The night before, the night before Christmas

Twas the night before, the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except for the Bobtails. While all the other cats were nestled in their beds with visions of catnip toys dancing in their heads, the Bobtails were all through the house, climbing cat trees, opening cabinets and opening boxes.

One by one they each did their best to see what kind of mischief they could get into. From Pierre, the oldest to PJ the youngest, Bobtail mischief making at its very best.

You simply can't do anything in a house with Bobtails without them offering to help or at least supervise. They are social creatures. When they want to be. When you want a Bobtail, they're nowhere to be found.

I was working in the garage yesterday for a few hours and every time I came back into the house, there they sat, waiting for me. When I finally sat down, do did they; one on top of me, presumably to hold me down, the others stationed within arms length.

Gotta love that Bobtail love.

Bells on Bobtails ring!! Yeah right, bells on Bobtails, will get quickly removed and dropped into the bathtub for some noisy nighttime action. :-)

meow for now,
melissa

I miss my tree......

I miss my Christmas tree. I have a beautiful 4 ft Christmas tree with little bits of snow on it. I also have these cute little white lights that look like pinecones. To go with the tree are ornaments from my childhood, from my grandparents, and from past clients.

So....why do I miss this tree? Where has it gone? It is in boxes in my garage. The reason.....I have cats. I did try for awhile. Two years I think. The first was Sean. I had the tree sitting on a coffee table in front of the sliding door. The area in front of the door was tiled. This is important. On the tree I had these little glass ornaments that someone had given me. HAD is a key word here. Sean, experiencing his first Christmas thought the little glass ornaments were pretty. And proceeded to spike them off of the tree like little volleyballs. Now he had two choices. He could have stood on the tile and spiked the ornaments towards the carpet. Or.....he could have stood on the carpet and spiked them towards the tile. Bingo.....he spiked towards the tile.

Needless to say, no more glass ornaments. We then got Elsa. Or....Elsa No as she became known as. Elsa, no. Elsa, no. Elsa, no. I kept finding her looking at me from the tree, about two branches up. That was the last year I put up my pretty little tree.

I did try a cheap, cute, two foot tree once. They managed to take off many of the decorations and then break the trunk.

Now please keep in mind that I'm talking about the regular cats. Not the Bobtails. God only knows what my Bobtails would do with a Christmas tree. Part of me wants to find out, the other part really doesn't want to know. This crew of mine.......let's just say I love them dearly and want to keep on loving them dearly.

Although everyone is older now. This will be the first Christmas in about 10 years that I don't have a kitten running about. The youngest is 1 1/2 years, the oldest is 13 years old. I might just try it........next year.

Of course, if I put up the tree on Sunday, that should give me plenty to write about for the next few days..........for a few hours on Sunday..........maybe for a few minutes. :-)

I'll have to think about it.........

meow for now,
melissa

Let's hear it for the boys!!!

So.....let's hear it for the Kokopellie boys. Polar and PJ went to Tucson. Nicky couldn't make the trip to Arizona with us. Poor Jon just wasn't up to driving 3 hours to drop Czar Nicholas off in Escondido. The good news is that his right wing is mending nicely. He even made an appearance in Arcadia last weekend.

So, the Bobtail boys who went to Tucson did quite nicely. Both of them managed to bring home 11 finals each. Woohoo!! They both behaved wonderfully as well. The show was fun. Not as much fun as when my partner in crime is there but Mom and I did manage to enjoy ourselves.

I took over Jon's roll of orchid provider. Jon always donates orchids for the raffle. They adorn the judges' tables all weekend and then on Sunday we raffle them off. In addition to 6 beautiful orchids we had a gorgeous Christmas cactus available as well. There was a fight over that one with Mom coming out the winner. :-)

The show after Tucson was Arcadia. It was the annual Kat Knappers Christmas show. We had a great time. The count was low, but the quality was exceptional.

Czar Nicholas came home with 9 out of 10 finals, including Best Cat in show. Polar followed along with 7 out of 10 finals and 3rd Best Alter in show. PJ brought home 4 finals, Boris got 1 final and a new forever home and Silver Tiger, an alter being shown by his new parents, Richard and Janet Martinez also got a final. Nicky, Polar and PJ each also got at least one Best as well. This officially Supremes Nicky. We thought he had done it last month, but our calculations were wrong. Oops!! So you know what that means. There's a party in our future. Stay tuned for details.

Now the boys are on Christmas break. We have a show coming up in Lodi. We're hoping to be there. We'll have to wait and see. Otherwise we'll be showing twice in Arcadia in January. Looks like some of the ladies of Kokopellies might be joining us for some of those Arcadia shows. Stay tuned.......

meow for now,
melissa

Where has the time gone?

I can't believe it's been a little over two months since I last posted. Where does time go? I guess it could be because this season hasn't been quite as exciting as last season. Remember.....this is the place for me to brag about the Kokopellie cats.

For the last three years we have been actively campaigning Polar and Frosty for International wins. Joining them this past season were PJ and Nicky as well. Campaigning can take a lot out of you physically, emotionally and financially. Plus it's tough on the cats as well. But through it all the boys all did fantastic. Not a grump in the bunch.

The plans for this season and next are to relax a bit and try for a regional win on whoever we show. So you won't be seeing us all over the country. Time to stay home and recoup.

Nicky and PJ, kittens at this time last year, have come along quite nicely. Check out the website and the Show Cats page to see their big boy photos. Grrrr..........very, very grrrrr........

Let's see......I've been trying to put together a cookbook to aid research in HCM and FIP. It has been completely overwhelming. I expected to get 200 recipes max. I received over 600!! Now I have to pick and choose and edit. And....not all the recipes came via email. Some need to typed into the computer from handwritten notes as well. Ah.......it's a labor of love. I had been hoping to get it out by Christmas. That's not going to happen. Unfortunately. I'm also thinking that it's going to be multiple volumes as well. Just to keep the size down. Otherwise it could rival the yellow pages.

What else has been keeping us busy? Hmm.......lots of local Arcadia shows. And of course I'm the vendor coordinator for those shows. Never a dull moment here that's for sure.

Jon just had surgery on his shoulder. Ouch!! He's recovering and doing well. Unfortunately he'll miss one of his favorite shows this coming weekend in Tucson.

Other than that........the rest remains the same for now. The Bobtails are up to their usual antics. Last night was quite an event. I didn't have to look outside to confirm that there was a full moon. I was ready to put the whole herd up for adoption. LOL. It is really quite amazing how the Bobs all stick together. They run in a little pack.

So now we're gearing up for Christmas. Lots to do in the next 25 days. Two cat shows, a trip to Disneyland, guests for Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas breakfast. Fun, fun, fun.

meow for now,
melissa

TICA Annual-post weekend wrap up

I almost forgot to post about the TICA Annual held over Labor Day weekend in Orlando, FL. We had an absolute grand time. The trip out was uneventful. The hotel was nice. Mom and I met up with Jon and Jan on Thursday for dinner after they came back from an airboat ride. Sounded like a lot of fun.

The whole weekend was a whirlwind. Arrive on Thursday. Dinner out on Thursday. Epcot on Friday. Welcome reception Friday night. Dinner with friends Friday night. Show on Saturday. Meet and greet our new kittens that we picked up on Saturday. Banquet on Saturday evening. Collect all the awards. Show on Sunday. Dinner on Sunday after the show. Monday fly home. Monday evening come down with bad cold. :-(

I was really happy that we were able to do some sightseeing. The hotel was really nice and tropical. We ate at some great restaurants. The banquet on Saturday evening was nice. We went home with some great memories. Got to see Cindy, Claire and Debbie again. Haven't seen Cindy in 5 years. It was like old home week. Put in an order for a Maine Coon with Cindy. Took lots of pictures, etc, etc, etc.

Now it's back to business. There's a show in Vegas this weekend. Alas.....we won't be there. Eventhough the counts are phenomenal just kind of decided that we needed a break. We have Arcadia next weekend and Lodi the weekend after that.

I'm going up to Jon's this weekend to check up on our future show babies. We have two little fluffballs from Mufasa and Sasha that are showing a lot of promise. If they shape up accordingly they'll debut at the November Arcadia show. The only problem will be which one to show? They are both really nice. Time will tell.

JJ, Polar's Mom, is due any minute. We bred her to Snow Fox, PJ's Dad. Hopefully we'll get a whole litter of show babies. I told Jon to rub her belly and wish for 4 show babies. I know someone in England who has been waiting forever!!

Sometime in all of the preparation for the Annual I decided to put together a cookbook to aid FIP and HCM research. Why? I have no bloody idea. Like I don't have enough going on right now. It seemed like a good idea at the time. :-) So now I'm collecting and organizing recipes. So please share your recipes with me. You can email them to me, megncats@cox.net Be sure to include your city and state or country on your submissions. I'll meow more about the cookbook another day.

Cuddling babies this weekend!! Can't wait. I think we'll be naming the little fluffballs this weekend. They are so incredibly adorable. Can't wait to hold them again!

Have a great weekend. Stay cool if you're in a hot area.

meow for now,
melissa

The day that changed our lives.....

I can remember that moment as if it was yesterday instead of 8 years ago. It was 7:36am and I was reading my TICAMEMBERS emails. I had WGN news on in the background. I had just finished reading an email from JP Demers when I heard something in the background about a plane hitting a building in New York. I stopped emails and went and watched the news for awhile. I changed channels to Good Morning America. I admit it. I changed channels because it looked like an interesting news story and I knew that the network morning news shows would be covering it because it was local.

Then I heard Diane Sawyer's voice talking about the second plane. I saw it on live TV, but it didn't register in my mind what I had seen until I saw it again. Just unbelieveable.

The flood of information that kept coming at you minute by minute, second by second. I still can't believe what I was seeing. Sometime during all this I called and made a reservation for a hotel for an upcoming cat show. Then the Pentagon got hit. Then there was another missing plane. Then the first Tower came down. Then the second Tower came down.

Was this really happening? What was next? Then all the planes were grounded. Grounded for days. It was eerie. We lived close to O'Hare Airport so the sound of airplanes was common place. The day we heard the first plane over head was creepy. We were in Franklin Park when that plane went over head. It sounded so loud, so close.

Our lives turned upside down that day. I remember keeping my TV on for days afterwards. It never went off. I slept with it on for the first few days, just in case they found a survivor in the rumble. I didn't want to miss it. Instead we saw the flag draped stretchers that carried out the firemen that went in and never came out.

I will forever remember that day, that minute, that second. Hopefully this country will never forget what happened. In spite what over inflated Hollywood egos seem to think. The US government did not orchestrate this tragedy. Religious zealots did this.

In my opinion, this day and December 7th should be national holidays. A day to remember a tremendous loss for our country.

I hope everyone will remember this day and what happened and how it changed our lives forever........

meow for now,
melissa

All is well once again

I know my last post was a bit ominous. It was a bad week. To hear my best friend sound so down on something that he absolutely loves. It was heartbreaking. Luckily.......it was a bad week and things and feelings have passed and all seems right with the world again.

We are so looking forward to the TICA Annual sneeking up on us in just over a week. Very exciting. Plans are being made. Restaurants are being sought for some good old fashioned fun. Theme parks are being investigated for which will provide the best time. Mental lists are being made for what needs to be packed. A great time is being planned.

Plans for the future are also being made. We have several Siberian kittens that are showing great promise. We anxiously watching the two from Sasha and Mufasa. They're little butterballs with the thickest, fluffiest coats I have ever seen on 5 week old kittens. They look better than some adults. And the heads!! Round with perfect profiles. We can't wait to see these little ones get bigger. It's always exciting to see something with so much promise at such a young age. I'll post pictures soon of these little shaggy bears.

So.....luckily our little dark cloud that was hanging over us has passed. Sometimes it helps to take a breath and think things through and to realize how lucky and fortunate we really are. It also didn't hurt to receive TICA's newest brochure in the mail on Saturday. It has a picture of Jon holding Frosty and receiving a Best Cat rosette from Hisako Yamada. He was truly touched and honored that TICA would choose to use that photo on the 30th Anniversary brochure.

On to Orlando and tons of fun!!!

meow for now,
melissa

What do you do?

What do you do when something you love, something that is a part of you is no longer fun? When you feel like you're being passed by and left behind? Unfortunately a dear friend of mine is facing that right now. He said that the cat fancy isn't fun anymore. There are cliques and hierarchy that nobody can get into.

In some ways I very much agree with him. Let's face it. The cat fancy is a bit like high school. You have the in crowd and everyone else. Sometimes the in crowd will let you in briefly, to give you a taste of what you're missing, and then send you back. No matter how hard you work to achieve your goals, nothing you do matters, unless you know the right people.

We have tried very hard to achieve that level. Never in a million years did I think I would be going to an Annual show to collect four awards. When I entered my first show over 14 years ago, I didn't even know if I would get a regional award. Now.......with lots of hard work, I've achieved a certain level. Definitely not the in crowd, but a higher level. If you think of it in high school standards, perhaps a junior. My dear friend is the same way. He has struggled and fought for every win, every point, every award. When you work with minority breeds, it isn't easy.

He finally thought that he had reached the senior level. Only to be basically told to go back to the sophomore level. It's made him rethink being in the cat fancy. It's given him a new perspective on things. It's making him consider leaving the fancy.

It does make one wonder. Why are some people told that they have to put in their time, to pay their dues, so to speak, before they're rewarded with the higher wins, while others are welcomed with open arms and lavished with finals and praise? It's discouraging. You hear stories from people who just celebrated their first supreme. After 16 years they just received their first supreme. Then you hear others who brag about 3 show supremes.

Is it all really about the cat? Or is it about who owns the cat? We do need to be honest. Everyone knows it's not just about the cat. Anyone who thinks otherwise should take off their rose colored glasses. Showing cats is political. A friend, who is also a judge, has told me time after time, the Best Cat, Kitten, Alter, etc isn't necessarily the best. They just happen to have more money and opportunity than others.

I've always known that the cat fancy is political. Let's face it. It's a competition. There is bound to be politics involved. Some of it is who you know and who knows you. I guess the biggest thing for us, is that it never really effected us until this past season. When we were briefly let in to run with the seniors. Now that we've been sent back to be with the underclassmen it's a bit of a hard pill to swallow. Makes you even wonder at times is this all worth it? Is it worth the heartache? You bring something to the show that you've worked on producing only to be told it's not any good. Eventhough you were told months ago that it was great. What's changed?

Are the only ones who do well in the cat fancy those who prey on others to get ahead? The ones who play the game dishonestly? The ones who are in the good graces of the judges? The ones who can afford to go somewhere every weekend? The ones who offer you their friendship and then stab you in the back?

We had an incredible show season last year. We showed some incredible cats. They are the epitome of the standard. So what changed? We're still showing the same cats.

I guess there comes a time in everyone's life when they need to step back, take time off and make decisions about their future. It's when you realize that life will go on without you. That your shoes will be filled by the next person in the door. That nobody will miss you or what you have to bring to the table. It makes you wonder if all the praise and good things that were said to you were to make you feel good so you keep coming back and bringing entries for shows. How does one know if what is being said to them is the honest truth or a slick way to get you to spend money at the shows?

It really makes me wonder if this is all worth it..........

meow for now,
melissa

The SW Regional

Well.......what could I possibly say. It was a great weekend. Starting on Friday we went to Porto Alegre for Brazilian food, followed by cheesecake and champagne in our room. This started the weekend off.

The show on Saturday was fun. The banquet........we had the best time. My dress was very well received. The champagne flowed at our table. It was just magical. Jon and I had to go up several times. That probably made it the most fun.

When you're so caught up in the moment, it's very hard to visualize the things going on around you. I'm fairly certain and Jon confirmed it that Polar was very much applauded when he was called out for 2nd Best Alter. It seemed pretty loud to me and I think I saw several people standing for him. I do remember it being loud because I was very touched and teared up a little on my way up. I do know that everyone liked the photo that I used of Polar for the Powerpoint. It was just an extreme closeup of his face. I'll have to see about posting it here. I'm also going to see about posting a picture of me, in the dress, with my partner in crime Jon.

With as wonderful as the weekend was and with how much we were looking forward to it, I am amazed at how little there is to say. It lived up to all our expectations to say the least. We had a big box of awards and rosettes to bring home. Our benching area was covered on Sunday. We had lots of people coming over and congratulating us all weekend long. It was almost like a wedding. Too funny.

Now we're concentrating on the upcoming Annual. Again, should be another fun filled evening. Can't wait.....

meow for now,
melissa

special offer from Regional vendor

I will chat more about the incredible time we had at the regional in a separate post. I wanted to highlight an offer that one of my vendors has for everyone.

I invited a Tastefully Simple representative to the show. Karalee Johnson is my rep from where I live. She trekked the two hours north to help out and vend at the show. Karalee loves cats.

So......she is holding an open book catalog show until Friday, Aug 7th. A portion of the proceeds from the sale will go to an animal shelter.

You can order online and use her representative # 1205, not sure if you have to mention cat show somewhere. Or if you have any questions you can call her at 760-735-5998 or email her at catshow@lovethatgarlic.com

Tastefully Simple has very easy to prepare mixes that taste incredible. They also have some great seasoning blends and sauces.

I'm encouraging anyone who can to order and help the kitties.

meow for now,
melissa

The SW Regional is upon us....

Well, tomorrow is the day. The SW Regional. We have been busily preparing for months. Planning party favors, choosing a dress, etc. We are set to go.

For now I just have to endure the pre-event stress stuff. Need to finish the party favors. Need to finish stuffing the cat beds to sell. Need to make my fur toys to sell. Need to paint my toe nails. Need to leave work early to do errands and then go home and pack and feed the cats and scoop litterboxes and hit the road. Ugh.....I'm tired just thinking about it.

But by 7:30 tonight it will all be worth it. That's when our weekend officially begins. We have reservations at a Brazilian restaurant across the street from the hotel with a group of our friends. Then back to our room for champagne and cheesecake. We are celebrating.

Tomorrow we will round up all the cats that we brought, herd them down to the show hall, kick back and relax with our friends. Tomorrow night is the banquet. This should be fun. A time to celebrate the great season that not only we had but the great season that our friends had as well. I know there are some who are getting their first Regional win ever. It's a very exciting time for everyone.

Of course there will be the special awards as well at the banquet. Can't wait to see who won the Piggy Award. I'm pretty sure we were edged out. Thank god......I don't want to wear the piggy snout. Then we'll see who wins the SW Judge of the Year, Member of the Year and who knows what other special awards await us.

It looks like we're in store for a fine weekend. I've been to many regional awards banquets. For some reason this one seems just a bit sweeter than the rest.........

I'll report back on Monday!!

meow for now,
melissa

So much to do, so little time....

It has been suggested that I change the name from the Daily Meow to the Not So Daily Meow. Sorry Meowers. Just been so busy trying to get ready for the SW Regional and then the International after that.

We've also had a few litters of kittens getting ready to leave to their new homes, more kittens on the way (we're trying to produce the next Polar or PJ) Keep your fingers crossed. We're fairly sure that JJ is pregnant.

So let's see, what else has been happening.........since the last post.......trying to get entries coordinated for Jon and I for five shows. Also trying to put together a table for the Regional and Annual banquets. And then there are the party favors associated with being Best Cat in the region, plus all the other wins. Right after the Regional I start on the party favors for the Annual. It's busy business having winning cats!! LOL. But I wouldn't trade a second of it for anything. We are having the time of our lives.

Sometime in all of this I need to concentrate on making cat toys for our vendor booth, working on three websites and being vendor coordinator for several cat clubs. Oh.....did I mention that I also need time to work in my real job, take care of the cats and find some time for myself? Too funny.

It's all good reasons for being busy. If the toys weren't selling, I wouldn't have to make more. If the kittens weren't selling, we wouldn't have a need for the website. If the cats weren't winning we wouldn't have a need for party favors. Etc....

Even though you plan things out so they don't fall to the last minute, things always seem to work out that way. Of course I think I do some of my best work under pressure. I ordered the cards for the party favors weeks ago. They're still not here. Should be here Wednesday or Thursday. That means I have 150 party favors to finish either Thursday night or Friday night. Grrrr.....

And sometime this week I need to get my dress to my Mom so she can put straps on my strapless gown. I was going to rely on "the girls" to hold it up, however......if I carry Frosty up for his Best Cat Award, I don't really want him exposing me to the whole room. Frosty always did have a fondness of putting his paw down my shirt when I showed him. I could just see him doing that to me at the banquet. I did entertain the thought of writing something across my bra, just in case. Something like Best Cat. That would have provided a chuckle or two. :-)

Oh well......things will fall into place and all will be right with the world.

Sometime this week I'll have to bathe two cats as well. In spite of me saying that Polar was retired......he will show this coming weekend. I miss showing him and I was asked to bring him.

It's going to be a fun weekend. Frosty will be making an appearance. His last one in a show hall for a long time. Our new kittens, Polar Bear and Arctic Princess will be making their show hall debut to get their training wheels. Two white Siberians courtesy of Frosty.

Sometime during all of this chaos we have managed to get to some local one day shows. Czar Nicholas had his big boy debut at the show on July 11th. He finaled in 8 out of 10 rings. There was a Best Cat in there somewhere. Pj finaled in 5 out of 10 with 2 Best cats. Rudy, our Ragdoll also brought home a few finals.

We can't wait to see what this season has in store for us. Jon and I have both said that we're staying home this season. Just doing our local, driveable shows. We'll see what we can do out of that. We have some interesting kittens coming up. And we can't wait to see what JJ will give us this time around. Seeing as we have a rather long list of people wanting showable Bobtails......I am still looking for the next Polar for myself. I just can't get enough of these Bobtails!!!

I will try to post more regularly. Definitely after this coming weekend.

meow for now,
melissa

the Meow is back!!

Wow....April 20th was my last post. I guess I am stretching the Daily part of the Daily Meow a bit much. But I did say in the very beginning that this wouldn't be a daily Daily Meow. I can't just come up with that much stuff.

So lets see, where to begin since April 20th? Well the show season ended and things didn't exactly end up where we were hoping. We did do exceptionally well, but there is still that tiny black cloud hanging over this season's great accomplishments. I'll get the bad out of the way first. Yes, Polar lost out on Best Alter in the Southwest Region. And he did so by less than 20 points. Very disappointing. I would have absolutely no problem with coming in second if it had been done honestly. Jon and I play fair. We don't cheat or do thing deceptively. It just really hurts when it comes from someone whom I considered a friend. So even though the standings may say that Polar is 2nd Best Alter in the region, we all know that he was really the best.

Now for the rest of the stuff worth cheering for!!!

Kokopellies Czar Nicholar (Nicky)
brown mackerel tabby Siberian
2nd Best Kitten in the SW Region
Best Siberian Kitten in the SW Region
23rd Best Kitten Internationally
2nd Best Siberian Kitten Internationally

Kokopellies Polar Frost (PJ)
chocolate silver lynx point American Bobtail
6th Best Kitten in the SW Region (I think, somewhere right around there)
Best American Bobtail kitten SW Region
Best American Bobtail Cat SW Region
somewhere in the top 20 LH Cats in the SW Region (still waiting on those results)
Best American Bobtail Kitten Internationally
Best American Bobtail Cat Internationally

Kokopellies Polar Express
blue silver lynx point American Bobtail
2nd BEST Alter SW Region
Best American Bobtail Alter SW Region
18th Best Alter Internationally
Best American Bobtail Alter
and yes, if you just read that Polar was best Bobtail Alter and read PJ's accomplishments, then you read correctly. WE SWEPT THE BREED internationally!!!!!!! Woohoo!!
Lifetime Achievement award winner

Cooncreole Zhivago (Frosty)
seal lynx point Siberian
Best Siberian Cat SW Region
BEST CAT SW Region
Best LH Cat SW Region
Best Siberian Internationally
14th Best Cat Internationally
He also gets a LH Cat award Internationally as well!!
Lifetime Achievement award winner

We also have in the Regional winner placings, Kokopellies Alexandra, top 20 kitten award, 2nd Best Siberian kitten SW Region and Kokopellies Sorbet, 2nd Best American Bobtail Kitten, 2nd Best American Bobtail Cat and quite possibly in the top 20 LH Cats in the Region as well.

It's been one hell of a ride. At the awards banquet in Orlando, Jon will have his name called no less than 5 times. My name will be called 4 times (I don't co-own Frosty). We have been so blessed it's unbelieveable.

At the beginning of the season we were just really hoping to get Polar his International win, for his Lifetime Achievement award, and to get a regional win on Frosty so he could get his Lifetime Achievement award and maybe get a regional win for Nicky and PJ. Well.......we did meet our goals. We may have gone a little above and beyond but we did reach our goals. :-)

The only things that marred the season were things that were out of our control and things that I guess only happen when you start to do well and people consider you a threat. I've been showing for 14 years. I know there are things that go on. The politics of campaigning you could call it. I never in a million years thought that someone would start to play those games with us. First the questions, "where are you going next?", start to come. Then accusations, behind our backs of course, "we bought all of our judges", "we drug Frosty". And then the ringers get brought out to stop us when competing the honest way doesn't work. It's been eye opening and hurtful. Would I ever want to work so hard for an International win again? I'm not so sure.

This season has really opened my eyes to whom I can and can't trust. I know I can count on Jon and trust him with my life and with my best interests. The rest........not so sure. When it all comes down to it, this is a competition. Everyone is in it for what they can achieve for themselves. And of course we are in the thick of that competition. But would I sacrifice friendships and my integrity for a higher placing? I would like to think not. I guess what I learned is that just because you call someone your friend doesn't mean that you are their friend. I consider most people in the show hall my friends. I consider some of them my family. Not everyone shares in those feelings. To some, going to shows is just another hobby or another way to make some money.

To me and to Jon, showing should be about fun. If you can't have fun at the show, why go? We love going to the shows, competing against the incredible cats that people bring out, having some laughs and sometimes sharing a great post show meal. To us, it's all about fun and friendships. And, okay, after this season, maybe a few wins to boot!! :-)

Please take a look at the website and check out the 2008-2009 Champions page. I do have some things planned for some of the other pages. The first batch of Siberians are on the ground and growing like weeds. The second batch is due in the next month or so. This should take care of the waiting list and maybe give us something to show as well.

We're going to take it easy this season. We ran hard all last season. PJ will be out at the shows. we'll see how high we can take this incredible little Bobtail. He supremed before the end of the season. So that goal has already been accomplished. It was accomplished in 5 shows. Frosty and Polar are retired. They will be at the Regional for one last hurrah. We might be able to coax Frosty into wearing a tuxedo. I'm going to try. :-) Nicky will also be out starting with either the regional or the annual. There may also be a Siberian kitten thrown in. Time will tell.

That's all for now.

meow for now,
melissa

the season is winding down.

What a difference a year makes. Last year at this time, I was hoping that I would finish in the top 5 in the region. Now......here we are. Polar currently is #2 in the Region and 16th International in the Alter class. He should be sitting in the number one spot in the Region but apparently the owners of the Siamese alter in the region only think that they can beat Polar by agenting someone else's American Bobtail alter the last few shows of the season.

That's right sports fans......they brought the cat to the Phoenix show. Polar and the cat split their rings and Polar lost out on 3 finals he usually gets. Now the owner of the cat has been encouraged to let the owners of the Siamese alter bring it to Tucson. Nice.....the cat has nothing to gain by going. He won't make a regional win, he can't get best of breed either in region or international. But the agents have everything to gain by bringing the cat along. Hmmmm.........just being nice and helping out or being ultra competitive and backstabbing. You be the judge.

All I want in Tucson is a level playing field. I would be more than happy to go head to head with the Siamese and see who is sitting in number one after the dust settles after the last final. But now they've decided to win by backstabbing and being under handed. All we can hope is that Karma will be keeping an eye out for them and that eventually they will get what's coming to them.

So off to Tucson I will go, head held high, and hopeful that little Polar can take back his lead and beat the pants off of them and be the number one Alter in the SW Region as it should have been. We will see what happens in 7 more days......stay tuned.

There was much to talk about after the Easter Arcadia show. Frosty turned in another stellar performance bringing home a bunch of Best Cats and taking Best in Show again. The bright star in the weekend came from the one Best Frosty didn't get. PJ got the Best Cat in Alex Chisholm's ring. That Best Cat made PJ a Supreme Grand Champion. You know what this means.....yet another reason for a party!!! Woohoo........

That Best also moved PJ into the Best American Bobtail slot internationally. Which means.......we could sweep the breed category internationally. Best Kitten, Cat and Alter. Little Nicky is still holding on to an International Kitten spot. He's at #23. Frosty is currently 15th International and #1 Cat in the Region.

It's been a whirlwind of a season. We never in a million years thought we would have a season like this. It's been truly unbelievable. We are truly thankful that we have so many good friends to share all the joy with.

When the backstabbing occured over the Best Alter position in the region, many people came forward with words of encouragement and support. All those words have been taken to heart and are truly appreciated. What goes around comes around.........unfortunately, those who did the deceiving were considered to be friends. That makes it all the more heartbreaking to me. I supported their cat and cheered for it for three seasons. I thought they were doing the same for me. Unfortunately I was wrong in thinking that they were our friends. Kind of makes me wonder sometimes if people can be trusted. Is Jon the only person in the show hall that I can trust?

I have to admit, this whole thing really wanted to make me re-think the whole showing thing. If I consider someone a friend, then they're my friend. No strings attached. I get very hurt when someone who is considered a friend does something deceitful towards me. Probably because I would never dream of doing something like this. I did consider borrowing a Siamese alter and entering it. I had many offers from people. I chose to take the high road and to not bring a Siamese with to Tucson. I had several people contact me and say that they could get me a Siamese alter to show. I turned everyone down. This way I can walk into the show hall with my head held high and know that however it turns out, I did my absolute best and I did it with honesty and integrity. I can live with my self and sleep well at night. They on the other hand.......that's their problem.

Anyhow.......on to bigger and better things. Tucson this coming weekend and then time to plan the festivities for the Regional and the Annual. I can't wait. It will be a great time for sure.

More on Frosty at the PACE show and PJ and Polar at the Orange County Pet Expo in another post.

meow for now...
melissa

Good news and Frosty's world tour continues

So....this season has been so busy it's been terribly difficult to keep up and post as much as I would like. I am also, hopelessly addicted to Facebook. I admit it. So....if any of you meowers out there are on Facebook, add me as a friend, Melissa Eichler, so long as you promise to sign up for Mob Wars, Mafia Wars, Dragon Wars and Pirates so I can get more crew members. :-)

Anyhow....on to the exciting cat news. First off, I'm a grandma. My beautiful Izzy, Cooncreole Iziza, had three beautiful kittens early this morning. I got the call this morning. When I answered the phone I heard, "Good morning, Grandma". She had two browns and a lynx point. I don't want to gush too much and jinx anything. The first few days are critical, but so far so good. Jon said at first she didn't want to stay put with the babies. We were afraid of hypothermia. But he put Izzy and her babies in with Basha and her babies and all is right with the world now. Just what the world needs, three more Siberians. I'll keep you all posted.

And now for Frosty's world tour update. Frosty and Polar traveled to the beautiful, cloudy and rainy NW last weekend to Tukwila, WA. The boys did well. Frosty finaled in 14 out of 18 rings and Polar finaled in 9 out of 12. Polar only attended for two of the three days. Frosty continues his retirement world tour this weekend in beautiful Lewiston, ME, where he and Jon will dine on crab and lobster rolls while I keep you all updated on how the show is going. Does that seem fair? Frosty's world tour will continue for the whole month concluding at the Inn Suites in beautiful Tucson, AZ. We hope many of you will be able to join us for the conclusion of the tour. If the tour does well and ends successfully, we will be hosting a party in Orlando, FL, over Labor Day weekend. :-) Keep your fingers, toes and paws crossed.

Not to be out done, Polar has been doing his own mini tour. He is Frosty's opening act at the more local shows. If all goes well for Polar's mini tour, he too will be co-hosting the party in Orlando with Frosty. Time will tell........

I can't believe how lucky and blessed we have been this season. We could have 2, maybe 3 International winners. We could possibly sweep the American Bobtail category internationally. Frosty and Polar should both receive International wins, their Lifetime Achievement awards and possibly Best Cat in the SW Region for Frosty and Best Alter for Polar. It's been an amazing season with only 29 more days to go.

Stay tuned......
meow for now,
melissa

Belated birthday for my Sean and Kate

I'm such a horrible cat mom. I forgot to wish my Sean and Kate a happy birthday on March 17th. They're St Patricks babies. They came from a good Irish kitty family. Four red boys and a torbie girl.

They came to me at just three days old. I kept Sean and Kate to hand raise. Another family took the other three. Sean Thornton and Mary Kate Danaher if you please. They got their names from the John Wayne movie, The Quiet Man. A family favorite.

They turned 11 this year. Hard to believe where the time goes. 11 years ago, all five fit into two hands. Today, Sean's head is bigger than my two hands. :-) Sean....one of the loves of my life. Miss Kate, loves her Daddy. (My Dad). They adopted each other.

Belated birthday wishes to Sean and Kate.

meow for now,
melissa

Happy Birthday PJ

Today is my little PJ's first birthday. PJ has been such a joy to show. For those who don't know his name stands for Polar Junior. When he was a baby we thought he was the same color as Polar, a blue silver. After a couple of months, when his color started to darken, it became apparent that he wasn't. He was a chocolate silver. Thanks to Jeff Roberts for pointing it out to us!!

PJ very much takes after his Dad, Snow Fox. He has Snowy's laid back, mellow temperament. Which makes for a great show kitty. We're really glad that we decided to keep him. Sorry Claire!! We are working on making you your very own PJ. :-) I promise.

Any how.....today PJ becomes a big boy. And is he ever a big boy. I'm taking Polar to the vet for a health certificate tomorrow. I'm taking PJ along to weigh him. We've been trying to guess his weight for awhile now. My guess is 12-14 lbs. We'll see tomorrow. Whatever it is, the boy is a chunk. He is such a joy, such a momma's boy. I wouldn't mind a house full of PJs. Heck, a house full of Bobtails. Of course I am close to that now. There are four Bobtails running around my house. They range from 1 year to 13 years. They all stick together. Nothing better than a house full of Bobs!!

Happy Birthday baby boy. Tuna cake for all tonight!!

meow for now,
melissa

Highs and Lows

With every show season comes a series of highs and lows. You'll have a great show one weekend followed by several lousy shows. This season has been one season long high. The cats have risen to the occasion each and every time we asked them to. We've been pinching ourselves so much that Jon and I have black and blue marks all over our arms. :-)

It's not like we thought our cats never had a chance. Just the opposite. We know we have good cats. The obstacle is to get the judges to think that we have good cats. That is the opinion that matters when it comes down to it.

This season has been so incredible that I've been keeping track of how many finals we've gotten. To date we have had 608 finals. We have had 9 Best in Shows. Frosty has had 6 Best in Shows. It has been a dream season.

We have no idea how this magical season will end. There are still a lot of shows between now and the end of the season. We will have to wait until the end of the show in Tucson to finally breath and for the dust to settle at the Executive Office. Where will we end up? We're keeping our fingers, toes and paws crossed for the desired outcome. No matter what happens, it has been one hell of a ride, with no complaints.

Most people wait a lifetime for a season like this. I've waited 14 years. I'm enjoying each and every day that comes my way. One thing is for sure. When the dust finally settles, Kokopellies Polar Express will be the Best American Bobtail ever shown, kitten, cat or alter. He has proven to be the epitome of the breed. He is the standard to which all should strive to be. No, I'm not biased. :-)

Funny enough, we have some of our success owed to some Maine Coon breeders. About three years ago, Jon inquired to several Maine Coon breeders about getting a Maine Coon. He just really liked the breed and wanted one to show. He was turned down by all of them. Then he saw the Siberian and talked with Judy Chappetta of Cooncreole Siberians. Cooncreole Zhivago, aka Frosty, came to live with Jon. The rest is history. Three International Best of Breeds, two International wins, multiple Regional wins and now an International winning (hopefully) kitten from Frosty, later.........need we say any more? Without the Maine Coon breeders, we wouldn't be where we are now. Thanks guys. We appreciate it more than you know.

So.....time to prepare for more highs and lows, peaks and valleys. This season isn't over with yet. Can't wait to see how it ends. Hope you'll all stay with us for the ride.

meow for now,
melissa

The Quest for Best

Okay, it's official. I'm officially bitten by the, "there's a possibility that Polar might be Best Alter in the region" bug. To make things even more exciting Frosty could actually get Best Cat in the region as well. It's a very tight race for both of them with fierce competition.

Frosty is in the middle of a three way race. It's going to be tight and down to the wire. We're keeping our fingers, toes and paws crossed.

Polar is still hanging on to that 14th position internationally. He's still hanging on to the #1 spot in the SW Region. I am not holding my breath. There are a couple of fantastic kitties close behind that have really come in to there own as of late. Again, it will go down to the wire. May the best kitty win.

However it ends we certainly can't complain. Jon and I have been extremely fortunate this season. We were blessed with an incredible crop of cats to show. Not a bad one in the lot. We actually had to leave some at home or pet them out.

The last two Arcadia shows have been fun. Frosty finaled in 9 out of 10 rings at the San Gabriel show and 8 out of 10, I believe, at the SoCal Exotica show. Polar finaled in 7 out of 10, I believe, at both shows. Both cats had very good showings. PJ came out to show again as well. His head is starting to catch up with the rest of his body and he looks more in proportion now. We'll run him for the last few shows of the season and see where he ends up.

He's getting so big, I may have to train him to get himself up and back from the rings. :-)

So our Quest for Best continues. Two shows in two weeks. We're off to Primm, NV this weekend, Phoenix in two weeks, Arcadia and Tucson in April. It's a full schedule but we're hoping the outcome will be most rewarding. If nothing else, we're going to have a great time at all the shows. Because after all, if the shows aren't fun, what's the purpose of going?

Traveling to the out of town shows with some wine, cheese, crackers and great cats is what it is all about. Oh.....and good friends as well.

meow for now,
melissa

The Meow is Back......

Well.....I guess it's been some time since I last meowed at everyone. Sorry for the gap. Call it a circumstance of life. Or....the down side of owning pets. We bring them into our lives knowing that they will only be with us for a short time. It never does seem to get any easier. Anyhow....back to the brighter side of things. The show cats!!

To update everyone on the last Arcadia show, the boys did well. Frosty was Best Cat in show again. Polar managed to do quite nicely as well and picked up some nice points to keep him in the thick of the hunt for an international win. Since the January Arcadia show the boys have enjoyed some down time. Which I'm sure was well needed. Now, as we head into the home stretch, there will be no real down time. There are 11 weeks left in the show season. In those 11 weeks Polar and PJ have 6 more shows and Frosty has 7. Three of the shows are in back to back to back weekends.

But, if all goes well and the boys get the kind of finals we're hoping for then the payoff will be well worth it. In addition to International wins, we could conceivably be getting Best Cat in the SW region and Best Alter in the SW region. It could be absolutely incredible if it happened. I'm not holding my breath, but being hopeful and keeping my fingers crossed.

Unfortunately the end of the season brings out the ugly side of people sometimes. There are some who believe in winning at all cost. They don't seem to care how much money they spend or about the welfare of the cat in some cases, sad to say. We don't believe in that. This season has been expensive enough as it is. But.....we were blessed with 8 cats that could and wanted to do their best in the show ring. We showed as many as possible, with the main focus on the Fab Four.

So here we go, into the home stretch of the season. Only time will tell if we will end up on top. Even if we don't, there are some great cats in competition this season. To finish 2nd or 3rd to any of them would be an honor.

So Daily Meow fans.....please keep your fingers and toes and paws crossed for Cooncreole Zhivago (Frosty) and Kokopellies Polar Express (Polar) in their race to be the Best. :-) We could use all your warm and fuzzy thoughts.

On the cattery side of things.....we've had a new litter of Bobtails born at the end of December. Looks like we could have some show potential out of the litter. Frosty was busy with his harem the last month or so. Hopefully in the next couple of months I'll be bringing you news from the nursery.

That's all for now.

meow for now,
melissa

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all my Daily Meowers. Sorry for the lack of posts. I decided to take a bit of time off from meowing. Plus with the holidays and shows and website work, etc, etc, etc.

Well......2008 proved to be quite successful for the Kokopellie cats. All three boys, Cooncreole Zhivago (Frosty), Kokopellies Czar Nicholas (Nicky) and Kokopellies Polar Express (Polar) are all still holding on to their respective international best of breed title. They all also continue to hold on to a top 25 international ranking. As we go into the final stretch, it's going to be a nail biter. With a little luck and some good finals we should have three very good reasons to go to the Annual in Orlando this year. Frosty and Polar also have a very good chance at being the Southwest Region's Best Cat and Best Alter. These titles will be hard to hold on to as we are up against some very, very good cats.

The show up in Lodi last weekend was a good show for us. Frosty was Best in Show in his category and Polar was 6th in his category out of almost 40 cats. Polar was also in the news spot that aired and Jon and Frosty were pictured in one of the local Lodi newspapers. I will post links on the website that will take you to both. I did post the picture of Jon and Frosty. You can find it on the Show Calendar page and the At the Shows page.

We have a show in Arcadia this weekend. Then a few weeks off and the craziness starts all over again until April 30th. All we can do is hope, pray and present nicely groomed cats. The rest is in the hands of the judges. Keep your fingers crossed.

Miss Sorbet sure did surprise us. She took 8 finals at the Tucson show and 5 finals at the December Arcadia show. Currently she is the Best American Bobtail Cat in TICA. Woohoo!! For those wondering....."where's PJ?" PJ is doing great. He's in a bit of an awkward phase right now.....little head, big body. We need to let his head catch up with the rest of his body so he is more balanced. Then look out. :-) He is the sweetest cat ever. I can't wait to show him in the big boy class.

Our newest Siberian boy, Mufasa, from Sweden, is beautiful. I finally got to meet him. What a love. He showed at the Lodi show and made 3 finals, two 5ths and a 4th. Not too shabby considering there were over 60 kittens showing.

Other than that it's been pretty normal. Miss Skitz gave us some beautiful kittens. There is a chocolate silver torbie girl that could break some hearts in the show ring. We're still waiting for those Siberians to decide that they want to give us kittens.

Mom and I will be vending at the big CFA show in Del Mar next weekend. It's the Food & Water Bowl. Too funny.

I'm still playing around with the website on a weekly if not daily basis. There is always something changing. Have to keep it fresh.

That's it for now.

meow for now,
melissa