Palouse Empire Fair holds largest cat show to date for upcoming fair

COFLAX - This year, seven cats made their way to the Palouse Empire Fairgrounds to compete in the annual cat show put on by the fair.

The cats would compete in a series of challenges and tasks, then have their owners compete themselves through 4-H to receive awards, and have their cats shown off at the upcoming fair taking place early September.

4-H is a non-profit organization with an emphasis on engaging the youth to reach their full potential, and advance their development.

In the show Saturday, August 12, the seven cats and their owners had to engage in a competition that took place in four different stages.

The first stage of the show was where the contestants brought their cats up to the front stage and showed them off to the judges and crowds. While they were showing their cat off, the contestants also had to describe what they were doing and showing to the judges, to demonstrate their knowledge of the cat. Some requirements that had to be done during this stage of the show were: showing off each side of the cat, showing the teeth and ears of the cat, showing that the nails are groomed and neat, recognizing the type of cat they have, displaying whether their cat is indoors or outdoors, and show the length of the cat.

The competition was done by age group and division. The first group was between Jessi Cook from Colfax, and Gillian Elkema from Farmington, Washington. Cook had her cat, named Mary competing.

Cook and Elkema were apart of the "senior" group. They have been showing cats for a few years prior to the event.

After Cook and Elkema showed off their cats, they had to come to the front stage together and answer some general knowledge questions about cats, 4-H, and other questions.

The questions asked to both Cook and Elkema this round were: Name two purebred cats, name one internal parasite, name 3 4-H activities, name one external parasite, and why is it important to have toenails of a cat clipped?

After the questions round, the judges voted that Cook was the overall winner of the round, and Elkema was the reserve winner.

The next group of competitors saw Zakaiah Carter, from Colton, and her cat named Honey compete against Peyton Pelissien from Endicott.

Once again, Carter and Pelissien had to show off their cats to the judges, and they too answered general knowledge 4-H questions.

The questions asked this round were: What are the four different age divisions in 4-H? What age can you join 4-H? If your cat was falling from a window and landed on its feet, what part of its anatomy does it use to land the jump? How many toes does a cat have on its front feet? If a cat has more than five toes on its front feet, what do we call it?

Can you tell me why we give vaccines to cats? How would you treat tapeworms?

This division saw Carter take the overall award this round, and Pelissien was the reserve winner.

The third grouping for the cat show saw Novahee Fullerton from Rosalia compete with her cat, Buddy, against Colton Birrenlott from Rosalia.

This was the youngest age group competing of the three groups on the day. They received more questions this round than the other age groups due to the challenges of being able to control and show a cat at their ages.

The questions this round for them were: How do you know if your cat has ear mites? How do you know if your cat has tapeworms? What are the four H's in 4-H? Where is the Norwegian Forest cat originally from? What about the Scottish fold? Do you know the cat coat variety? Would your cat be considered a tabby or tuxedo cat? How many toenails does a cat have on its back feet?

The overall winner of this grouping was Birrenlott, with Fullerton being the reserve winner.

Waverly Birrenlott and her cat Pepper made an appearance after the groupings were done to show off her cat. She competed alone in the lowest age group for the show.

In this section of the cat show, the Overall Champion was Cook, and the reserve overall champion was Elkema.

The next part of the contest was the costume showing round. The competitors had to dress their cat up, while also dressing up themselves to match their cat, in hopes of taking the top prize.

The cats dressed up as various characters, there was a Mario cat, a witch cat, a shark cat, a pirate cat and a mermaid cat.

The overall winner of the costume round was Birrenlott, with him and his cat dressing up as Mario and Luigi. Second place went to Fullerton with Buddy and her dressing up as a witch. Third place in the costume contest went to Elkman and her cat dressed as a shark.

The last round for the contest was a new one, and obedience/obstacle course style round. The contestants had to walk their cat to a square box in and have their cat sit inside for a minimum of 15 seconds. Next, they had to walk their cat to another box where they had to lay down for another 15 seconds. They then had to walk to the last square and have them stay there for 15 more seconds.

The awards will be on display at the Palouse Empire Fair, which takes place from September 7-10.