Show’s top cat strays from the stereotype

The world of purebred pets has finally been forced to acknowledge what the owners of Her-malayans, Dach-adors and other mutts and mixed breeds already knew: Pound pets are just as beautiful as show stock.

In mid May, a streetwise, 2-year-old tuxedo cat beat out a bevy of preened and pampered Birmans, Ocicats, Scottish Folds, Persians and other purebreds to become Best Household Pet at a New Hampshire Cat Fanciers’ Federation regional show. Only days earlier, Chaplin was a stray simply called “the cat” by the people who found and brought him to the local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

After 41 years in practice at Jefferson Animal Hospital in Baton Rouge, Sam Haase, DVM, concedes quality pets can come from both privileged and poor backgrounds. “Quality — as in the health of the animal, the diseases they might have been exposed to and their socialization — is more important than looks,” he says. “They’re all cute, or most are as sweet as they can be, in their own way.

“When you get a (purebred) pet from a cattery or kennel, you hope they are breeding for temperament as well as appearance,” Haase explains. “When you adopt from a shelter you roll the dice because you usually don’t know how well the animal has been socialized from the time it was (young).”

Conversely, Haase says animals from even the best kennels, catteries and shelters can harbor health problems. “Coming from a cattery or a kennel, cats and dogs can have congenital problems as well as parasites or other problems picked up from their environment. With shelters, you don’t know what they’ve animal has been exposed to or the animals’ backgrounds.

Still, Haase says, “I generally encourage people to get a pet from a shelter. The only advantage for getting animals at the shelter,” Haase concludes, “is to give them a good home, when they might be euthanized otherwise.”

Back in the New Hampshire shelter, workers reported Chaplin was seemingly unimpressed by his blue ribbon. But shortly after winning his title, he collected the ultimate prize: a new home.

Hopefully, Chaplin’s rise from stray to celebrated show cat will convince adoptive families they need search no farther than their local shelter to find their best friend among the very best of show.

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