Life's Moments: 4-H: Cat Judging

Monday, May 8, 2017

4-H: Cat Judging

Well, this year, Fezziwig was a lot more scared than at last year's judging. He hissed at the judges and bit the cat coordinator who was trying to put him back up on the judging table after he jumped down. Hailey started to cry thinking that she was now going to be disqualified (cat bites are supposed to be an automatic disqualification). I felt so bad for her. The judges were very nice, though, and consoled her, telling her that it was not her fault. A couple other 4-Hers came up and told her their stories about when their animals were not behaving during judging either. One of the moms had a pheromone spray that she sprayed into his cage to help calm him down. Hailey regained her composure and went back to the judging table to finish answering questions. I love that the majority of 4-H judging is based on what you have learned instead of just the output. The judges were very impressed that for being so young, she didn't give up and went back up to finish the judging process. Learning to persevere in the face of adversity. She answered all the questions perfectly, not missing any points. She was awarded a blue ribbon for Cat Care and a blue ribbon & reserve champion for Junior Cat Showmanship. We were so surprised...Hailey even more so! We all certainly felt a little guilty, too, but the cat coordinator said that the judges wanted her to know that they were very proud of her. We're not sure if she'll show Fezzi next year. We'll have to talk to the vet and see if he was really scared or if this is just his personality. Hopefully the vet will have some suggestions for her!

Reading through the notes on cat care and showmanship before being judged.

Meeting with the Cat Care judge. He was smelling her hand and arm for the other cats that had been previously judged. Shortly after he started hissing at anyone who touched him.