Articles & resources for maine coon enthusiasts

The International Cat Association (TICA) is home to a steadily growing worldwide membership of people who share a love of cats and enjoy having their cats compete at cat shows. Not everyone who shows their cat at a TICA show is a breeder, but many of us are. For us, the shows allow us to have our intact (un-neutered) adult cats compete against other intact cats in the Championship class, where they are evaluated by objective experts in the breed standard. At a TICA cat show, a registered cat is entered into a number of judging rings throughout the day. In each ring, a trained and certified TICA judge carefully assesses that cat against the written breed standard, scoring it in a number of dimensions. As breeders, we are responsible for producing kittens that embody the breed’s ideals and preserve its best attributes for future generations. A show-winning Championship Maine Coon cat makes for a fantastic breeding cat, provided its health and temperament are just as ideal.

Judging Criteria

The Maine Coon breed’s written standard favors large, well-balanced adult cats with substantial boning, dense musculature, a long rectangular body, broad chest, square muzzle, sloping (bumpless) nose, properly placed and shaped ears and eyes, a dense, shaggy coat, and an impressive flowing, tapered tail, at least as long as its body. It’s important to keep in mind that based on the emphasis placed on size, it is very difficult for a female Maine Coon to beat a male, although it can and does occasionally happen. Irrespective of gender, a prize-winning Maine Coon is one that conforms most closely to the “ideal” of the perfect Maine Coon when judged against its same-breed competitors in the ring.

Breed Awards

During judging, ribbons are awarded for Best through Fifth-Best within a Color class and Best through Fifth-Best within a Division, which is a grouping of similar colors/patterns. The Color and Division winners earn a small number of points for each of those wins, which accrue towards Regional and International awards issued at the end of the show season, running from May 1 through April 30 every year.

Once all the Maine Coon cats in the ring have been judged, the judge will go back and hang ribbons for the Best, 2nd Best, and 3rd Best of Breed winners. The Best of Breed winner earns a chance to advance to that judge’s Final competition, where they will compete against nine other cats to earn a highly-coveted Best Allbreed or Best Specialty Cat award.

Final Competitions

Each judge must determine for his or herself who they will use as their best ten cats in their Final. For example, an Allbreed judge may choose to call back their Best of Breed Maine Coon to compete against their Best of Breed Birman, Himalayan, Ragdoll, Sphynx, American Shorthair, Devon Rex, Bengal, Persian, and Turkish Angora. The very best cat amongst all ten breeds will earn the Best Allbreed Cat award, followed by the 9th Best Allbreed Cat, 8th Best, 7th Best, and so on. In a Specialty judge’s ring, the Best Maine Coon, if called back, will compete against nine other Best of Breed Longhair cats to win a Best Longhaired Cat award, 9th Best, 8th Best, and so on. A significant number of points are awarded to each cat that finals in an Allbreed or Specialty ring based on their final rankings and the total number of cats defeated in the show; these points plus the total number of final awards earned accrue towards the awarding of Championship class titles. Points and final awards accrue over a cat’s lifetime to continuously advance its title. They persist from show season to show season, allowing a cat to continue to earn a higher title, so long as they continue to compete until they earn the highest title available.TICA

Titles

The earning of titles is a very prestigious status symbol in the purebred cat breeding world. Buying a kitten with titled parents and many titles in its pedigree helps assure pet adopters that they are securing a kitten from bloodlines that have proven to be of good type, improving the odds that their kitten will also have a stunning physical appearance, consistent with the breed standard.

TICA Championship titles are as follows: Champion (CH), Grand Champion (GCH), Double Grand Champion (DGC), Triple Grand Champion (TGC), Quadruple Grand Champion (QGC), and Supreme Grand Champion (SGC), which is the highest title a TICA-cat can be awarded.

Regional Awards

Across the globe, TICA is divided into several geographically-based regions. We are located near Birmingham, Alabama, and we are active members in good standing within the TICA Southeast region. Our region has chartered clubs in Alabama, Bermuda, Florida, Georgia, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, and the US Virgin Islands. We compete against cats in all these states and countries to win Regional Awards. While we (and they) are able to travel to and compete in shows outside our home region, this is our “home region” where our points accumulate and where we qualify to receive annual Regional Awards.

Southeast Regional Awards are presented in the following categories:

• Top 25 Kittens
• Top 25 Championship Cats
• Top 25 Altered Cats
• Top 25 Household Cats
• Top 25 Household Kittens
• Top 25 Longhaired Cats
• Top 25 Shorthaired Cats
• Top 3 Kittens by Breed
• Top 3 Cats by Breed
• Top 3 Championship Cats by Color

Kittens and cats that win one or more Top 25 Regional Awards are permanently recognized by the addition of an RW prefix before the title in their registered name, which should be reflected on their TICA registration certificate and on your cat’s or kitten’s TICA-issued pedigree.

International Awards

International Awards recognize the very best of the best cats and kittens across the globe. Cats belonging to TICA members in all seven international regions compete against each other for these incredibly renowned awards.

International Awards relevant to Maine Coon breeders are presented in the following categories:

• Best Cat of the Year (1-20)
• Best Longhair Cat of the Year (1-20)
• Best Kitten of the Year (1-20)
• Best Longhair Kitten of the Year
• Top Maine Coon of the Year (1-3)
• Top Maine Coon Kitten of the Year (1-3)
• Top 3 Maine Coon Cats by Color

Kittens and cats that win one or more “Best” Awards are permanently recognized by the addition of an IW prefix before the title in their registered name, which should be reflected on their TICA registration certificate and on your cat’s or kitten’s TICA-issued pedigree.