Cat people

CATS:As fabulous felines gather for the 22nd Supreme Cat Show, EILEEN BATTERSBYadmires the gracefulness of cats, while owners show off their companions

MORE THAN 100 show felines compete tomorrow at the 22nd Supreme Cat Show in Ballinteer Community School. Most will be wearing expressions of languor, even indifference. It is in their nature. Cats are conscious of image. Whereas dogs are uninhibited, given to casually scratching or peeing against whatever is nearest, a cat is more calculating. The dog will happily bound up on a chair and flop back, sighing contentedly, a farmer in from the fields, but the cat will take that bit more time, rather like a debutante wary of creasing her dress. Cats regard going to the toilet as an act of theatre, however minor. If the litter tray fails to be pristine, vengeance is great and messy. Life for the cat is all about movement at its most graceful. Russian Doll, Persian, Burmese, the regal Cornish and Devon Rex, the pedigree cat and the more humble tabby and tortoiseshell all share the deportment of the ballet dancer.

For many, hunting is no longer about food, it is instinct refined to an art form. The smallest house pet slinks and pounces with the menacing purpose of its mighty relatives: tigers, panthers, pumas. Should a cat deign to love you, it loves with tactile passion.