cooky cats
2003-10-09 | 11:54 a.m.

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- It may be a dog-eat-dog world, but the fancy felines who arrived in New York this week for the upcoming cat show would never know it.

The show cats getting ready for the two-day event sponsored by the Cat Fanciers' Association at Madison Square Garden bask in lives of luxury happily provided by their doting owners and breeders.

Sloane Wulf of Virginia said she bakes chickens nearly every night for her champion Siamese cats, while New Yorker Caroline Scott puts her 28 cats through an aerobics regimen of side bends and jumping jacks.

Her trim cats are used to the fuss, but Scott vows any cat can learn to tolerate being bobbed in the air, stretched and hung upside down from its hind legs to get its blood flowing.

"Just start very slowly," she advised at the cat show's preview. "Otherwise your cat will think you're nuts."

Nearby, a fluffy Persian in a lace bib was being encouraged to eat mightily.

"We want them a little overweight," said breeder Darlene Feger of New Jersey. "She's not allowed to work out."

The event that starts on Saturday is expected to draw hundreds of cats and thousands of cat lovers. More than 40 cat breeds will be represented, publicists said.

One of those breeds is a chunky British Shorthair who thrives on travel, said owner Emily Turner who brought the gray cat from Orlando, Florida.

"He loves a new hotel room better than anything else," she said.

'Wash and wear'

One Golden Persian kitten was traveling with a custom suitcase packed with tweezers, nail clippers, razors, scissors, cotton balls, cotton swabs, several talcum powder, eye cleanser, cat brushes, cat combs and a set of cosmetic brushes packed. Three times a week, the kitten also needs a bath and blow-dry that takes about two-and-a-half hours, said New Jersey-based breeder Dori Dostal.

"Rule No. 1 for giving a cat a bath," chimed in breeder Brian Gorman of New York, displaying long red scars that run the length of his forearm. "Clip their nails first."

Not all the show cats require such a fuss, said David Smith of New Jersey, showing his champion Cornish Rex with its rows of flapper-esque marcel waves.

"These cats are wash-and-wear," he said. "They are every woman's envy."

As the breeders busily promoted their particular breeds and workers rushed to set up the show, most of the cats slept through the hullabaloo.

"I think they become comatose to deal with these types of things," said New York breeder Barbara Bosco.

cooky cats

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