 |
GC, BW, RW Palmetto's Dallas BY PATRICIA LICHTENBERG Published November 2013
Photos copyrighted by the individual photographers
Palmetto My name is Pat Lichtenberg. I have been involved with Persian cats since 1939 when my mom and dad gave me my first Persian, an blue imported from England. When I married in 1953, my parents kept her for me. I was half way around the world and the mother of two children when they lost her at the extraordinary age of 21 years old. Time skipped ahead and in 1969 I registered my cattery name, Palmetto. My first show cat was a smoke Persian that became a grand at the prestigious Houston Cat Show — what a thrill that was! My first regional winner was a cameo tabby GC Palmetto's Sunchaser, that was the CFA Southern Region's 11th Best Cat in 1979. Cats and the fancy have made my life both interesting and enjoyable. I adore smoke Persians and the kitty gods have been very good to me in that respect. In the more than four decades that I have been in the cat fancy I have never planned a breeding that couldn't produce a smoke baby in the litter. Palmetto has earned national, regional and international wins with our smoke and cameo babies. I have been able to attend the Annual every year, made friends all over the world, and traveled to Europe and South Africa to visit cat friends who have my smokes. A New Friend In 1990, I had a tortie smoke girl that I named Palmetto A Yankee Came A Courting. Her unusual name was based on the black smoke male that came from New York to breed her mother — a "Yankee" having a liaison with my "Southern Belle". Shortly after I granded their beautiful daughter in Championship, she became ill and had to be spayed. At the time, I could never have predicted that this unfortunate circumstance would lead to one of my most treasured friendships in the cat fancy.
Shortly after Yankee was spayed, Leslie Carr contacted me looking for a cat to campaign in Premiership. I lived in Miami, Florida and Leslie was from Tampa, FL. Yankee went to Leslie on a co-ownership. She granded Yankee then told me that she thought Yankee could be a national winner in CFA. Leslie was (and still is) very good at analyzing regional and national standings, and mapping out a successful campaign strategy. Together we decided to show Yankee. When Leslie first told me that we would need to fly to a show my famous words to her were, "Do you mean you want me to get on a airplane with a cat without a UTERUS!" She said, "Yes. I will tell you which shows to go to". I did as she told and sure enough, Yankee became a national winner in Premiership! From then on, whenever I had a really nice smoke, Leslie helped me decide on the shows to enter, kept track of the cat's points, the competition, and generally was my campaign strategist extraordinaire . . . and great friend. When my husband passed away, Leslie added driving me to the shows and helping me take the cats to the rings to her services. If it was not for Leslie, her knowledge, her assistance, and the way she pushes me from time to time when I get tired and just want to stay home, I sincerely believe that I would not have my many national and regional winning cats. A Repeat Breeding Leslie and I campaigned a beautiful cameo male, GC, RW Palmetto’s Murphy, to 7th Best Cat in CFA's Southern Region 2010-2011. I decided to repeat the breeding and on August 15, 2011 a litter of smoke kittens were born. I named the pick male kitten Palmetto's Dallas.
Baby Dallas Dallas made his show debut at four months of age in December 2011, alongside two older relatives who had been out for a while. Being the youngest and smallest smoke kitten being shown, he didn’t attract much attention at first although his quality was still recognized by several judges with finals. At 8 months it was time to try to grand him. He quickly picked up the majority of points he needed — then blew his kitten coat. That meant that he had to sit home for a few months while his adult coat grew in. He came back out to finish his grand championship in September, 2012. Reverse Kitten Coat For many years and many generations I have bred smoke to smoke with an occasional black or cameo thrown in, so I am very familiar with the stages of the smoke coat. Like all my black smoke kittens, Dallas was born black with no undercoat but just a hint of white around the eyes. His nose pads and paw pads were black. As he grew the color started to come in. His face was mostly black but the body coat that came in was very light in color. A black spot developed in the middle of his shoulders that grew down to cover up the white on the body like a mantel.
The Smoke Coat It is said often ( jokingly) that smoke Persians are only in coat for two weeks a year — and of course there is never a show during those two weeks. Dallas is proof that is not true. Once his adult coat started coming in, that wonderful smoke coloring appeared. As the coat grew, the color only got better. He is a true black cat with a snow white undercoat. The depth of that undercoat had to be seen to be believed — it is not limited to a fine line at the skin but extends over an inch out. He never lost that color, only improving as the season went on. His color is one of his finest traits, however it’s not his only wonderful quality. He has a perfect Persian body; it’s a balanced box — as long as it is high and so wide that a full hand will fit under his chest. Topped off with heavy boning and a thick neck, he’s a totally balanced cat. Gaze into his large, dark copper eyes and you have a beautiful cat that melts your heart.
On The Road Dallas never traveled to a show by air, all trips were driving and he was a real trooper. He’d get in his carrier and simply go to sleep. He never made a sound, never had an accident, never got car sick — even though some of the trips were very long. The Southern Region covers a lot of territory so it wasn’t unusual to take over a day to get to a show. Dallas was never bathed in a hotel room. He kept himself clean and his coat held up beautifully after a bath a home. He loved the show rings and was always looking for toys on the judging table. Most of our cage services have rope wrapped around one of the supports for the judge’s lights. Given just a little encouragement, Dallas would climb the pole. For some reason, it always seemed to surprise judges that an adult male Persian could scale up the post. They didn't expect Dallas to be that athletic! In The Hotel Room Dallas also was a silly boy who enjoyed his time in hotel rooms. He was always ready to play and one of his favorite games was to jump between the beds in the room. Most cats jump — Dallas leaps! The height he gets when jumping is something that has to be seen to be believed. He seems to be trying to clear an invisible high bar. Even when the beds appeared too far apart for him to make it, with his his leaping expertise he always made it. Then there was his joy at chasing toes under the covers or playing with teasers — or his very favorite toy, "Game for Cats" on the iPad. There were always extra giggles when he’d try to look under the iPad to see where the mouse went. Dallas was confined in a tent when in the hotel room alone but he soon learned to unzip it. Until we learned to lock him in the tent, he would escape and wander the room while we were at dinner. One time there was a bag on a bench that contained his toys and grooming items. When we returned, we discovered that he had climbed up on the bench, rooted around in the bag and dragged out teasers to play with. We still can’t figure out how he knew where to look for his toys. Another time, after locking him safely in his tent and leaving for dinner, Dallas decided he really ought to have the run of the room. We returned to find that he had ripped a hole in the tent and was laying there with one paw lazily reaching out of the opening. Luckily there was a Target close by where we were able to purchase a replacement tent. Needless to say, Dallas is a real feline character . . .
A Breed Win — Regional Win Leslie and I believe in setting goals. After Dallas granded, we decided to try to see if he could earn a breed win. Only half the season remained, but we knew it was still possible . . . so off to the shows we all went with that goal in mind. The Southern Region is known for having shows that attract plenty of campaigners so competition is always tough. Still, a good cat will do well and Dallas steadily gained points. Once we realized that Dallas was going to earn the breed win for Best Smoke nationally, it was time for a new goal — Could he be a regional winner too? Hmmmm . . .
Due to personal reasons, he was only shown one time after February. At the last show of the season, in his very final ring, Dallas was awarded Best Cat. He was in full coat with his undercoat as white as ever. In all, he finaled in a total of 83 rings for the season and finished as CFA's Best Smoke & Shaded Persian and the Southern Region’s 7th Best Cat. It will be difficult to say goodbye to Dallas but he will eventually go to live in South Africa, joining the other Palmetto smokes at L'Exquisite Persians. Showing Dallas together was something that brought a lot of joy to both Leslie and myself. He is a special boy indeed . . .
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Below are photos from the show career of GC, BW, RW Palmetto's Dallas Black Smoke Male CFA Best Smoke 2012-2013 Born: August 15, 2011
|
Legal Disclaimer | Report A Broken Link or Typo : : : : : : : : : : : : : : |