The CFA International Cat Show

​This past weekend, cat lovers from all over the world descended upon Cleveland for the nation’s largest cat show. The Cat Fanciers’ Association held their International Cat show at the IX Center on October 12th and 13th. The CFA is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1906. It is currently the world’s largest registry of pedigreed cats. The overall mission of the CFA “is preserving and promoting pedigreed breeds of cats while also enhancing the well-being of all cats.” Now, while the subject of breeding may be a source of conflict for some of us, something we CAN get behind is that our mission also centers around promoting the well-being of ALL cats.

The show featured 45 pedigreed breeds, judging in 16 rings, meet and greet celebrity cats, agility contests, the Savitsky Cats, educational talks about the history of cats and their breeds, shopping with cat-themed vendors, and last but most certainly not least, the Adopt-a-thon that went on all day both days. This year, the CFA decided to focus on adoptions. They had several local rescues and shelters attend the show with adoptable cats and kittens for attendees to meet and take home.

I am SO happy to say that the adopt-a-thon was a HUGE success for ALL of the rescues that attended with adoptable cats. I went around to get final numbers from the rescues there and I was blown away by the numbers. The Euclid Beach Cat Project reported a WHOPPING 31 adoptions. The Cleveland APL reported 22 adoptions for the weekend. Kitten Krazy reported 15 adoptions. Forever Friends Foundation reported 12 adoptions. Lucky Paws rescue reported 5 adoptions. Tails From the City had 5 of their 8 cats they brought adopted, but only attended Saturday. House of Mews also reported 5 adoptions and they also only attended on Saturday. Viva Los Gatos had 6 pending applications. Overall, it surely showed that although the CFA was showcasing Pedigreed cats, the average attendee didn’t need a fancy title to go along with their furry friend.

The Weirdo Cat Lovers of Cleveland saw this show as an opportunity to promote our organization and share our own mission with fellow cat fanatics. Myself, Rachel, Mandi, Dawn, and Meredith spent several hours each day of the weekend working at our WCLOCLE booth. We also were in the company of Amber, our group’s graphic designer and web site developer. Christy O. was able to stop by with her beloved Derry as he was there to say hello to attendees at the “Companion Cat” booth. Brandy, Christy W. and Megan were also able to drop in and check out the show and hang out at the booth for awhile as well. We used our time at our booth to introduce ourselves to attendees, give a brief explanation of who the WCLOCLE are, and invite those who didn’t know us to join our group. We also talked about our calendar and how sales of the calendar were to help us build our emergency fund reserve for members in need. We had coloring books for sale to help our TNR fund and we also displayed our WCLOCLE tshirts. Rachel had her awesome homemade catnip toys for sale. We also had homemade jewelry from member Erica which was a crowd favorite. Amber had her irresistible Adcat Designs car window decals and her homemade fleece cat blankets.

For most of us, this was our first ever cat show. To say that I was thrilled to be there would be an understatement. I entered the building just before 10am on Saturday, just before the opening of the show for the weekend. I have never in my life felt more at home than I did as I walked around this cat show. “This is my place; these are my people,” is a sentiment that was echoed by many of us over the weekend. If you love cats as much as I do, I highly recommend that you attend the next CFA cat show. There were endless amounts of cat themed clothes and jewelry, tons of cat toys to bring enrichment home to your kitties, and cat ears as far as the eye could see. And surely enough cats there to pet until your heart’s content. The WCLOCLE leadership is already busy talking about next year’s show and how we will have even more exciting things to share with attendees about the amazing things WCLOCLE accomplished. We hope to see you there in 2020!!!

-Cass Bean-U.