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