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Cat shows vary in production from association to association and even continent to continent. What remains constant among them is that every breed has a standard written for it that describes the perfect specimen of that breed and the cat is judged against this standard. Unlike dog shows (which more people are familiar with) there is no "performance" that the cat must give, such as being led around a track on a lease. (Indeed, their very noncompliance to such a thing has given rise to the phrase "herding cats" in reference to being unable to keep a group of items or tasks together!)
In some associations (such as The Cat Fanciers' Association, The International Cat Association, and the American Cat Fanciers' Association and the Fédération International Féline) cats are placed in rows of cages in a central area. Each show may have 4 to 12 judges at the show and each judge will see each cat entered in the show at some point during the weekend. The cats compete within one of three classes - kittens (young cats within a certain age limit, usually 4 to 8 months old), championship (intact cats older than kittens) and premiership (altered cats older than kittens). Every judge has his own "ring" and judges the cats there. The cats are brought up in a specified order within each class, breed by breed and choose his best and second best of breed. After the judge has judge all of the breeds within the class, he will pick his top 10 to 15 cats or kittens (depending on the type of competition it is) and bring them back to his Final to declare their awards. He may be judging a ring where only longhaired cats competed against each other and then shorthairs against themselves (called a "Specialty" ring) or where they are all in competition against each other (called an "Allbreed" ring). Each judge makes his decisions independently of all the other judges in the show, so a cat that is Best Cat in one ring may not be in another judge's final. Some shows award the highest scoring cat/kitten/cat in premiership as best cat in show, most do not.
In other associations (such as the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy in the UK) the cats are judged in cages in the benching area with their owners absent. Again, they are judged to each breed's standard, with the judge making their notes and scoring each cat. These results will be posted on a scoreboard in the hall later in the day.
In all cases the cat is being judges against how closely it meets its breed standard. However, it is more than just a beauty contest. The cat must also be ameniable to being handled by strangers in an unfamiliar location, and must also possess a "presence" - that little something extra that makes it sparkle and sets it apart from its competition.
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