Often, my “trip of the week” is a specific destination…a tourist destination…with historical sites, monuments, tours, and shotzky gifts shops. However, I occasionally go to events that will make it into my trip of the week. This upcoming fall there will be several of these events such as the Avocado Festival in Carpinteria, the Apple Festival in Glen Oak, and the Pumpkin Festival in Santa Paula.

This week, my outing was to an event back up in Santa Monica, California. I contemplated whether to even blog about this event…but….it is a Road less traveled and the point I like to make is that there is ALWAYS something to see or do beyond our own backyards.

This weeks journey takes us to the Cat Fanciers Association Cat Show at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. It’s true, I have two cats and consider them my “children”. However, my love and devotion for my two cats falls very short from some of the doting, coddling, and attention I saw of other cat owners at the Cat Show. I’m not so much a Cat Lover as I am just a plain environmentalist and animal lover. However, my mom loves cats and when my father passed away my mom got her first cat which helped her through the first year as a widow. She absolutely loves going to the Cat Show. Since my mother is on in years and has difficulty with mobility, I try to do as much as I can with and for her so again this year I took her to the Cat Show.

This particular Cat Show is held in the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Aside from numerous vendors selling cat food, cat litter, cat toys, and kitty condos there are row after row of cats and their owners. It is amazing to walk up and down the rows watching the owners spoon feed their cats, groom their cats and decorate their cat’s kennel better than my own apartment! Many of the cat kennel’s display a half dozen ribbons their cats may have won. There are rows of Persians, Scottish Folds, Maine Coon, and hundreds of other breeds. Of course, my favorite are the mixed breeds.

In the midst of this cat frenzy are the showing areas where the cats are judged. A cat show is a judged event where cats compete to win titles in various cat registering organizations. Both pedigree and companion (or moggy) cats can compete, although the rules differ from organization to organization. Cats are compared to a breed standard and those judged to be closest to it are awarded a prize. Often, at the end of the year, all of the points accrued at various shows are added up and additional national and regional titles are awarded.

In the US, each judge has a separate ring with cages. The cats are brought up to the judge, who removes each cat in turn and then replaces them when they are done. Spectators, including the owners of the cats are present and in the audience. The cats' owners are given a number for each cat and are responsible for getting them to the ring when they are called.

I was surprised to learn that these cat shows originated in the late 1800’s in England and slowly made their way west to the United States. Aside from that, there are dozens of cat associations. The one today was the Cat Fanciers Association. The first cat shows licensed by CFA were held during 1906 - one in Buffalo and one in Detroit. The first Annual Meeting was held in 1907 at Madison Square Garden. In 1909, CFA published the first Stud Book and Register in the Cat Journal magazine. Also in 1909, Volume I of the Stud Book was published in book form. On September 18, 1919, articles of incorporation were drawn up under the laws of the State of New York. CFA then entered a new and successful era, and the Association has grown steadily over the years to the point that there are now 400 shows during the year.

As always my outing and activity triggered my curiosity. There always seems to be a debate about dogs versus cats. And it’s true, the dog has long been the most popular pet in the United States until 2003 when Cats took over the throne as the most popular pet in America.

Cat’s have had a rocky history from being worshiped as Gods to being burned as tools of Satan. Cats are first found living in a harmonious relationship with man from as early as 3000BC in Ancient Egypt. Evidence from archaeological studies in the region point to the African Wild Cat (Felis sylvestris lybica) as the primary ancestor of the domestic cat. Indeed, African Wild Cats are also frequently found today living as pets with traditional peoples. Studies in South Africa have been unable to distinguish the domestic cat from the African Wild Cat using DNA mapping techniques, while the European Wild Cat (Felis sylvestris sylvestris), which is often presumed to have contributed to the development of the pet cat, is clearly distinguishable from both.

Scientists and historians believe African Wild Cats first started approaching Egyptian grain stores along the banks of the Nile, attracted by the resident mice and rats. By culling the rodents, cats endeared themselves to people. Early domestics would also have benefited from lower densities of predators than in the surrounding area, and been able to breed with a much improved chance of success by being close to man. Because they produce a lot of kittens in every litter, the friendly version of the species would soon have become established in the region alongside us.

Kittens born near man would soon have had physical contact with sympathetic people, be taken into their homes for care, and quickly come to view them as parent type figures. Their infantile dependency would be maintained by early handling and feeding during the sensitive period from two to eight weeks of age. Such kittens were far less likely to lose these associations as they became sexually mature and then entered adulthood.

Probably as a result of their usefulness, protecting food stores from vermin, the Ancient Egyptians turned cats into sacred feline deities. The name for these cats was 'miw'. Owners went into mourning when 'miw' died, and the cat was embalmed and placed in wooden coffins. Female cats and lionesses were linked to Sekhmet, the much revered Egyptian goddess of war, while tomcats were considered sacred to the sun god, Ra. Cats were so passionately protected from harm that anyone finding themselves near an injured cat fled from the scene in case they were blamed. After death, cats were mummified for burial - often into enormous tombs with tens of thousands of other cats.

In spite of the Egyptians' efforts to prevent the export of their beloved felines, the Greeks stole the animals to control their own rodent problem. The first domesticated animals appeared in Europe around 900BC. Eventually the Egyptians began selling cats to the Romans, the Gaels, the Celts and later other Europeans and thus the cat population began to spread worldwide. The cat was common in China by 500 BC. At first the cat was given as gifts to Emperors. As time went by the nobility were allowed to own them, then the priesthood, and finally the commoners. A lot of the cats interbred with the local wild cats and created some of the breeds we know today. The first record of domestic cats in the British Isles goes back to AD 936 when Howell Dla, Prince of South Central Wales, enacted a law to protect them.

Unfortunately the domestic cats' luck changed over the years, and they became associated with wrong doings, disease and mischief. In 1484, Pope Innocent VII decreed that all cat-worshippers in Europe be burned as witches. He believed that witches worshipped Satan and that they took on the form of their animal helpers, the most common of which were cats. Their habit of prowling around at night further connected them to the devil and witchcraft. Any cat that was in the company of an old woman was assumed to be a witch's evil associate. The Inquisition was instructed to hunt down all cat owners and try them as witches. Hundreds of cats and their owners were actually burnt to death!

The lives of cats didn't appear to improve much in Europe until the 17th Century when they became mousers, particularly on board ships. By Victorian times, however, cats had regained acceptance as household pets and by the end of the 19th Century early pedigree breeds were exhibited at the first cat shows. In 1871, a large show held at Crystal Palace for British Shorthair and Persian types.  About the same time in New England, USA, the Maine Coon breed was being shown at the first American Cat Show.

So what is the lesson today??….One, there is always something to see and do beyond our backyards. Two, even the smallest or most trivial outing can result in a broadening of knowledge.