Logan County Fair

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Cats calmly await judgment in cells
at Logan County Fair    
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[AUG. 2, 2003]  As you walked into the exhibition hall, the cats all sat in cages. Beside each cage a young girl stood watching over them like a jailer over inmates. Was there a problem here? Were these bad cats? Quite the contrary, these cats were the best in the litter. They were lucky cats, well cared for and loved by the girls who stood by their cages. The cats were part of the Logan County 4-H Cat Show.

At the cat show, judges determine which cats are the best in three categories: the best outside cat, the best indoors cat and the best kitten.

Jennifer Schahl had an orange tabby tomcat that she had entered in the outside category. Cheddar was Jennifer's cat's name. Cheddar is just over a year old. He was adopted from Logan County's animal shelter. He quietly awaited his turn to be judged.

Camillia Bone and her sister Brittney Bone brought two long-haired cats named Otis and Milo. They also did not seem to mind that they were sitting in cages in front of an audience of people. Both Otis and Milo are 7 years old.

Faith Crawford brought a calico cat to be judged. Kelly is a big, indoor cat, 3 years old. She didn't appear to be excited about what was going on.

There were lots of other cats in the hall. Taylor was a big black-and-white cat that Jenie Maxheimer brought. There was a tortoise shell cat. There were also kittens.

The interesting thing about all of these felines was that none of them was the least bit finicky. They were a bunch of cool cats.

Cats are normally not that easy-going in front of a lot of strange people. If they are left to themselves, cats can be extremely laid-back. You often find cats perched off by themselves, asleep in the sun. But when you bring a lot of people around a cat, the cat is up and alert, and the cat is ready to pounce on things if it needs to. That's just how it is around cats. Cats are also nosey and very curious, especially when they sense that something is going on. Kittens are particularly playful and curious.

What was up with these cats? Why did they not exhibit these typical nervous feline behaviors? The 4-H club girls had worked with the cats. The competition takes a lot of work, and the cats received a lot of tender loving care. The cats had to pass certain criteria to even be able to sit in the hall and participate.

 

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Stefanie Crane, the judge of the show, said that the main criterion is cleanliness. But the cleanliness that she would base her judging on was much more than a cat cleaning itself. Their ears had to be clean; they could not have ear mites. Their teeth had to be clean and free from tartar. They could not have fleas or ticks. They had to have their rabies and distemper vaccination. They also had to be checked for leukemia.

Dr. Kivitle thoroughly checked each cat and signed a form saying that they had passed the criteria for the competition. He said that the 4-H members really work hard to be sure that their cat is ready. They take very good care of their cats, brush their hair and make sure that the cat's coat is healthy.

So that takes care of the cats' physical health, but it still did not explain why the cats were so calm. Were they "cat-atonic"? No, once again the cats' temperament was due to the young ladies who cared for them. The cats not only received lots of tender loving care at home but they were worked with to develop their calm demeanor. In 4-H the girls learned about handling the cats for show. Starting several months before the competition, the cats, including the kittens, were taken to environments that were strange to them and exposed to people they did not know. It was enough so that by the day of the show and the time to be judged these cats were relaxed and ready for anything.

The judges made their decisions and the winning cats in each category received prizes. Scott Goodman, the superintendent of the cat show, said that 4-H gave a small monetary prize to each winner. But from the looks of things, all of the 4-H participants were winners.

The cats were the luckiest of all, however, because they had the dedicated girls caring for them. The people of Logan County are also lucky. They can take great pride in the young people who belong to the Logan County 4-H, a club that puts tender loving care and lots of dedicated hard work into everything they do.

[Don Todd]

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