Felines lookin' fine: Household cats model beautiful inperfection at Dover cat show

DOVER — The past weekend was feline weekend at the Dover Middle School as the New Hampshire Feline Fanciers presented their 12th annual show.

Over 600 people attended with over 130 cats registered as competitors. Saturday was focused on the pure bred tabbies while Sunday the street kids took center stage, as the House Hold Pets division strutted their stuff.

"Some of the same judging criteria are in place," said longtime show manager Chip Blaney, currently Treasurerof the NHFF. "Looks, coat, balance, refinement, color and eye color are part of the matrix, but what separates the HHP is that the judges are looking general good health and vigor with no real concern for breeding."

There were no White Oriental Short Hairs, no Maltese or Norwegian Forest breeds this day, simply the kind of cat you or your neighbor has.

The finals pitted cats against each other with Judge Gary Veach presiding.

Each puss was extracted by Veach who moved it around on a table raised above some 30 spectators. In addition to stroking and playing with each cat, he kept up a steady patter, quite informative and humorous while asking the audience to pick their own special choice for number one.

After the process with each cat, he took out each cat again and gave his evaluation in no particular order until the end, naming the cat's place in his hierarchy.

The winner was a brown tabby, the youngest of the group, a mere 8 months old, Michael from Gardner, Mass. fondly called Mikey by those in attendance.

He is a rescue cat, a fact shared on the front of a sweatshirt worn by one of his owners stating "Proud owner of a rescue cat."

His owner, Debbie Landry exclaimed "and this is only his second show."

When asked how she met Michael, she said "He picked me. I went to a Shelter where there were a bunch of cats, sat there and he came up and fell asleep on my lap."