I am beyond excited that the cat show gods (judges) were smiling favorably upon Cosmo at his last show of the season at Cats of Wisconsin in Waukesha, early this month. While he only placed once in the top 10 at this show, in several other rings he earned points for either “Best Premier” or “Second Best Premier,” all of which were really needed for him to achieve his title of Grand Premier. What’s even sweeter is that the grand points that he earned at COWS brought him to exactly 75 points! Suffice it to say that I was on pins and needles waiting for “Herman” to update, hoping that the unofficial count provided by Monte at the show was correct. It was!

The cat show season ends in April, and begins again in May. It took Cosmo four shows to grand. While he placed quite often as a kitten, he placed less often than I would have liked this season as a Premier. I am not sure whether that is largely because he had not granded yet, or just because he tends to be a little crab apple in the show ring. Regardless, his performance in the premiership division thus far leaves me questioning whether it is worth it to pursue a Regional Win in the new season. While he was very well behaved at the Cat’n on the Fox show in Wheaton last month, he was quite tense at COWS, and seemed a little spooked. One judge noticed him hunkered down in his judging cage and giving me the evil eye, so she made it a point to give him extra cuddles and to baby him a little. It was a little embarrassing, but a lot sweet. I wish that I could give him a little something to help relax him, but it is against show rules. To his credit, he did not hiss at one judge at either COWS or Wheaton. At his first show as a Premier in St. Louis, he hissed at Every. Single. Judge.

Because he granded at COWS, that was Cosmo’s last show of the season, despite there being three weekends left before the season’s end. Because he did not start showing as an adult until January, the only goal for showing this season was to earn his Grand Premier title. He started well after the middle of the show season, so unless he took first place in every ring at a major show, there really would not have been any hope for a regional win.  I think the game plan for 2015-16, at least for the start of the season, is to see how well he does in the ring now that he is a grand. If he places (and maybe can beat a Persian or two – those cute little guys almost always win!), I will consider going for a RW. If not, I may switch over to ACFA and focus on attaining his high title there. I’ll probably show Cosmo in shows for both associations during May and June, as it does not seem that there is much overlap in shows in the Midwest. Regardless, this show break will be used for improving his condition – more exercise, better monitoring of his food intake, working on healing the minor chin acne, and researching what I can do to improve his grooming.

I have since updated Cosmo’s page with some gallery pics from the most recent shows. Check it out!  Also, check the sidebar for an updated show schedule, which I tend to update closer to each show date.