One hundred and seventy cats and kittens, of 44 unique breeds, descended on the RiverCentre in downtown St. Paul for the 46th annual Saintly City Cat Show, which ran the last weekend in January.
Show manager Linda Mae Baker, who has been doing this for 38 years, says it’s a top-rated show of the Cat Fancier’s Association (known to cat folk as “The Fancy”), sort of the feline equivalent of the American Kennel Club.
Judges from around the country came to bounce and squeeze everything from dog-sized fluffed-up Maine Coons to the tiniest of mewing kittens. Baker says the local Saintly City Cat Club, which hosts the show, and the Cat Fancier’s Association are looking for new members:
“People are getting older. We're losing a lot of people,” Baker says. “Hopefully we get more young people in, because that’s what’s going to keep the Fancy going.”
First-time exhibitor Katherine “Kat” Furleigh named her Persian after the Japanese folktale “Momotaro,” where a peach gives birth to a baby. “He looks like a little peach,” she says. Furleigh’s boyfriend and fellow cat lover Abraham King says he looks like tiramisu, a “show stealer.”
Alex V. Cipolle | MPR News
Each year, the Winter Carnival Royal Court come for the coronation of the King and Queen of the Saintly City Cat Show. Show manager Linda Mae Baker says her friend Flo Dougherty sews the velvet capes and crowns. The 2023 king is Dress Whites, the white cat, from owner Cherylee DeYoung. The Queen is the chocolate Jade, from owner Dawn Pettyjohn.
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Judges evaluate specific attributes for 44 breeds, including coat, color, texture, length, and temperament.
“Well, I think people think this is cruel,” says judge Teresa Sweeney, who has been doing this for 30 years. “But if you watch me judge, these cats are having a blast. They're playing. They're having fun. They love the hotel rooms. They love to travel. So, I think that's a misconception that this somehow is bad and it's not.”
Alex V. Cipolle | MPR News
Greta Shuelke is a first-time exhibitor with her mom Kristen. She’s showing her 1-year-old tortoise tabby Pickles. They came as spectators last year. “She’s been very focused all year to do this,” says Kristen Shuelke. “I met a lot of people last year who had cats,” Greta says. “And I just wanted to bring my cat and have fun with it."
Alex V. Cipolle | MPR News
“If you look around here, you're gonna see every description of people. You know, you're gonna see men, women, older people, younger people,” says show manager Linda Mae Baker. She says cat lovers, breeders, and showers come from every demographic and political affiliation.
Alex V. Cipolle | MPR News
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