Shows

Are you a cat owner? Or just love cats?

Can you have a career working with cats? How do you know if your kitten is a male or a female?

What famous author had polydactyl cats? Want to bake homemade treats?

So how do you get answers to these questions? Go to TICA University … otherwise known as TICAU, the place to find everything about cats.

It’s the first-of-its-kind online university that is free to cat lovers and anyone else around the world. When you visit its “campus” you’ll find several different schools that you can find information about cats. Take a tour of the campus and visit each of these schools and just a few of the types of information you can learn:

Gym — exercises, how to keep your cat in tip-top shape, and more!

Cafe – bake your own treats, find restaurants to go to that love cats, what’s a good nutrition?

Nursing – what’s needed in an emergency kit? if my cat is stung, what should I do?

Science – are cats left pawed? can they see in color?

Admissions – register with TICAU and even test your knowledge about cats

History – from ancient history to modern day, cats have influenced many things….and were the focus of many myths!

Library – cats were a “muse” for what authors? what famous author loved cats so much he left his home to them in his will?

Art – tour the gallery and see famous artwork and learn about cats in the theatre and more

Business – is there really feline vets? how do I get to judge cats?

Psychology – what makes cats “tick”? can you train a cat to use the toilet?

Kids — color books! games! fun things to do! Interesting tips and facts!

Oh, and see if you can find Professor Purrsey. He’s quite a character, and you never know where he’ll be.

And if you register with TICAU, you’ll get updates on new information as its added to the site. It’s fun. It’s free. And it’s THE place to go for information on cats!

Two paws up according to all of the cats who have sat on their owners’ keyboards or laptops and looked at TICAU.

Another show season ended April 30th…and another judge has been recognized as Judge of the Year! Congratulations to Aline Noel-Garel who was named Judge of the Year for 2009-2010 by TICA at the Annual Awards Banquet last weekend in Santa Clara, CA.

Aline, who is from Quebec, Canada, became a judge in 1988. But she was highly involved in the cat fancy and helped introduce the Sphynx not only to the United States, but to get it recognized as an approved championship breed. Now every Sphynx that enters a show hall can say thank you to Aline for helping them get the chance to compete for titles and regional and international awards! Today the Sphynx is one of the top ten favorite breeds of cats!

Vickie Fisher, president of TICA said that even before becoming a TICA judge, Aline has championed TICA. To Vickie, there is no finer person than Aline that she wants to represent TICA in countries around the world.

Aline is the thirtieth judge to be named Judge of the Year. Since 1980, TICA’s members have voted for the judge that deserves the distinguished title of Judge of the Year in recognition of their hard work during the previous show season

More than 350 cats from around the world were in sunny Santa Clara CA last week for TICA’s Annual Cat Show. It’s held each year in conjunction with the Annual Awards Banquet where they crowned the top cats for the 2009-2010 show season that ended April 30th.

Judges from around the world handled cats, kittens, alters, household pets and household pet kittens in 12 rings of non-stop judging. At the end on Sunday September 5th the Best of the Best were announced! That’s the top three of each category. Want to know who they were? Well, tah dah….here are the Best of the Best for the 2010 Annual Cat Show!

Best of the Best Cats

Minusdetails Night Hawk – Cymric                                                                                                                                                                  Dorwill Rachel A - Exotic Shorthair 
Luvpurrs Dream Weaver – Tonkinese

Best of the Best Kittens

Owhl Windup Toy of Moulinrouge
Broadsway Machias of Mtncats - Maine Coon 
RoyalLions Lunar Eclipse of MTNest – Maine Coon

Best of the Best Alters

Sha Yen Priceless of Sirpurrs – Persian                                                                                                                                                              LAPD Sex Pistol – Maine Coon
Tassam Klip Purr of St Valentine - Balinese 

Best of the Best Household Pet Kittens

Prada 
Benjamin Button of Dreamscape                                                                                                                                                                             Ali Macclaw

Best of the Best Household Pets

Elis Commin
Awwsome Amber of Careycats
Splatatoon

Congratulations to everyone!!!

Oh, and in addition to the 12 rings of judging, there was a clicker training demo led by (name); cats competed for a spot in the Guiness World Book of Records as the tallest cat; and Savannahs were on display for everyone to see in person.

June is Adopt A Cat Month, and in celebration local rescue groups will have kittens and cats for adoption at local TICA cat shows.

Many cats and kittens adopted from shelters and rescue groups have enjoyed the “spotlight” at cat shows and become winning household pet cats and kittens. Last show season that ended April 30, 2010, there were 506 household pet cats and 186 household pet kittens that competed at local shows around the world.

TICA was the first cat registry that allowed registration of household pets. Cats and kittens can also compete for the same regional and international awards as pedigreed cats. Household pet cats can also earn the same titles as pedigreed cats registered with TICA.

If you can’t adopt a new cat or kitten, you can help promote June Is Adopt A Cat Month by:

But what if you can’t adopt? Here are some easy ways you can still help:

1. paste this message into the “What’s on your mind?” box at the top of your Facebook page: “June is Adopt-A-Shelter-Cat Month. Save a life: Adopt a cat or kitten!”
2. Tweet, retweet and repeat the following (or your own brilliant message): “June is Adopt-a-Shelter-Cat Month. Save a life: Adopt a cat or kitten!”
3. Contact your local shelter or rescue group to see if you can (1) foster a cat or kitten (2) make a donation of towels, food, and other items they can use or (3) make a cash donation.

The Thai is thebreed dedicated to preserving the native pointed cat of Thailand in as close to its original form as possible. Thai is the official breed name in TICA and in many registries in Europe, but the breed is known in Thailand itself as the Wichienmaat and elsewhere as the “Old-Style Siamese.”

Thais are shorthaired and have the colorpoint pattern, which includes deep blue eyes, whitish beige body, and dark-colored extremities (the “points”), but they are moderate in type, never extreme. To some the Thai is synonymous with “applehead Siamese, ” but to others it is not. “Applehead” is a colloquial American term, not an official breed name, and means different things to different people. The Thai is the natural pointed cat that you find in Thailand today and closely resembles late 19th and early 20th century Siamese, such as Greta Hindley’s queen Prestwick Perak.

The Thai has the personality made famous the world over by the early Siamese. They are highly intelligent, people-loving, active, curious, and endowed with a great sense of humor. Living with these cats is like living with small children. Thais will get into everything you own, jump to the top of your wall-mounted clock and balance there, teetering, just to see if they can. They will follow you around and try to “help” you with everything you are doing.

Thais are great talkers: they aren’t necessarily loud, but they’re chatty. Thais will greet you at the door when you come home and start chatting away; but they also communicate with taps of the paw or by jumping to the top of your shoulder and putting their face right in yours. They will need a response and daily attention from you.

Physically, the Thai is easy to maintain as they take care of their daily grooming. But a soft brush is still good to help get the loose hair off them and good for stimulating blood flow for a healthy cat…and happy cat!

You can learn more about the history of the Thai, and its traits by visiting TICA’s web site.  You can also print off the breed profile so you have information about this fascinating breed available at all times.