Cats of the world come to Dubai

The International Cat Show - Dubai 2005, held on Thursday and Friday at Dubai Creek Park, welcomed participants from as far as Germany.

Judges included the WCF president Anneliese Hackmann from Germany, WCF vice-president Paulo Ruschi from the US and WCF judge Bambi Edwards from Australia at the first Middle East international cat show.

The event was held in association with the World Cat Federation (WCF), Deutsche Edelkatze e.V. and Dubai Municipality's Parks Directorate and Veterinary Department.

The aim of the show, presented by Whiskas, was to create awareness about cats as well as their behaviour and welfare in the Middle East.

Organisers hope the show will become an annual feature in Dubai's event calendar.

Categories included male and female with long hair, short hair, semi-long hair, siam/orient short hair, Persian and exotic, house cats, kittens from three-six months, novices from 6-10 months and whelps (minimum three kittens from 10 weeks to three months).

Spectators flooded in over the two days from 10am to 10pm to watch the unusual breeds and interesting colours. One of the stars of the show was Jerry, a white domesticated short-haired cat from Dubai, who weighed an impressive 9kgs.

Owner, Ursula Manvatkav from Jebel Ali, said he eats anything and everything. "I am pleased to have been given the opportunity to enter Jerry in a cat show. He is such a wonderful cat and has a great personality.

"He was born on June 20 1999 and I remember it like it was yesterday. We are having fun today and would definitely take part next year. People ask if I feed him steak, but actually all he eats is sardines really," said Manvatkav.

Princess White Snowy also attracted a lot of attention. For most of the day she sat in her purple-clad cage which was draped in sparkly satin with ribbons and bows on top.

Meanwhile her owner, Nadine Colin from Dubai but originally from France, prepared White Snowy's cotton buds and bib ready for the show.

Even her toys were all colour co-ordinated. Colin said: "White Snowy is a wonderful cat and deserves to be treated like a princess. She only has the best."

Christina Lissy travelled from Germany to take part in the show with Arwen and Amelia. She was taking part in the show in a bid to pick up two international points which will help her take the a global title in the future.

"I have to pick up international points from as many different countries as possible. So the more countries which hold cat shows the better. It is lovely to travel to such a wonderful place to take part in a show. I also get to see a bit of the world. I hope Dubai continues to host a show each year," said Lissy.

Mafe Chan, who has lived in Dubai for 12 years, was also in the limelight with her cat Fatty.

The cute cat was passed from person to person and he cuddled up to all. Fatty, who lived up to his name is a long-haired domesticated cat and seemed to love each moment of the show.

Chan said: "It is great to have the chance to show your cat in Dubai. When you have cats you are obviously very proud of them and it is lovely to show other people how pretty your cats really are."

People of all ages dropped in at various points throughout the show to admire the cats which filled the staging room.

Children stroked the cats and took endless pictures of them on their mobile telephones.

Organisers hope the show may introduce new breeds of cats unique to the UAE and Middle East which are yet to be recognised worldwide and say they are now looking at the cats which were entered from the UAE to see what breeds were present.

Registration fee was Dh25 per cat plus a further Dh10 per class entered.

Some winners