Conference misery::feline_v1

    Jo Ann,
    
    You haven't had any responses in over a week now, and I'd expect
    that it's because the majority of us have no idea what you are talking 
    about.  I know from previous notes that you 'show' cats, so perhaps granding
    has something to do with altering cats for future showing?
    
    Anyway, even after you define it I doubt if I'll be able to help,
    but a simple definition of 'granding' would certainly be grand :-)
    
    Janis

    Janis,
    I was refering to the process of achieving a grand championship
    for a show cat.  This is accomplished by acquiring points totaling
    200.  My question has to do with any suggestions other breeders
    have about the best time of year to try to grand a cat, the time
    frame (before a certain age), and any "grand" stories.
    
    The reason for asking these questions is that I am new to the cat
    fancy (1 year) and I am involved with a minority breed, Birmans.
    There is a feeling among breeders that it is more difficult to grand
    a minority breed than it is to grand say a Persian or Siamese.
    
    To give a little more information... A friend owns a very nice Birman
    male from good lines.  His sire was the sire of 3 of the five Birmans
    that became grand champions last year.  As a kitten this male did
    exceptionally well at the shows, finaling in the top ten kittens
    in most of the rings.  As an adult he has yet to final.
    
    Any comments...
    Jo

I guess I'll try to answer this.  Be cautioned that you'll have to read 
between the lines.

There are two ways to grand a cat.  The *other* way is to have a cat that 
is *so* *much* *better* than the competition that no one in their right 
mind could possibly have a believable reason to pick another cat.  Such 
cats are indeed rare.  (Cindy, how long do you think it'll be before 
there's another Fire?  He was *my* best cat, and I can't even stand 
Persians! 8^) )

If you want to show cats and have fun, show kittens or HHP's.

If you want to grand a cat, don't go to the shows the campaigners frequent. 
You might then pick up a couple-five to 15 points per show.

Make a point of finding out how your breed has done in the past under the 
different judges in the association you're showing in.  Pick your shows 
accordingly.

Or do it the *first* way.  But *I* won't.  I show a minority breed.  I 
expect to have to work hard for my grands.

Ray

    
    Show in TICA :-)
    
    TICA has several steps of ratings, Grand is one of the lower ones
    
    Dave

    Thanks for the info - I am learning as I go along these days.
    
    Have any of you heard about the CFA dial-a-grand hotline?  You dial
    up this computer and punch in your cats 10 digit registration number
    and it confirms your grand points for you.  Pretty nifty.
    
    The cat mentioned in the base note picked up 8 more points this
    weekend in Vallejo.  Slowly but surely, right?
    Jo Ann

    Slowly but surely, that's right!!!  It is indeed rare for a cat
    to grand quickly, especially when their young, and even rarer if
    their a minority breed.
    
    Thanks Ray, for mentioning it....the weekend Fire granded was exciting
    for me....CFF that is!!!   He entered his first CFF show a novice,
    and was a Grand before the end of the weekend....made championship
    the first day, grand the 2nd.  
    
    I remember feeling a little guilty when a friend of mine who had
    expected her cat to grand that weekend, came up to me on sunday
    and gave me the bottle of Champagne she had brought for celebrating
    her grand.  Fire granded, her cat didn't...till the next show that
    is.
    
    It's was nice that she was so generous, and we grew to be even better
    friends as the show season went on.  That person now shows primarily
    CFA, and does alot of shows on the west coast.  She's a himalyan
    breeder and her name is Nancy Sullivan.  If any of you ever see
    her at a show out there, please make her feel welcome.  She is a
    wonderful person, definitely worth knowing.
    
    purrs
    cin
    

    It has been very interesting to read about all of your (plural)
    experiences with showing and granding cats.  Having heard about
    cats like Fire (congrats again, Cin!) who are both non-minority
    and truly great cats, I think I would have been pretty discouraged
    in the future without *also* hearing about how long it can take
    in other cases.
    
    I am not sure what to expect from any of our kittens-to-be.  I
    don't want to be overly optomistic, but many of the better cats
    from Nordic have granded quickly, in several cases in just two
    shows.  And these are pretty close relatives of our expected
    sweeties.  They are shown in CFA, but there are more CFF shows
    around here.  I'm not sure just how that will affect things.
    
    But at least I won't have unreasonable expectations.  Slow but
    sure would still be fun.  If it gets boring, well then, I'll just
    stay home and play with the cats!
    
    I DID have to laugh about my "bragging" (especially to non-cat-
    fanciers) about how Tag-Along became a Champion at her very first
    show.  It sounds a lot more impressive than it was of course.  I
    must admit that I do like the way they give out lots for ribbons
    for all different categories within categories, etc.  That way,
    many people and cats have awards to bring home, not just the very
    few best.