The Supreme

Cat Show A cat show is a judged event where the owners of cats compete to win titles in various cat registering organizations by entering their cats to be judged after a breed standard. Both pedigreed and companion (or moggy) cats are admissible, although ...

is organised every year by the world's oldest

cat registry A cat registry or cat breed registry, also known as a cat fancier organization, cattery federation, or cat breeders' association, is an organization that registers domestic cats (usually purebred) of many breeds, for exhibition and for breeding ...

, the

Governing Council of the Cat Fancy The Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF) is a cat registry, established in 1910 and the largest organisation that registers pedigree cats in the United Kingdom. It was formed from a small number of cat clubs which were registering cats a ...

, and takes place each October at the

National Exhibition Centre The National Exhibition Centre (NEC) is an exhibition centre located in Marston Green, Solihull, West Midlands, England. It is near junction 6 of the M42 motorway, and is adjacent to Birmingham Airport and Birmingham International railway stati ...

(NEC), in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England. Special awards of UK Champion and Supreme Champion can be gained at this show only. A contestant cat wins each show's "Best in Show" award.

History

The first Supreme Cat Show took place in 1976. Until then the GCCF itself did not organise cat shows, but licensed shows put on by the breed clubs and area clubs affiliated to it. The Supreme Cat Show was devised as a special show, only open to cats which had won an open class at another championship show under GCCF rules, much in the same way that

Crufts Crufts is an international dog show held annually in the United Kingdom, first held in 1891. Organised and hosted by The Kennel Club, it is the largest show of its kind in the world. Crufts is centred on a championship conformation show for do ...

is only open to winning dogs. The show grew in size each year until it became big enough to be held at the NEC, which has been its home ever since.

Show structure

Unlike most other shows, the GCCF's Supreme Show has no miscellaneous or club classes; it does, however, have classes other shows do not have. There are four Adult Open classes for each championship status breed: Champion Male and Female classes for full Champions, the winners being eligible for Grand Challenge Certificates and Pre-Champion Male and Female classes for cats with one or two Certificates, competing for Challenge Certificates. The same applies to the neuter classes which are split into Premier and Pre-Premier classes for males and females. Cats which are already Grand Champions do not compete in these classes but in special classes for Grand Champions, Imperial Grand Champions, UK Grand Champions and UK & Imperial Grand Champions only, the winner being eligible for a UK Grand Challenge Certificate. Grand Premiers, Imperial Grand Premiers, UK Grand Premiers and UK & Imperial Grand Premiers compete for a UK Grand Premier Certificate. In these classes several breeds may compete together. UK Grand Certificates are only awarded at the Supreme Show; two such Certificates from different judges give the cat the title of UK Grand Champion/Premier or UK & Imperial Grand Champion/Premier if it has additionally gained that title. There is no Reserve UK Grand Challenge/Premier Certificate. Best of Breed winners at the Supreme Show do not get certificates but compete against the other BOB winners in their section for Best of Variety. The seven Best of Variety Adults (Persian, Semi-Longhair, British, Foreign, Burmese, Oriental and Siamese) compete for Supreme Adult, the seven kittens for Supreme Kitten and the seven neuters for Supreme Neuter. The Supreme Adult and the Neuter can add the coveted word 'Supreme' to their title. Finally, the Supreme Adult, Supreme Kitten and Supreme Neuter compete against each other for the honour of being judged Supreme Exhibit.

Non-pedigree and pedigree pet cats

Non-pedigree cats (cats of traditional “moggie” appearance) and pedigree pet cats (cats looking like pedigrees with known, unknown, full or half pedigree background) are also permitted to enter the Supreme Cat Show. They can also compete for the same levels of title as the pedigree cats but these are for "Master Cat" titles as opposed to "Champion" and "Premier" ones. They then go on to compete to win the title of Supreme Non-Pedigree or Supreme Pedigree Pet Cat. Classes are also included for kittens, with both non-pedigree and pedigree pet kittens competing for the title of Supreme Household Pet Kitten.

Supreme Best in Show winners

Prior to 1992, there was no individual overall Best in Show Supreme Exhibit. The show was not held in 2020 and 2021 due to the covid-19 pandemic.

Other attractions

Numerous activities take place alongside the competition judging. There are children's activities, such as judging of soft toys, and a large range of stalls selling cat related items, such as cat food, toys, accessories, collectables, books, magazines etc. Various other cat organisations, such as the Feline Advisory Bureau and

Cats Protection Cats Protection, formerly the Cats Protection League, is a UK charity dedicated to rescuing and rehoming stray, unwanted or homeless cats and educating people about cats and cat welfare. The organisation was founded as the Cats Protection Leag ...

regularly have information stalls. There is also a large section of the show hall given over to Club Row, where various cat clubs affiliated to the GCCF have stalls where visitors to the show can come and meet the different breeds of cat and obtain information.

References

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External links

Supreme Cat Show websiteGoverning Council of the Cat Fancy website
1976 establishments in England Recurring events established in 1976 Annual events in England Cat shows and showing Events in the West Midlands (county) Entertainment in Birmingham, West Midlands Tourist attractions in Birmingham, West Midlands Awards to animals