How Do I Buy a Winner?
by Jette Eva Madsen.
How do I buy a winner? - This is one of the questions that breeders most often hear. Right from the beginning the Norwegian Forest Cat was believed to be a nature cat that could roam around in the free without much care, grooming and company. With the growing numbers of NFC's on shows and the resulting competition this assumption does not hold to be true anymore.
The answer is easy: You don't !!
Buying a show cat is a lot more than buying a cat with an excellent exteriur, temper and pedigree but not everyone realises this and as a result thoose exhibitors will shop around to buy another cat and yet another cat when the first one didn't turn out the way they expected.How do I then pick out the right kitten?
Some breeders never pick out the right kitten. There are no right kittens for them because they will never bee able to provide the things that is needed to turn a good quality cat into an excellent show cat.What do I look for when I wish to buy a show kitten?
- First of all you have to look for a kitten that you think is pretty. Some exhibitors believe that the stronger type of NFC is prettier than the more elegang type. Judges are the same - some judges interpretet the standard in one way other judges interpret the standard in another way - so there is no way you can be sure to buy a kitten of a type that all judges will like.
- Secondly you have to look for a kitten that is in good condition. Never buy a sick kitten, a kitten in generelly bad condition, with thin and short coat etc. The breeder may want to asure you that this kitten was just sick and will be very large and beautifull in the end. Don,t take the chance. Kittens with thin coat and bad health will never be winners regardless how nice the type is.
- Look into the pedigree of the kitten you consider to buy. Does the ancestors of the first generations have high titles? If the near ancestors have high titles you have a much better chance of buying a good cat than if they have no titles. Some breeders pretend they just don't exhibit because it is booring. Don't take a chance on that statement. Most breeders will show their cats if they believe they will winn. Another common statement is that this or that cat has is a winner but just don't want to go to shows. Then the cat is not a winner because the temper is bad. Cats with bad temper will never winn at shows and more interesting for you they often pass on that temper to their offsprings.
I now bought my kitten - how do the cat become a succesfull show cat?
- Very important is to keep the cat in top condition. Condition is the result of the daily grooming and cleaning plus the food and vitamins you provide for your cat. If you keep your cat in dirty surroundings and provide poor quality food the condition will never be the best. You cannot bath a cat the day before the show and expect it will look nice and you cannot expect a cat that lack vitamins to have a thick, shiny coat.
- Just as important is to give your cat plenty of contact. You cannot expect the cat you keep locked up in a small room with no contact to people and other cats to be nice and sweet the day you suddenly decide to take the cat to a show.
- You also have to provide your cat with an interesting and challinging life. A bored cat is not showing itself at its best. If you have more cats you have to take care that your cat has a confortable place in the hirachy in order to ensure that your cat is mentally on top.
Todays winners - are they perfect?
No! - there are no perfect cats. Obviously some type faults seem to be penalised more than others. What kind of fault that is considered to be more serious changes from time to time and faults are also judged diferently in diferent geografic areas. Also there is a diference in what is considered a more serious fault depending on what organisation you have choosen to show your cat inn.If all cats have faults why does some cats then seem to be born winners?
On some cats the type, condition, temper and preparation get together in a fantastic cocktail. Some cats have a marvellous temper, they are full of self confidence and they virtually shine when they are admired at the shows.Those are the cats that winn. They may have smaller faults but those faults are totally outweighted by the cats personality and charisma.
