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GC, NW Catbery Tail Copy Cat of Playwickey BY DIANE CASTOR Published June 2013
Photos copyrighted by the individual photographers
CFA's 9th Best Kitten 2012-2013 is GC, NW Catbery Tail Copy Cat of Playwickey. "Copy", a flame lynx point male Persian, may have been born on April Fool’s Day, but from the moment he opened his big brilliant blue eyes and stared at his breeder, Lori Kerr of Catbery Tail Himalayans, she knew, that if he continued on the same path, he would be nobody’s Fool and show business was for him.
Another Kitten Picnic He came into my life when I received the first photographs of him from Lori when he was three weeks of age. My heart flopped around and I knew this was the one for me to show during the 2012-2013 Season. Lori and I met in the parking lot of a diner at Blue Mountain Exit off of the PA Turnpike in July of 2012—a spot we had utilized before for our “Kitten Picnics” as we dubbed them. She brought her mother’s van from which she had removed one of the back seats and that is where our picnic was held. I brought lunch; she brought kittens. There were eleven babies to choose from, all born within three weeks of each other. What a feast for my eyes. After much oohing and aahing, comparisons of structure and personality, I selected a flame lynx point male. Lori named him Copy Cat, in honor of his national winning father. He became my baby in a co-ownership agreement with Lori. There never are any contracts between us, just mutual friendship and trust of one another. Since retiring from active breeding, I have been indebted to Lori for her willingness to share her beautiful babies with me. The transfer was made to my carrier and Copy and I began our journey to a National Win.
Getting To Know You As with other kittens I’ve shown, he came home and right into my bedroom where he could be monitored 24 hours a day. Copy was a headstrong, willful boy whose first love was play and second was food. An unbeatable combination for a show kitten but it took us awhile to learn each other’s habits!
Top Of The Heap Copy's first show was Hidden Peak in Timonium, Maryland in August 2012. Lori came east with a bundle of seven kittens for this prestigious show. Including Copy Cat and Tweed, a kitten owned by the Lands, there were nine Catbery Kittens competing in the show. The Himalayan Division was breathtaking and the judges all commented on the magnificent display. When the dust settled, Copy Cat had come out on top of the heap of the Catbery Tail himmies . . . and so his career began. With his sparkling eyes, beautiful Persian type, long flowing coat and a personality that never quit, the judges loved him—and Copy loved being in the show ring. From the moment he went into the first ring of a show until the last, he was up and playing with the judges. Early on in his show career a favorite judge taught him to climb the pole on the judging table. Copy never forgot and became a “pole dancer” extraordinaire—always ready to go to the top. The Shows The kitten competition in 2012-2013 was extremely fierce with many top breeders from across the country all vying for those coveted Top 25 national kitten spots in CFA. Copy’s debut at Hidden Peak began the circuit of the shows with the highest kitten counts of the season. There was The NAR Coalition, Free State, NBF/F&D and Indy Cat Club. We hit them all.
Hurricane Sandy While Copy continued to do well at the shows, our biggest stumble was running amok of Hurricane Sandy. In what turned out to be a difficult travel week, Copy and I flew to Indianapolis on the Friday morning before Sandy hit the North East. The airline broke the wheels off my luggage, so that just getting to the hotel dragging a 52 pound suitcase with no wheels was an aerobic exercise. Copy was Best Persian Kitten In Show, 4th Best Kitten overall, but our flight home was canceled so back to the hotel we went. With flights delayed for several days, it was easier to skip going home all together and just fly to the next show, Cotton States Cat Cub in Atlanta. Another good show for Copy and we finally returned home 10 days after we left. The World Show Copy's last show as a kitten was the CFA World Show in Ohio. It was at this show that Copy "conked out" for the first and only time in his show career. At the very last, when he had qualified for the Best of the Best competition as one of the top three scoring long haired kittens, he just fell over, went to sleep and nothing was going to wake him! It didn't matter and he he couldn't have cared less. His job was done. He made all the finals and finished as Best Himalayan Kitten in Show (Red Show). With the points from this show, he moved into 9th place nationally and would remain there. By the end of the season, he was officially GC, NW Catbery Tail Copy Cat of Playwickey, 9th Best Kitten and Top Himalayan Kitten in CFA for 2012-2013. One Show Grand Copy came out as an Open the first weekend in December at the Santa Paws Show in Maryland and went home as a one show Grand. It was time for him to retire. Papa Copy It is always hard to let a kitten go back to its breeder at the end of its show career, but a deal is a deal. Copy returned to Lori to start the next phase of his life. As it turned out, Copy is not only a beautiful boy, he is also a precocious kitty—siring his first litter before he was ten months of age. He is now producing this year's crop of Catbery Kittens. I'm starting to get the show bug itch and am looking forward to seeing how this year's crop of Catbery Kittens are maturing. Lori assures me, "There is one in your future".
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Below are photos from the show career of GC, NW Catbery Tail Copy Cat of Playwickey Flame Lynx Point Male Himalayan CFA's 9th Best Kitten 2012-2013 Born: April 1, 2012
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