Trophy cats

Higher incomes led to breeding of the pets in China, but not just for fun, Yang Feiyue reports.

Cui Yujian, a Beijing resident, carefully handed his 4-month-old British shorthair cat to a judge at a recent cat show in the city.

The Russian judge ran her fingers across the pet's body, and told Cui: "Your cat has a plump face and a solid lower jaw. It displays well the features of its species."

Cui, 31, was thrilled to hear the words. After all, he has been raising cats for a while now.

He and his cats were at a feline competition, which was organized by Love Cat Club, a Chinese private club in Beijing recognized by the Germany-based World Cat Federation. Three of his cats were to compete in the kitten group (ages 3 to 6 months), and two for the junior group (ages 6 to 10 months).

A total of 242 cats participated in the contest.

"It was the biggest domestic cat pageant I had ever attended," Cui says of the event in October.

While he participated in competitions hosted by the Cat Fanciers Association and the International Cat Association, both based in the United States, earlier, Cui was nervous at the Beijing event.

More than 80 cats were competing in the categories in which he placed his cats, and most had "foreign pedigree". Part of the pressure came from Russian and South Korean cat owners.

Two of his cats won prizes at the show. He owns at least a dozen cats.

With some Chinese buying pedigreed cats from abroad and breeding their offsprings at home, their desire for identifying their cats is getting stronger, he says.

Some owners throw their hats in the ring simply for the pleasure of showing off their pets. Others are in it to figure out the market value of their cats: There is money to be made from selling kittens of prize-winning cats later.

Cat shows were mostly confined to a small circle decades ago and held by professional breeders in China, says Ge Min, the secretary-general of Love Cat Club. Now, a number of white-collar workers and young people are joining in the race.

"People are paying increasing attention to pets," Ge says.

Spending up to 5,000 yuan ($790) on a cat was considered a luxury earlier, but cats joining such competitions today are priced 30,000 yuan and upward, she adds.

"Breeders pay lots of money for a cat and hope to get some fame and honor through joining professional competitions."

But the trend also has roots in Chinese families.

Most cat owners were raised as a single child and took in pets for company. Today, such children have grown up with incomes that allow spending on lifestyle - thereby, more cats.

Cui works at a State-owned foreign trade company. He and his wife bought their first British shorthair in Russia in 2013. The couple paid 40,000 yuan to bring it home.

They signed it up for a competition of the International Cat Association that year, and their cat won.

The success fueled their interest in more such golden-shaded cats and they began to learn how to breed cats and take them to contests.

Most competitions won't offer cash rewards to winners, but good test scores are big rewards for them, Ge says. And winning cats can command a higher sale price for their kittens, even unborn.

Ge's club holds such contests nationwide almost every month.

Since May, a total of 13 events were staged in cities across China, including in Beijing, Chongqing, Wuhan in Hubei province, Shenyang in Liaoning province and Nanjing in Jiangsu province. Professional foreign judges with international qualifications were invited to name the best cats.

The club also plans to hold a super league next year, when nearly 1,000 cats are expected to participate, Ge says.

Cat competitions have been held in the West since the 1980s. It is only in recent years that foreign cat associations have tried to make inroads here, sensing the potential of the Chinese market. Ge's club, for example, introduced the cat market in China to WCF, and then was approved to operate in the country on behalf of the organization.

At the moment, the club can offer WCF pedigree authentication, exhibition and imports services in China, as more Chinese desire a "pure bloodline" from among the foreign-bred cats.

Credits gained at domestic competitions will be put in the WCF ranking system and all rules are exactly the same as any other country where WCF operates, she says.

The competition is mainly divided by age and variety. The closer a cat gets to standards marked for its type, the higher the chances of scoring. A cat's pedigree and look matter, but their owners' efforts in developing their looks are also important, accounting for 30 to 40 percent of the score.

"If owners set their sights on victory, the cat pedigree must be pure and superior. Scientific feeding is also required."

For a British shorthair, for example, a high premium is placed on its muscular structure.

Taking care of the fur is also important, since it is an indicator of health and plays a vital role in the cat's overall appearance.

"If a cat is well fed, its fur will glow," says Ge, adding that certain nutrients containing collagen, Omega 3 and Omega 9 help.

Participants need to pay 600 yuan to get into a WCF competition at present.

Luan Shu contributed to the story.