingers, I want to go home with them all.

[Elaine] What was happening there is

the judge was evaluating the kitten class,

the kitten reacted to him as being a stranger.

He made the decision that this kitten needs

to have its handler come and take it out.

He'll talk to the kitten, calm his nerves.

- [cat meows] - Okay.

[Elaine] Usually, when they have this as their first experience

it's truthfully their last experience, which is really sad.

It's also very emotional for the owner,

because they love the kitten.

You can see from that owner

that she loves that kitten.

Poor baby.

[woman] You get quite torn, right.

But you have to kind of remind yourself that

it's a young kitten and it's responding out of fear

and doesn't understand what is happening.

It's kind of hard either way.

The main thing is just to give it a try.

Eventually, you'll get a feel of whether or not

she's going to want to be a show cat or not.

[man on P.A.] 114,117, 120.

[light-hearted music]

There's new competition. There's another cat

that hasn't been out to shows this year so far.

This is Mr. Sandman.

He's a Himalayan.

Because he's a Himalayan,

he needs more attention to his eyes.

Like, he's recently been powdered.

He's pretty good.

[man on P.A.] Ring two, ring two now, looking for 114.

I've got to run.

Okay, showtime!

[man on P.A.] 123,124, 125.

[woman] Here we go, let the games begin.

[music continues]

[Bob] Cream Point Himalayan, impeccably groomed,

well-built body, this is just a brick.

Wonderful, this is a show cat.

Good, good, he's been getting seconds.

Good show so far.

Three more rings to go though. Okay!

I don't know if he's a Himalayan or what he is,

but he's a fluffy cat and he's as good of his breed

as Oh La La is of Persian.

He is a hard cat to beat.

My cats are already national winners, regional winners,

Grand Premiers, Supreme Master Grand.

They've earned all the titles they possibly can.

I love showing and I love the cats

and that's what I love to do and, for me,

that's what makes coming to the shows fun as well.

[woman] Cream Point Himalayan, exquisite,

exquisite presentation on this cat.

Today, this is my top kitty.

[owner] Yes, he got a first this round, which is good.

Tough competition at the show,

so I was pleasantly surprised that he did so well.

[laughs]

I am very detail-orientated, so, for me,

I enjoy having a cat that needs this extra attention.

I'm all about the details.

[man] I that a coffee filter?

[owner] Yes, it is a coffee filter.

[Kim] She's not the kind of cat I would ever own.

My cats can catch their own dinner

when a bird lands on my patio.

It took Bobby though, to second place in a lot of rings,

and that was the point where Bobby went from being Best Cat in the country

to being Second Best in the country.

- [woman] Congratulations. - [woman 2] Thank you very much.

[electronic ticking]

- [Sharon] This is Tulip. - Oh!

- [Sharon] Wake up, Buddy. - Can I just email this number?

Yep, and then you can come and look at them and if you like it,

- then you can leave a deposit. - Okay.

[Kim] Most of the people you see at the cat shows are breeders.

They do it because they love the breed.

Because breeding cats is not a money-making occupation

in any way, shape or form. If you're making money at it, you're not doing it right.

[purrs]

Beep, beep.

Hey.

Yeah, you probably need your face washed, too, eh?

[slow flute music]

That's Tulip, that was one of my national winners from last year.

That's Cassidy.

And that's Elvis. [lip smack] Elvis! Wake up.

- [cat purrs] - There's Flurry.

Cici's a cutie, isn't she a little, fat chub chub?

I think she's so cute.

That's Onyx, desperate need of a bath.

[interviewer] How many animals do you think you have?

I don't know, three dogs and a couple cats. [laughs]

That's my answer to everybody.

This is just from the vet, it's got lots of nutrition and stuff in it for them.

Aren't they cute at this age? There.

What do you think? Hmm? What do you think?

At this age, you can really get that look,

and you're thinking, God, you might be fun to show.

Even at this little age.

Yeah.

Most of them are spoken for already.

This little guy's gonna go to Florida.

He might be pretty special.

We'll get to you in a minute.

This little guy

sold to a little university student.

She has gone home to China for the month.

I get China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Germany, France.

That stuffed kitty was from a lady

I sent a cat to in Beijing.

She sent it to me for my birthday.

And the little dolls was from a lady from Hong Kong.

Cleaning faces, combing, bathing.

Always something. It's a lot of work.

My husband will say, aren't you gonna sit and watch TV with me?

It's like, no, I have things I have to do, you know?

He's like, "All day?" I'm like, "All day."

[electronic springs]

[tugboat whistle]

The Kim Philosophy?

Probably something along the lines of

you can do and do and do,

and sometimes it just doesn't matter.

[polka music]

The ongoing race is between Bobby and Oh La La,

and Oh La La is in first.

That's what the race means. And I've dealt with it.

If you asked me last year what the plan was,

Bobby was going to be number one. [laughs]

But, it is what it is.

You make plans and the universe laughs at you.

Ha, ha, ha. [laughs]

[owner] My goal for today? Ultimately, I'd like him to make all the finals.

I know a little bit about the competition, but I haven't been going out as much.

I know there's a few cats that are up there

vying for top three spots,

so I wish them the best of luck.

See what happens within the next month.

You know the breed is disappearing, it's very sad.

[Shirley] It's water.

It's water and then he's gone curly now.

This was all wet.

Little Charlie's Critters water dishes?

He was soaked using that dish, I don't get it.

I usually find everyone with Persians, Himalayans,

even exotics that require a lot of grooming, we actually do share things.

Well, they got these big, fluffy cats that can't look after themselves,

so all they do is spend their time grooming their cats at the cat show.

[Shirley] And I dried her, but...

Get some of those waves out.

The coffee filter. When you give them the water,

even with the little one, coffee filter.

[Shirley] Mostly, we all help each other out,

share secrets.

Not all the secrets, maybe.

Might hold one or two back. [laughs]

[slow tango music]

Exquisite Red Persian.

Excellent, excellent grooming.

[woman] Lovely, lovely Persian again.

Lots of cat underneath all of this very well-presented hair.

Excellent face, and today,

this is my Best All-Breed Altered.

[owner] He didn't do so well, he got 9th place. But that's okay

[interviewer] It wouldn't have mattered if he won?

No, it's not important to me.

I'm not a breeder, my cat is not my business.

My cat is my pet.

[classical chamber music]

[owner] So, this is Maestro.

When I took him home after I adopted him,

I was trying to figure out a name for him,

and happened to have classical music.

And he lies on his back and he does this in the air

with his eyes closed like he's conducting music.

This is what he does when he hears classical music.

His favorite composers are Bach.

It's just me and him, and we go everywhere. I take him shopping.

It made me feel good to take a shelter cat

and make him into something beautiful.

And to me, he's beautiful.

No matter what people say,

he's the most beautiful thing on the planet.

Sorry, I have to go.

[man on P.A.] ...to ring number three.

[water bubbles gurgling]

There was a memorable instance with Bobby.

[laughing]

[easy-going twang music]

[Elaine] I had him out on my judging table,

and was about to take an examination of him,

and he starts to cough.

He immediately coughed up this huge hairball.

Bobby wasn't done yet.

He did it again and there was splash back.

That was definitely a first for me to have that happen.

[laughing]

[Shirley] La was Best in a specialty ring.

Not that there's a lot of cats in this show.

It's a pretty small show.

Too slow, too slow, too slow.

Good, I think. Sandman was the 3rd Best in Show today,

so I'm very happy about that.

You always want your cat to look good.

I always like my cats to look their best,

but where they place is not as important

because I'm not gunning for one of those top three spots for instance.

-[interviewer] Well, thanks so much. -Oh, you're welcome.

We'll see you guys next weekend.

[shutter clicks]

-Congratulations, ladies. -Great, thank you very much. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, say bye.

- Are we done? - [electronic ticking]

[Sabrina] My mother was afraid of cats. I was allowed to have them

as long as they were living outside.

So, at one point I had 15 stray cats

that I would feed in my garage.

I was told by my own family this is crazy.

"Why don't you have a hobby like a normal person?

Why do you have to do this?"

And I'm like, why not?

[jazzy pop music]

[cats meows]

- Hi, boys. Hi, boys. - [cats meows]

So this is Max, this is a troublemaker.

This is Moses.

And then we have Magic Mike down there.

He's always the last one to do anything.

My girls are in this front room as well at the moment.

Now, Fantasia, Fantasia is a loner.

And then we have Asia, she's got a personality.

That's Nina, she's my silver girl.

As you can tell, Maine Coons are very interactive.

They like to constantly be doing things,

so you have to work with the breed.

Good girl.

So, I had this built for the cats because I wanted them

to have a little bit of their natural habitat at home.

See, and every day you have to spend a little bit of time with them.

Join the party.

So I do raw meat.

And then for a little treat,

I add little chicken hearts on top, he loves the hearts.

Honey, come on.

[drum beats]

[cats meow]

[cat growls]

98% of what they eat their body absorbs,

so what comes out is very little.

It's one week's worth of poop in this entire bag

for all these cats.

Smell it though, just a little bit.

Smell it, it's not bad.

Ew, yeah, it's not as bad as--

Normal, right, you didn't even know

the whole time that you were here

that there was a poop bag right there.

[moody New Age music]

Visualization is the most powerful tool.

The more you visualize anything the more it becomes reality.

You visualize it, you create it, you manifest it.

It can either be positive or negative.

I'll just create an energy for them

so that they feel comfortable.

See, and when I talk about these things,

sometimes some cats respond.

So, she knows what I'm talking about,

so she's responding to it.

To the energy.

As a breeder, you have many challenges, many challenges.

You're working with a life, and it's not just simple as

you put a boy and girl together and you create a life,

and that's it.

Just like a baby when it's born,

from the time it comes into this world,

everything matters.

Ready to have a bath?

Ready?

We're very attached to these cats.

You don't drive cross-country

with a cat that you don't have emotions for.

They're your child, in a fur format.

And... you think your kid is the best

and the next competitor thinks their kid is the best.

- [cat meows] - I know.

If he were a person, he would be that fun, outgoing jock

that everybody likes.

All the girls want to be with him. [laughs]

[high-energy symphonic crescendo with electronic springs]

[cheerful symphonic pops music]

[Kim] The Pet Expo is pretty crazy.

There are birds and snakes and guinea pigs and bunnies

and dogs and kangaroos and wombats

and people who want to see all of those,

and they're coming in to the cat show,

and some of them are trying to bring their dogs.

My cats don't care if there's dogs here.

A lot of cats do not want to be breathing the same air

as the dogs.

- [cat hisses] - [cat howls]

- [cat growls] - [Shirley] Some of those shows

are bad for some cats if they're a little bit nervous.

It's very busy, lots of noises, dogs barking,

I don't know if there's any birds.

[birds squawk]

I mean, Shirley, last year, we were both up in a final and we turned around

and somebody had her cat out walking around with it.

So, you really have to have somebody around

keeping an eye on things.

[Shirley] She's not that far ahead. She's only, like, 210 above Bobby.

She's in first now and I think she'll stay there.

Unless, something drastic happens.

Never know.

She still felt pressure because she knew

if something happened to her or Oh La La and they missed a show,

then everything could go down the toilet for her.

[trumpets heralding]

My name is King Klaus of Medieval Times.

We all come from different places in the world

and yet we meet here with a common purpose,

and that is to celebrate our pets.

Our pets are part of us and we are part of them.

It is up to us as owners, as contributors to the world,

to ensure that they have a good live, that we have as well.

It is a reflection of ourselves is how we treat our pets.

[interviewer] So what did you have for lunch?

Poutine. [chuckles]

[woman] The people that are shooting for top three spots,

this is a really big, important show.

For those people, the pressure is on.

If they want to hold those spots,

they've got to come out and they've got to be here.

And in top form, too. I just come to the shows and I enjoy myself, I have fun.

You know, it's competitive, but it's fun for me.

- Can you hear me? - I thought my kitten

was going to be up in Iris' ring, actually,

- but they were just doing touch and pets. - Testing. One, two, three.

What was that, sorry.

[Kim] It's going pretty good. Bobby's having a good day.

He got two firsts and he got 4th,

I believe, in the last ring.

- Congratulations, Kim. - What?

- I said congratulations. - Oh, thank you.

You're taking up too many spots again.

I only had two this time, you know.

[both laugh]

[Kim] Chance and Seamus are both firmly in the national standings

and the comments of the judge in the last ring were

Chance is so close to Bobby that she had a difficult time

deciding who's best.

It's a bad day for Oh La La.

She hasn't won everything. No, she hasn't.

She's all over the place. Yeah.

That's okay.

[man on P.A.] 93, 94, 95, 96 and 97 to ring three.

If they're not in your finals you go back in your book and you mark them here.

- You have to? - Well...

I heard it was optional.

I do it, so...

Go check with a Master Clerk.

- Go check with a Master Clerk. - Do it.

[Kim] Guest judges can be the wild card.

They don't know any of our cats. They don't have a clue.

So you're actually getting the honest truth.

What does this judge think of this cat,

and they don't even know who you are.

David Redtfeldt used to be the president of ACFA,

that's the American Cat Fancier's Association.

He has always wanted to judge a CCA show,

and we needed another guest judge.

We pulled some strings and got him in.

He has standards.

He has likes and dislikes, and you're not going to sway him.

[Shirley] I think he was a previous Persian exhibitor.

Ironically, I actually get more nervous going into those rings

because you know that those judges

are going to be very hard on the breed that they used to work with.

They're gonna know it really, really well,

and so they know those finer little points.

Those rings are actually very nerve-racking to me.

I have goosebumps.

I have goosebumps.

32 years of judging, this is one of the finest cats I've ever judged.

32 years.

He's making me cry. [giggles]

This is absolutely one of the most outstanding cats,

and for me, my Best Cat in the show.

And this is my Best, All-Breed Altered today.

Wow.

Well, he clearly loved her.

Very flattering.

[Man on P.A.] Today's winner for the 50/50 is the following numbers:

27042.

Again, the winning ticket:

[man] My mom has been showing and breeding cats for my entire life.

I've been born and raised around cats.

It all started with my dad saying,

telling my mom, "You should get a hobby, maybe get a cat or two."

And the next thing you know we've got a lot more than one or two cats.

He's learned to live with it, and he's accepted it, and he's okay with it.

What's funny is he's waiting for the day my mom calls it quits on the cats.

I know the competition's really fierce, because the only always she always talks about,

is "I'm neck and neck with this cat." "I've got a big gap over this cat."

"I'm way behind on this cat."

And then it always comes down to just the margin.

A lot of people take this very seriously.

They drop a lot of money on this.

She's probably spent more money on this cat

in terms of traveling and feeding it,

than me in 21 years of my life.

- Oh, maybe, maybe not. - I don't think so. [laughs]

You don't think so. I'm always proud of my mother.

I mean, where would I be without her?

He used to be shorter than me.

Yeah, that was years ago.

Red Persian. Just a great, great presentation.

The coat is just perfect.

And it is my Best Cat in Premier Show.

[Shirley] La did great. She had a really great weekend.

I haven't calculated it out, so I'll have to see.

She may be uncatchable, because there's only one weekend left,

but I didn't calculate it, I'll see that next week.

[instruments playing]

[Kim] it was very, very hard for me.

I look at the numbers and I tell ya,

there's no way

that this is going to go the way I want it to go.

And as we get to the Moncton show and, well,

maybe she's not going to show up,

there was glimmer of hope.

You know, that little mystery thing,

that maybe it will work out the way that I wanted it to.

And it didn't.

I just have to deal with what reality is.

[slow, moody rock music]

[string instruments playing folk music]

[Elaine] My involvement started when I met him.

Many of our dates ended up being at cat shows.

So I married the man and his cat.

And ended up following the hobby that he really enjoyed.

And went from there.

This is a yak rhododendron.

My very first cat that I had

when I was married with Bob, this is where I buried her,

and I always love when I see it blooming in the spring

because it reminds me of my Coco.

Bob and I were just dating and he wouldn't let me handle his cats,

so I wanted to at least have something to show at a cat show,

so I took my mother's household pet,

who really didn't like it.

But she ended up winning a rosette and a little trophy.

When we took the cat back to my mom's place, she cried.

And I'd never seen my mother ever cry.

She was so happy.

She still has the trophy.

[Bob] Her mother is 97.

[Elaine] She's turning 98 in November.

[Bob] I found that judging, as I became more confident,

it just brings out sort of who I am.

What you see in the ring is what you're going to get at home here.

I don't have a cape to take on, or put on or take off.

But you have worn a cape once or twice. [laughs]

Yeah, I have worn a cape once or twice.

[Elaine] I just now, probably in the last five years,

have gotten to really enjoy showing.

It's brought out a whole bunch of things I wouldn't have experienced,

if I had not met this man and his cat,

I would not have discovered there's so much to learn in this hobby and I like it.

[woman] My 3rd Best.

[Bob] I bought an old car a few years ago,

and that gets me away from the cat shows.

I just go to cruise things,

and sittin' and chattin' for a few hours,

that's sort of my relief away from it.

You gotta find other outlets and not make it your whole life,

even though it seems like it's our whole life.

She has her girls' weekends, I have my car weekends.

She's pretty critical, and so I just give her moral support from here.

Looks good to me. [laughs]

We're just compatible. We disagree,

but we don't get into arguments for anything.

We've only ever had one argument in 36 years.

[interviewer] Was the argument about cats?

Actually, yeah, it was. [laughs]

[orchestral flourish and electronic springs]

[fast-paced symphonic pops music]

[Kim] We are in Whitby, Ontario

at the last CCA cat show of the show season.

It doesn't really matter what happens this weekend.

Oh La La is in 1st, Bobby's in 2nd.

I believe Chance is in 5th and Seamus is in 7th.

Somewhere around there. There was a lot of movement after the Easter show, so...

- They're all in the top 10. - [drumbeat]

I actually have an education degree, I'm a teacher.

My major was accounting.

So, numbers sort of come fluidly to me.

With the national standings, every cat has an amount of points.

So the most any cat can ever get

is however many rings there are times 100.

When it comes down to the wire, the numbers are what the numbers are.

We were sitting in Whitby and I knew Bobby's in second place,

he can't catch Oh La La again.

The cat in 3rd place can't catch him 'cause it's not here.

Right now, Chance is sitting in 5th.

I want him to move into 4th.

It was easy to see he needs 58 points right now

in order to move into 4th place nationally.

So, I'm going to pull Bobby from a couple of rings.

Bobby's not there, Chance will be Best of Breed

and have a better opportunity to be put into a final.

Okay, Bobby, take off a couple of rings,

we're going to put Chance in, see what he can do.

[woman] This is a Turkish Angora.

Wonderful cat, very nice head.

Tight, lovely profile, beautiful eyes.

Best Turkish Angora,

today he is my 7th Best Long Hair Altered.

[audience applauds]

[Bob] We have another Turkish Angora.

Wonderful elegance to him, wonderful ear set. [chuckles]

[woman] And he is my Best Turkish Angora for the first time.

Gorgeous, gorgeous Turkish that did change a lot in the past month.

He is my 2nd Best Altered.

[electronic air whooshing]

My strategy paid off, so we got 92 points,

which is about twice as much as what he needed.

This is a haiku I wrote when I saw my cat sitting in the window,

and he was sitting in the moonlight,

and the moonlight was shimmering on him.

And the haiku was called At the Window.

Autumn moonlight breathes

elegance of a feline

silver silhouette.

And that's my haiku for Maestro.

The Whitby show is always the last show of the season.

And with the Persian you're wanting to see a cat

that has good weight and muscle tone,

but a cubular-shaped body.

You're saying goodbye to an awful lot of cats.

It's sort of bittersweet when you do your finals,

and if you have some favorites, and you're going "Okay this the last time

I'm ever going to handle this cat."

Saying goodbye is sometimes really tough.

- Thank you. - You're very, very welcome, what a wonderful cat.

[slow piano music]

[Shirley] She's ready. She's ready to retire, aren't you?

[Shirley] She's like my friend.

I've spent entire weekends with her, weekend after weekend.

You know, when you travel in shows I think that much, you're almost symbiotic, you know.

Shirley is as quiet as I am loud.

She's a very giving person.

She loves her cats as much as I love my cats.

She's very gracious.

[Shirley] You know, sometimes when you come in

and you're beating someone who's used to doing real well,

it can make someone kind of angry and nasty.

I'm not saying it probably didn't upset her, I'm sure it did.

No, Kim was lovely.

It's the first show that I remember actually being friendly,

like having a laugh with Shirley.

We're having a La retirement party.

Like when though? What time.

I'm going to go get it ready now, I think. I don't know.

- Need any help? Okay. - Sure.

[ragtime music]

Goodies for the table.

Hang on, I got a tablecloth. I got it all.

- Oh, you got a tablecloth too. - Oh, God, yes.

- Are we spreading glitter? - We are.

We're having a party, it has to have glitter.

[Sharon] Maybe you should have glitter in your hair.

[Shirley] I was worried about not having enough,

so I went out and got a little more last night.

Better to have too much than not enough.

I happened to be in a grocery store,

and I look down, and here it was, an apple pie.

The brand name was Oh lala.

I was like, there's no way I am not buying this pie.

[Sharon] That's cute, eh?

Here, get some popcorn.

[Shirley] Okay, guys, time to celebrate.

[sobs]

Some of these cats will be retiring, mine in particular.

We are having a retirement party

and a celebration of the end of the year.

Everybody come on down, celebrate.

We've got some finger foods, help yourself

and have a good time, celebrate the end of the year.

Congratulations to all the winners

and good luck till next year.

I don't know how to turn this off.

[ragtime music]

[woman] Oh, my gosh.

- [champagne cork pops] - [woman screams]

That scared the-- [laughs]

Bon appetit.

Cheers to Oh La La.

[all laugh]

[Kim] I've come to terms with the fact that Oh La La won.

And as I've said time and time again,

not my kind of cat.

Don't appreciate that kind of cat.

But there must be something really amazing about her,

because judge after judge after judge makes her Best.

And damn it, she has a nice owner.

[Sharon] All right. You okay?

[laughs]

I know it's hard, I know it is.

I know.

She was sweet to me when Bobby took Best

in this last ring of the year, so it's all good.

I believe that good things come to those who are good people,

so as long as your heart is clean, you have clear intentions,

good things are always knocking on the door.

Either they're this small or either they're this big.

Are you going to show him at all next year?

- Oh, yeah. - Are you? Okay.

Yeah, I'm going to take him and let him be a Pet-Me cat,

that sort of thing,

No, he's got one more year,

he needs early finals one more year

and then he'll do the Distinguished Round.

- Excellent. - Yeah.

- Say, "You're not retiring". - He's not retiring,

he likes this craziness too much.

She likes it too, but we're done.

- Yeah. - Enough.

- Congratulations. - Thank you.

- I'm so glad you got Best. - Thanks.

[electronic springs uncoiling] [shots]

[moody synthesizer music]

[Elaine] It's human nature to want to be the one on top.

Of course everybody wants to win.

You can say your congratulations and be a good competitor,

but deep down you might be saying "Wish it was my cat."

[Bob] The Second Best Premier, Boston Rob,

owner Kim Langille.

[Shirley] Yay, Kim.

Born to be second. I just bury it deep inside. [laughs]

[Bob] This year's Best Premier

in the Canadian Cat Association, Oh La La,

Breeder/Owner Shirley McCollow.

Yay!

[Shirley] You know, it's like anything else,

anything you want badly enough is worth working for.

Life is short and everyone has something different that they enjoy.

If they enjoy it, then that's what they should be doing.

[Elaine] I think that we're both animal lovers,

but cats, they just sort of weave themselves

into your heart and your head.

[Bob] They're intelligent, they can be beguiling.

There's just something about them.

They are people in fur.

Mm-hmm.

[Kim] Each cat is its own little furry personality,

and most of them are little balls of love.

If you can get that from someone, something?

Grab it.

[upbeat pop music]