Does anyone here participate in the purebred cat fancy? How does it relate to the dog world?

I grew up with show cats in the house, Silver Persians. It's all about the hair. No long runs in bad weather that's for sure, night and day in comparison to Labradors.
Nutrition is huge in show cats, must have that glow on them . Coat , coat and more coat , same w/dogs, waste of time showing without it.

It smells a whole lot worse.

My understanding from a friend in a particular cat breed is it is each person in it for themselves I didn't think it could get worse but apparently it can.

She had cats at Madison Square Garden that she refused to ask any other breeder to watch for one second, especially her cat that was The Top Kitten of the Year imported from Europe fearful of injury to him. I do not think she was exaggerating, her entire family accompanied her to assist with showing. What a pity it's that bad.

Well I never showed purebred cats, but one nice thing about the cat shows is that they allowed "household pets" to compete for prizes and ribbons. I did show my HHPs and found it very rewarding, however many of the cat shows were the same weekend as dog shows, so I gave up the cat shows. LOL

The thing I liked most about the cat shows is there were no handlers! The cats were all put in cages and the judges took out each cat and examined the cat. After making their decisions, they would then explain to the exhibitors/spectators what they liked about each cat. The judge disinfected their hands and table after each cat as well to lessen the chance for spread of diseases. There were also like 5-10 rings each day so if one judge didn't like your cat, you had still had many other judges who might.

I didn't really get into the politics of showing cats, but for those who I had to sit next to showing their HHP, it was always a nice and friendly conversation.

I do know that I would not want to raise cats though. LOL I'll stick to my dogs thank you very much. It was a fun venue though showing HHP.

Dianne

I don't think I could stand to breed anything that you can't AI.

At Dog shows dog people are fine about talking about their "b*tches".

At cat shows, cat people are fine talking about their "p*ssy's"

Hope you all have a sense of humor about it.

Where do I start!
I used to breed Maine Coon cats and still love the breed very much.
I had them for many years and was very active, but boy is it a different world!
Number one down side....Pee Pee!
And no, cat breeders do not often AI although it can be done, usually with ones own cat though. It would be rare indeed for anyone to allow their boys to sire outside of their own bunch for fear of various diseases FIP, Feline leukemia, and others. So your only choice is to own your own intact boys and the marking and spraying that always accompanies them can be really unbearable. It leaves the only option of having a separate cattery for them, and that just isn't how I like to own a kitty.
Males also look really poor intact as compared to neutered.
Showing is also hazardous when it comes to disease and many fear leaving their cats alone not because of other breeders but because they don't want people handling them.
Shows can be fun, but are a very different vibe than dog shows. Yes, we have some nutty folks at dog shows, but yikes....the people at cat shows could run circles around our nuts

Cat shows are also much more sales oriented as some bring whole litters just to display for prospective buyers.
Its really kinda surreal.
I loved having kittens and the breed I chose was hardy and had no real health issues.
Kittening was never the worry that whelping is, never had or even heard of a cat that needed a c-section.
In the end, I just couldn't wait to spay my boys and enjoy them so it got to a point where it didn't feel rewarding.
Although many good breeders show their cats to champion status, just as many do not and still produce excellent cats. Its just an each to his own thing.
Good cat breeders do health screens for various things just like we do as well as have limited reg options.
When repro vets start really delving into cat A.I. including frozen semen I would think it would be a much more enjoyable hobby. Freeze your great boy, show him as a Premier and never have the stinky stuff
I look forward to owning another big boy but these day, one king cat of the house is enough for me
Annie

Haha just caught my own error...I said "spay my boys" (you know what I meant) whoopsie:)
Annie