Tri County 4-H Cat show small but sweet

[August 02, 2021]   On Saturday morning, the annual 4-H Cat Show was held at the Logan County Fairground in Lincoln. Because Logan County is now one of three in the Tri-county Extension District, participants eligible for the show were from Logan, Menard and Sangamon Counties.

This year the cat show was small but sweet with only two kitties entered in one category – Indoor Cat.

The judge for the cat show was Kay Armbruster of Cha-Dai Pet Motel. Assisting her was Cha-Dai staffer and 2021 Miss Logan County Fair Queen contestant Jayden Lawrence.

The two entries were Alexis Armstrong and Jenna Beck. Each young lady came to the judges table with their kitty and spent the next several minutes speaking with Armbruster about their pet.





Armbruster was casual with the kids asking about their interests and creating a comfortable rapport with each girl. She asked how they cared for the kitty and other topics.

She then examined each of the cats, noting that both were very healthy, not too lightweight and not too heavy.

She cautioned the girls on being sure not to let their kitties over eat and get chubby and talked about playing with the cats and keeping them active.

The final question she asked each girl was if someone said they were considering getting a kitten for the first time, what advice would the girls give.

Jenna said that she would first tell someone to think about it and be sure that they were prepared to love and take care of a pet. She said it was important to understand that pets need proper care and a good home, but they also need lots of love and attention.

Alexis said that she would tell people to first make a complete list of everything they will need in order to care for a kitten. Take into consideration toys, food, litter box and litter and know where the kitty will sleep. Have everything put where it will stay when they bring their pet home so that the animal will feel comfortable and learn quickly where to go for food, potty, rest and play.
 

Armbruster said that both answers were very good and correct. She also commented on a side bar that she is seeing at her business a big increase in people who needed temporary housing for their pets. She said that there was a Covid effect that people are now dealing with. In a year when people were told to stay home, they decided to get a pet for company. Now, as folks are trying to get back to their normal lives, they are finding that they need pet motel services for their animals because they are no longer staying home day in and day out.

Both girls received blue ribbons. After giving it several minutes of consideration, she announced that Jenna Beck, a Sangamon County 4-H member, and her orange tiger stripe named Oliver would receive the plaque for Top Indoor Cat.



The plaque was donated by Scott Goodman Backhoe Service. Logan County Fair Royalty were on hand to present the plaque to Jenna.

[Nila Smith]