She travels the country entering her beloved cat Toby into competitions but for Avril McBeth, it's not about winning first prize.
"Winning is great and Toby quite often does very well but these competitions are fun and it's a bit of a hobby of mine," she said.
Mrs McBeth was one of
the proud owners who crowded into the Greerton Hall at the Geyserland All Breeds Cat Show yesterday.
Toby was one of about 120 pedigree and domestic cats who sat peacefully in cages as four judges spent hours individually assessing each entrant.
Before judging had finished, Toby had been recognised as a top 10 cat by three of the four judges, which Mrs McBeth said was pleasing.
"He gets judged on how dense his coat is and everything about him has to be round - his head, the tips of his ears, the tip of his tail, his body, his eyes, everything," she said.
"He's a beautiful cat, he's only 18 months old but he really looks the part," Mrs McBeth said.
Toby is a british shorthair black-tip, which is uncommon in British breeds.
Mrs McBeth and Toby attend about eight cat shows a year, including the national competition held last weekend in Napier.
In other competitions, Toby had also been awarded the "people's choice" award, Mrs McBeth said.
"When I got him, he looked like a chocolate box cat ... very adorable."
Mrs McBeth lived on a farm in Hamilton. She said entering Toby into competitions was a hobby and a way for her to "get off the farm".
"It's really fun and there's nothing to lose."
Geyserland Cat Club secretary Dianne Le Bas said most of the competitors were from the North Island, however one dedicated entrant made the trip from Christchurch. Dozens of breeds were on show, both pedigree and domestic, including burmese, ragdoll, maine coon, siamese, sphynx, persian, turkish angora, oriental and bengal, to name a few.
Mrs Le Bas said there was a high standard of cats and kittens at the show and she was pleased with the response from the Tauranga community.
The next Geyserland Cat Show is on July 25 in Matamata.
