Cats Brave the Rain at Timonium Fairgrounds

The 32^nd annual Hidden Peak Cat Show took place this weekend at Timonium Fairgrounds, with more than 300 cats on exhibition.

The show manager, Lyn Knight, called it the best cat show in Maryland.

“It is one of the largest shows in the entire Cat Fanciers Association, and that is a worldwide organization,” Knight said. “It has been consistently, in terms of the numbers of cats competing, in the top 10, or five, over the last several years.”

Knight said that people fly from all over the country, and sometimes Europe, to attend the show.

“I’ve got people right now that I know are coming from as far north as New Hampshire, as far south as Florida, and as far west as California,” she said.

Thomas Baugh came from Michigan to show Bunny, his white Lynx Point Himalayan long-haired cat, who had racked up a pile of ribbons from Saturday’s judging and was gearing up for more on Sunday.  Bunny, who is more fur than cat, with the flat Himalayan’s “nose break” face and bulging wall eyes, stretched and luxuriated under Baugh combing her coat, not minding the attention or the handling. She’s a seasoned exhibition cat.

Across the aisle, Darryl and Darryl, two young Abyssinian cats (and brothers, of course), seeking their titles at the exhibition, had only come up the road from Baltimore. But their owner, Matt Baker, is no stranger to travel.

“I’ve been doing cat shows for 19 years,” Baker said. “In the past I’ve gone all the way to California and Canada.”

Sue Riley came from Colorado with her Ocicat, Bootlegger. Bootlegger’s groomer, Joan Fuller, came from Boston.

An Ocicat, named because it looks like a wild ocelot with the exotic markings on its coat, is bred from Abyssinian, Siamese and American Short-Hair cats, explained Fuller.

“They started about 50 years ago,” she continued. “The markings should be the size of thumbprints.”

Riley thinks Bootlegger still has a lot more travel ahead of him.

“We’re showing him on the east coast, and then showing him out in the west for a few months, and then trading him back in the river again, so he’s going to travel all over the country,” Riley said. “We hoped he would show well. He was Best Cat in one of the biggest shows of the whole year, in New Jersey—he was Best Cat in the whole show.”

The Timonium cat show is the only show in Maryland that holds a 10-ring show, which means there are 10 separately staged areas for the judging.

“Most other shows are six or eight rings,” Knight said.

Knight was happy to talk about the show’s special Household Pet Competition, which highlights the everyday, mixed-breed, non-pedigreed cats, and is judged in a ring just like the purebred competitions.

“The biggest thing is they’ve got to be healthy,” Knight said, “and the judges make a decision based on appeal and health.”

The highest scoring Household Pet gets a goody bag and the beginnings of a Triple Crown award. Two more local cat shows in the next month, once in Washington, D.C. and the next one again in Timonium, will seal the title for one special cat if it can win all three times.

“We also as an organization really do try to support not just pedigreed cats,” Knight said.

Dovetailing with the show’s commitment to the everyday cat were the prominent cat rescue associations that were featured during the exhibition. At the front door of the Exhibition Hall, Lucky Cat Rescue had the lobby filled with cats available for adoption.

Lucky Cat Rescue relies on foster homes for their cats and does not have a facility, but its founder, Sally Gibson, is based in Parkville.

“We do our adoptions through Petco in Golden Ring, on Pulaski Highway,” said Gibson, who has been placing cats in their forever homes for more than eight years.

“We’ve had a wonderful weekend,” she continued, “even with the weather. The rain yesterday, the thunder and the downpour didn’t deter people from coming out. We had six adoptions on Saturday—two adults and four kittens. A wonderful day. And six more adoptions on Sunday. Yippee!”

Starlight and Bandit were two cats that didn’t find their forever homes this weekend, although many passers-by at the cat show commented on their sheer size, beauty, and placid and friendly demeanors. They are being adopted out as a bonded pair, because they have lived together for so long. Lucky Cat Rescue took them back, five years after they had been adopted out, because their owners lost their home.

They have been in the system now for almost a year, still together, and still looking for a family.

As the show manager, Knight helps out the rescues where she can.

“We also oftentimes donate or pay them to help them with their costs of operating cat rescues,” she said.