Maine Street Coons in the News
February 21, 2023
The first weekend in February, Maine Street Coons participated in the three-day Alabama Claws & Paws TICA cat show at the Anniston City Complex in Anniston, Alabama. I entered Oscar, Pitch, and Diana into the competition, and I was a little overwhelmed at the thought of running three babies from ring to ring! Thankfully, Amy Randolph, my best friend for more than 50 years, flew down from Kalamazoo, MI, and blessed me by helping all four of us do our best.
It was Diana and Pitch’s first time exhibiting in kitten class, designed for kittens ages four to eight months old. At five months, Diana is a sweet, beautiful six-toed polydactyl Maine Coon from Nikira Light cattery. Pitch is an incredibly handsome, large-boned, and very masculine seven-month-old black smoke boy from Abissal*RU. Both are of excellent type, which I hoped would impress the spectators and judges, and it did!
Diana won Best of Color, Best of Division, and Best of Breed in every ring all weekend long. Yes, she happened to be the ONLY polydactyl kitten competing, but we aren’t focusing on that. We’re focusing instead on the many compliments she received from the judges, the fun she had, and the confidence she acquired as the weekend went on. Diana and “Aunt Amy” also forged an extraordinary bond and even landed us a feature interview in the local paper, the Anniston Star!
We also learned that as handsome as he is, Pitch may not be cut out to be a show cat. He had very bad motion sickness in the car on the way to and from the event on Friday night, and we chose not to bring him back for the rest of the weekend. Not every breeding cat is cut out to be a show cat, and if it isn’t fun for them, we don’t believe in forcing them to do it. We are glad he could make it one day to have his photos taken by the ever-so-talented Larry Johnson!
Unfortunately for Oscar, Hoomom was so worried about grooming the new kids that she kind of slacked off with Oscar’s routine and he did not experience the amazing winning results he typically does at a TICA show. That said, he still got some best-of-breed awards, made a couple of finals, and earned more points toward his regional and international winner titles. And, like Pitch and Diana, he was photographed by Larry Johnson, who makes every session so much fun for the meowdels!
Like every show, we learned so much, met many wonderful cat lovers, and had a lot of fun! Until next year, Alabama Claws & Paws, we love you and thank you and the city of Anniston for hosting such a wonderful event!
