The Show Approaches

Oh yes it does, and I can't help but start to get a little bit excited about it. My human's trying desperately not to get too hopeful. She spoke to one of her judge friends yesterday (they're the nice strangers who take me out of my pen and scratch me and look at me all over and tell me how beautiful I am), and they said that the judge people who is looking at me in my most important class is a tough one. He withholds prizes more than he gives them apparently. My human says I'm not the most outstanding of show cats. She got me because she love dme, not because I'd do well at a show. The fact that I'm good enough to enter wasn't the driving factor. It's just a nice bonus. I have too much dark coat on my body to be perfect apparently, but me and my human agree that I'm the best cat there is. I told her that I'd make the judge people agree too, and she's not to worry. She says even if we don't win a single thing, she'll still be taking home the best cat in the whole show. Smart lady, my human. I reminded her that at my very first ever show, I won one of my opens where you get prizes to have a big title like champion cat, won a best of breed, and got second in another open plus one of my side classes. For any of you who know showing, the reason that there were two opens was because it was a double show. That's not bad for a first timer now, is it!

I'm also going to see a couple of old friends at the show, but I can't tell you about that until the show is over... Rules and all, stupid things.

Anyway, back to preparations. My human didn't do an awful lot with me last night. Usually the day in between powdering and the final preparations is my rest day. She did have a go at stripping me though. This sounds painful, but it's not. My guard hairs are very, very dark, and this isn't good when you're showing off your beautiful tortiness to the judge peoples. Usually, peoples pluck these out. Again, that sounds like it hurts, but it doesn't, because they don't pull the hair hard. The good ones ease it out with their fingers. Guard hairs are longer than the fluff of my undercoat, but even though the human knows the difference in length, she's worried she's pulling out my light hairs. She did a couple, but then stopped. She's asked some of those old friends to help us do it on the morning of the show. I don't mind this. I purr all the way through. The friends say it takes days to do it propperly as you should only do a little at a time, but they're going to see what they can do for us. Thank you, friends!

Tonight, I know what's coming. Hoover lady has arranged to be there when the human gets home from work so that I can have my pedicure. I don't keep my own nails short. Why do that when you have servants to do it for you. I'm a celebrity show cat, after all, and all that scratching on the post is too much effort. I'd rather dig at things I'm not supposed to, but as they're soft, they don't keep my nails short. Hoover lady is too worried about doing it on her own and needs the human to talk her through it each time. Mummycat will probably have hers done as well, even though she's not a celebrity show cat. My human is a good cat person, so she doesn't mind doing it for her.

Once my nails are done, the human is going to get out the dryer and blow all of that stinky powder out of my fur. I am crazy fluffy after this is done because my furr is sticking up all over the place. I wish we could get a picture, but I don't think Hoover lady will wait that long, and the human can't take them on her own. Once that is done, she will brush and comb all of the dead fur out of my coat. I'll be soft then, but not all the way fluffy. That is a last minute thing done at the show hall.

Right now I'm enjoying the peace and quiet of the house. I'm chasing ping pong balls (a famous cat has to keep fit and trim after all) and cleaning and cleaning myself for tomorrow's big day. My fit drive will probably go out the window as soon as I see fish, but we'll not talk about that just yet, will we? In any case, the human has a lot of work to do. When she finishes with me, she'll do Mummycat again. She needs another brushing and then the powder taking out of her coat, plus her nails clipping. Then the human has to make people food for her and hoover lady for tomorrow, and pack all of the things I will need like a blanket, litter tray, food and water, and the really important things like a ping pong ball, my favourite mousie and a ribbon for me to pounce. You're only supposed to have one toy at the show, but I get spoiled. Why? Because how could you resist spoiling the best cat in the show more than all of the others? She just hides them when the official peoples and the judge peoples pass by.

I will talk to you later on tonight and let you know if she has been able to follow all of my advice on how to make me look even more beautiful than beautiful!