For the love of the cat

PARRSBORO Trying to come up with an explanation as to why people generally love cats, Heather MacDougall holds up her puffy, purring Persian kitty MacPurrs Nicholis.

"There you have it," MacDougall said.

MacDougall has been working hard nearly single-handedly recently in an effort to bring together the Lucky Paws Cat Club 12th Championship and Household Pet Cat Show and hopefully spread her love for cats in the process.

Originally from Truro, MacDougall, show manager, now lives in Diligent River and brought the cat show to the Parrsboro Arena for the first time last year.

After an overwhelmingly successful turnout last year, MacDougall is set for this years show, which goes Saturday, Sept. 8, starting at 9:30 a.m.

More than 80 cats are signed up for this year's event and in that group includes Scottish Folds, Persians, Himalayans, Siamese, Abyssinians, Ragdolls, Birmans, American Shorthairs, and a Bengal.

Participating cats will be broken into four groups: cats, kittens, alters, and household pets.

For people looking to participate, MacDougall said the household pet category is best for inexperienced show persons as judges judge the felines based on personal preference rather than a particular standard.

For those going for general interest, MacDougall said its a great chance to find the right pet for you.

"Theyve heard of these different breeds, but yet theyve never seen them. So it gives them a really good chance to see a show cat," MacDougall said. "You may be interested in buying a kitten. Heres a chance to see them."

Having to put many hours and thousands of dollars into the event, at the end of the day MacDougall says its all worth it.

"Its for the love of the animal and to see them and see the competition and to see people get together from all over and travel to the show and to win the awards," she said. "Its all about getting together for the love of the cat."

For more information or to sign up, contact MacDougall at 254-2242 or purr4me@ns.sympatico.ca.



jdickie@amherstdaily.com