Sphynx cats win hearts at show

Picture / Amos Chapple

Stunning sphynx Fraggle Rock (left) was sitting pretty after taking a prize at the Nine Lives All-Breeds Cat Club in Hamilton yesterday.

It won best in show for a neutered kitten, to the delight of the thousands of cat-lovers who attended the event at Hamilton Gardens.

"The winning cat is one that closest fits its written standard - a description of what the ideal look is for that particular breed," said John Smithson, one of eight judges at the club's annual show.

"We look at colour, bone structure, pattern, texture, eye colour, temperament, personality."

There is no overall winner, but five winners in each of four judging rings: best cat and kitten (neutered and unneutered) and best companion cat, or household pet.

Up from Taupo, Gay Silby's kitten sphynxes, Fraggle Rock and Brazilian, were favourites with the crowd and the judges.

"Fraggle Rock did well across the board, an excellent example of a spyhnx cat," Mr Smithson said.

Club president Ross Arcus said about 130 cats from throughout the North Island were on display. Winning breeders took home products such as cat food.

For many breeders, the show was a dress rehearsal for the World Cat Federation Cat Show in Kohimarama on May 28, which will include judges from Russia, Germany and the US.