Last weekend, Fudgie and I went to the Black Diamond cat show. Prior to the show, he had his usually primping routine. The never ending bath and blow dry was accomplished on Friday. Saturday morning at the show while sitting at the bench, I noticed his tail looked a bit oily. My brilliant idea was to reach in my grooming bag to come out with a new brown powder I had gotten. I put some on his tail to absorb the oil….and right away realized I had made a major error. It was a mess. Then I started trying to clean him up and quickly realized I was making more of a mess, getting it on his white as well. Neighboring friends came to help, offering me products and combs, extra paper towels. I struggled through the panic, with my formerly spotless show cat looking, well, horrible.

By the time his first judging ring was called, Fudgie seemed to look better. While not thrilled with all the hysterical grooming, he was a good sport about it. I knew he was not looking his best, but took him to the ring anyway. When it was his turn the judge took him out and placed him under the lights on the judging table. Immediately, I could see that he was still a mess. The shadows of the powder on his white coat were highlighted under the light. The judge said…..”he’s pink!” and he was. Now anybody who knows me, knows I LOVE pink. But, not on my cat. Not in this case anyway. I was absolutely horrified. Bless that judge, she still finaled him despite the odd color.

By the third ring of the day, he was looking much better. Not perfect, but better. By then, I was more laughing about the situation than hyperventilating. It was a hard day for the poor beast. Getting worked on for hours is exhausting. I decided to pull him from the show the next day, despite having washed him back at the hotel. I figured he could use a break. I could too.