Steel City Kitties Allbreed Cat Show

When: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Feb. 11-12

Admission: $8; $6 for children; 5 and younger free; tickets cover admission for both days.

Where: Monroeville Convention Center, 209 Mall Plaza Blvd.

Details: 412-373-7300 or steelcitykitties.com

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Updated 14 hours ago

Judges at this weekend's cat show are seeking perfect specimens of each feline breed represented, so there is no room for grease spots, mats or tangles on the thick coats of Alice Schepp's two Maine coons competing.

Luckily, Maine coons aren't as water-averse as most domestic cats. So Schepp will give her furry contestants — Emma, a red classic tabby kitten; and Coopurr, a brown mackerel tabby adult — a bath with a human-grade shampoo before the show. The South Fayette resident rinses soap out of the long-haired cats' lush undercoat, then blows them dry with a hairdryer.

It might sound like silly primping for a cat, but the annual Steel City Kitties fifth annual Allbreed Cat Show — Feb. 11 and 12 at the Monroeville Convention Center — is a pageant-like competition for serious cat lovers, who put a lot of time and effort into the hobby of showing their cats.

“They have to be perfectly groomed … or the judges won't even look at them,” says Schepp, 62, president of Steel City Kitties and a breeder who has been showing her Maine coons for seven years. Coopurr won Grand Champion (unaltered cats) and Grand Premiere (neutered or spayed cats) titles at previous shows.

The cat show features around 400 competing cats total for both days, plus about 25 vendors who sell all kinds of cat-related merchandise. The show is, essentially, a giant extravaganza of all things feline, organizers say. Participants like to show off their prized cats, while visitors can learn a lot about the intriguing animals, says Marilyn McBane, another Maine coon breeder.

“They just enjoy talking to the breeder and seeing all different breeds of cats,” says McBane of Avalon. “It's a nice family thing to do with the children. The children are so excited.”

The cat show even includes a wine tasting for some guests, but that is not related to any cat theme, McBane says. Two smaller local animal rescue groups also will have booths at the show, to promote rescued cats, and people with non-pedigreed cats can enter them in the show's Household Pets category.

McBane — secretary of Steel City Kitties Inc. Cat Club, a member of the Cat Fanciers' Association — is entering Chances Are, a brown and white classic tabby kitten, into the competition. The male kitten is very friendly and vocal, she says.

“He's very pretty,” says McBane, who thought of the kitten's name after watching the 1989 movie “Chances Are.”

Contestants come from all over the country, and even beyond, because people seeking to make their cats national champions need to accumulate a lot of points at regional competitions, McBane says. Cat Fanciers' Association judges evaluate each cat based on written breed standards about physical traits, like markings.

The environment of a competition can be stressful for cats. Though Schepp's cats feel some inevitable anxiety surrounded by other cats, they love seeing people who visit, Schepp says.

“I always take them out of the cage so people can pet them,” Schepp says. “I spend most of my time at the cat show talking to people, which is fabulous. I've met so many people.”

Kellie B. Gormly is a Tribune-Review contributing writer.

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