GC, BW, NW Dandy's Hey Jude of Ivy Cat
&
GC, GP, NW Ivy Cat Ice Breaker of GR8Katz
BY PAM DEGOYLER
Ivy Cats Persians & Exotics
Published June 2014
Photos copyrighted by the individual photographers
Article copyright © PandEcats.com. All Rights Reserved.
Copying or redistribution of this article is strictly prohibited
without the express written permission of PandEcats.com
CFA's 8th Best Cat in Championship for 2013-2014
is a cream spotted tabby male Exotic Shorthair named
GC, BW, NW Dandy's Hey Jude of Ivy Cat. |
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CFA's 7th Best Cat in Premiership 2013-2014 is
a black Exotic Shorthair neuter named
GC, GP, NW Ivy Cat Ice Breaker of GR8Katz. |
These two Exotic Shorthair boys traveled together, campaigned together and
brought glory to their breeders and respective co-owners together.
This is their story . . .
Ivy Cats
My name is Pam DeGolyer of Ivy Cats Persians & Exotics. I bought my first Persian in 2000 and attended my first cat show in 2001. I was new to the cat fancy and didn't know a quality cat so had to learn the hard way. I loved the look of bicolors, tabbies, Himalayans and solids. I was not experienced enough to know what was required of a cat breeder or exhibitor. I had teenagers still living at home, so I could not travel to the shows much until I bought my first Exotic from Michelle Broadbent of Sunstream cattery in 2006.
With my kids grown and independent, I finally had the freedom to indulge my love of cats and breeding and showing. I joined both the INDY Cat Club and the ILLINI Cat Club. I started showing and finished my first Grand Champion in CFA — a blue mackerel tabby Exotic boy, Sunstream Peyton Manning of Ivy cat.
I continued working with Sunstream's lines to produce my first regional winner in 2008, GC, RW Ivy Cat Mini Cooper. I added outcross lines to produce my first national winner, my homebred boy GC, BW, NW Ivy Cat Black Ice of Purrelli. I have now produced 20 Grands, 13 Regional Winners and 4 National Winners in a 5 year period.
2012
In 2012, Natalie Blakeley was a new breeder in CFA.
Natalie is a dear friend so I sent her a cream tabby and white female kitten named Ivy Cat Penny Lane which we would co-own together.
We took Penny to several shows as a kitten.
She did so well that she was a Regional Winner as a kitten in CFA. |

Jude's mother CH, RW Ivy Cat Penny Lane
Photo by Chanan |
When the time came to breed Penny, Natalie mated her to one of her new males, a black Persian male named CH Steeplechase Tahiti.
Penny gave birth to a litter of six kittens in October 2013.
It was one of the first litters born under her cattery name, Dandy.
When the babies were old enough for pictures Natalie emailed me photos. |

Jude's father, CH Steeplechase Tahiti
Photo by Chanan |
Just 3 weeks old, pick kitten was a beautiful cream spotted tabby boy.
Natalie asked me what I thought of him. I sat looking at his photo for hours thinking what a beautiful kitten he was.
Natalie has a young family and little time to show, so she asked me if I would co-own the kitten with her and show him.
My answer was an emphatic yes, so I went to Phoenix and picked him up when he was 12 weeks old. |
Jude at 3 weeks |
Hey Jude
Natalie is a Beatles fan — that's how she named Penny Lane. To follow in the Beatles theme, we wanted to name the kitten something from a Beatles' song too. I love the song "Hey Jude" so the kitten was called Dandy's Hey Jude of Ivy Cat.
Jude was a 'next season' kitten, which means his kitten career ended a couple months into the new season. That meant we would be showing him as a kitten when the kitten counts were quite low — too low for national win regardless of how spectacular a kitten might be or how well he did.
His first show as a kitten, Jude made 3 of the 8 finals. The judges told me he was so cute and had a wonderful head. I continued to show him as a kitten and he earned his RW as a kitten in Region 5.

Judge Gary Powell and kitten Jude enjoy a moment together . . .
Jude In Championship
Once Jude finished his kitten career, he entered his first Championship show at 8 months. He was a 6-ring Grand — making 5 finals as Best Cat over all the other Grands in the finals. We were so pleased!
We planned to retire him, taking him home to start breeding him to some girls . . . but Jude had other ideas. He was no lover. He hissed and wanted nothing to do with the girls whatsoever. Not good. We thought about it and decided that if Jude was not going to breed, we might as well take him back out and try for a low national win.
The champion counts were still low at the beginning of the season, so we took it slow. When we couldn't find high count shows close to home, we had to start getting out and pushing hard.
Jude was doing well at the shows and quickly moved up the national standings. Then we struggled with weight loss and Jude blowing coat. It took a few weeks to get him back in top shape, but we did it. Jude had been designated a Region 5 cat as Natalie lives in Phoenix, but since he was now living with me most of the his adult show career we decided to re-assign him to my region.

Co-owners Natalie Blakeley and Pam DeGolyer with Jude, Natalie's husband Daniel Blakeley and Judge Brian Moser
Ice Breaker
Gerald Walker had been waiting for two years to get a top show cat from Ivy Cat to campaign in Premiership.
In March 2013, I sent him a kitty named Ice Breaker on a co-ownership. Ice Breaker is a beautiful solid black Exotic. His father is one of our previous National winners, GC, BW, NW Ivy Cat Black Ice of Purrelli. His mother is GP, RW Ivy Cat Sookie, a brown tabby zot.

Ice Breaker's father GC, BW, NW Ivy Cat Black Ice of Purrelli
Photo by Preston Smith |

Ice Breaker's mother CH, GP, RW Ivy Cat Sookie
Photo by Renee Farley |
Ice Breaker was a 2-show Grand in Championship and a 1-show Grand as a Open in Premiership so I knew that he would do well in the show ring for Gerald.
Gerald took Ice breaker home to San Francisco and started campaigning him in May 2013. He was doing brilliantly at the shows and by June Ice Breaker was #4 Cat in Premiership. They were well on their way to a national win!

Gerald & Ice Breaker
Then Gerald became ill and had to be hospitalized.
Ice Breaker missed his "dad". He was not eating well. By the time Gerald returned home from the hospital, Ice Breaker had lost weight and blown his coat. Gerald was was very concerned that Ice Breaker was no longer in top show condition. Gerald called me about what we could do to help Ice Breaker get back into condition and back on the campaign trail. We decided to discuss it at the Garden State cat show in July where I would be showing Jude.
The Garden State Show
Ice Breaker had dropped to #26 in the standings during his time away from the show ring. Gerald brought Ice Breaker to Garden State where he made three finals even though his weight and coat needed some work. Jude made all the finals except one.
Gerald and I decided it would be best for Ice Breaker to come back home with me so I would work to get his weight and coat back in shape. It took a few weeks, but he was soon looking his best again. Since I was already campaigning Jude, we decided I would take Ice Breaker with me to the shows, giving Gerald time to recuperate.

Pam & Jude, Gerald & Ice Breaker
A Weighty Matter
So that is how I came to be showing two zots in 2013 for their co-owners — Jude in Championship and Ice Breaker in Premiership.
Jude has a sweet personality. He loves to stay in the hotel so he can run around the room and chase crumbled balls of paper. Jude was a natural showman and he enjoyed the show world from beginning to end. A smart campaigner, Jude would nap while the judge was handling other cats, then when the judge would place him on the judging table, Jude was instantly wide awake and would play with any toy offered to him. He also loved climbing the poles on the judging table.
Jude Head Study
Photo by Chanan |
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Ice Breaker was another cat that knew how to show himself off on the judging table, flashing his incredible eyes and charming everyone. When I was carrying him back and forth to the judging rings, he would lay his head on my chest and look up at me with those big eyes and it just made my heart melt.
As the season moved into the winter months, both boys were in full coat and great weight. Ice Breaker was up to 13 lbs and Jude was at 10 lbs.
Traveling with two big chubby zot boys all over the United States was a bit challenging (and that is putting it mildly).
Lugging the two boys around the airport was a workout. I had one in a Tutto pet carrier on wheels and one in a double Sturdi carrier. I put the Sturdi carrier on top of the Tutto and wheeled both cats around the airport along with an emergency bag with a pop up tent, litter, litter box and food. I was definitely not traveling light.
If there was a flight delay, I would take the boys to the family bathroom and let them run around in between flights, then right before my flight, I would zip the divider up in the Sturdi and the boys would get right in and off we would go. I put them under the seat in front of me and I would put the Tutto up in the storage overhead of the cabin of the plane. |
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Campaign Adventures
We drove to most of the midwest and eastern shows — battling snow, ice, floods, tornado warnings and severe storms. Most of our high count shows were out west, which meant flying — and especially in winter, that can mean delayed flights. Once we were stranded in Houston, TX for five days due to a ice storm in Indianapolis. Thank goodness we had friends to help us with extra food, money, and hotel bills while we were marooned.
Speaking of friends, the campaign was so much fun because I often traveled with my good friends; Donna Zimmerman who was showing a Manx in Premiership and Sophia Staples who was campaigning her Persian in Championship.

GP, NW Fuzzy-Foot's All Fired Up - Red Tabby/White SH Manx Neuter
Photo by Chanan |
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Sharing the expense of hotels, car rentals and gas saved us lots of money. While attending a show in California, we were in our hotel room on the 4th floor when a 5.2 Earthquake hit. Donna was on the bed talking to another friend while I was standing near the door when the entire building began to rock. I was in shock. Donna and I looked at each other and said, "Was that an earthquake?" It is not an experience I want to repeat.
Campaigning takes a lot of stamina. For me it often meant departing for the show on a Friday and not getting home until Monday. That only leaves four days to recover and catch up on my regular life. Fortunately I have a wonderful pet sitter who takes care of things when I am away, but for the last two months of the show season she was out of commission with a knee replacement.
That's when my amazing husband, Rick, stepped up. He was working 60 hours during the week and taking care of the cattery on the weekends. Twice he even delivered kittens . . . and he had the house spotless clean for me every time I returned home from a show. Now that's what I call a real man! Without Rick, I couldn't have continued showing.
First-Timers
Jude and Ice Breaker continued to impress the judges and steadily made their way into the top half of the national standings. By season's end, both boys were national winners. GC, BW, NW Dandy's Hey Jude of Ivy Cat was
CFA's
8th Best Cat in Championship and Best Exotic. GC, GP, NW Ivy Cat Ice Breaker of GR8Katz was CFA's
7th Best Cat in Premiership.
This season's accomplishments are very special to me. For both Natalie and Gerald, this was their first national win. As their friend and the cats' co-owner, it was an honor to have been able to help them achieve their goals. I think that perhaps this is what CFA is really all about . . . sharing the love of pedigreed cats with new exhibitors and reaching out with experience to help them reach the heights of CFA.
GC, BW, NW Dandy's Hey Jude of Ivy Cat
CFA's 8th Best Cat In Championship 2013-2014
Photo by Chanan |
GC, GP, NW Ivy Cat Ice Breaker of GR8Katz
CFA's 7h Best Cat In Premiership 2013-2014
Photo by L. Johnson |
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Below are more photos from the show career of
GC, BW, NW Dandy's Hey Jude of Ivy Cat
Cream Spotted Tabby Exotic Shorthair Male
CFA's 8th Best Cat In Championship 2013-2014
CFA Midwest Region's Best Cat In Championship 2013-2014
CFA's Best Exotic Nationally 2013-2014
Born Oct 3, 2012
Sire: CH Steeplechase Tahiti
Dam: CH, RW Ivy Cat Penny Lane
Breeder/Owner:
Natalie Blakeley and Pam DeGolyer

Baby Jude

Jude as a teenager

Give me that!

Jude chills out in the grooming space while waiting to be called to the ring . . .

Judge Anne Mathis chooses Jude as her Best Cat at the Denver show.

From left to right: Donna Zimmerman, Pam DeGolyer, Claire Dubet and Sophia Staples

GC, BW, NW Dandy's Hey Jude of Ivy Cat
CFA's 8th Best Cat In Championship 2013-2014
Photo by Chanan
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Below are photos from the show career of
GC, GP, NW Ivy Cat Ice Breaker of GR8Katz
Black Exotic Shorthair Neuter
CFA's 7th Best Cat In Premiership 2013-2014
CFA Northwest Region's 2nd Best Cat In Premiership 2013-2014
Born February 25, 2012
Sire:
GC, BW, NW Ivy Cat Black Ice of Purrelli
Dam:
CH, GP, RW Ivy Cat Sookie
Breeder: Pam & Rick DeGolyer
Owners:
Pam-Rick DeGolyer & Gerald-Juanita Walker

Baby Ice Breaker

Ice Breaker playing it cool in his Sturdi tent

Ice Breaker relaxing in the hotel

Eyes that mesmerize


GC, GP, NW Ivy Cat Ice Breaker of GR8Katz
CFA's 7h Best Cat In Premiership 2013-2014
Photo by L. Johnson
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