For the love of cats

CUTIE PIE: The Highland Straight cat won the adult long hair cat category in the show. — VNS Photo Minh Phương

Minh Phương

As far as artwork goes, a painting of two cats wearing human clothes standing side-by-side may not be to everyone’s taste.

Yet for cat-lover Trịnh Quỳnh Anh, the image that adorns her living room wall means everything.

It shows two rare Sphynx cats, noticeable because of their lack of fur. These are the animals that convinced Quỳnh Anh to breed pedigree cats for a living.  

“These cats are not just normal cats, they are members of my family,” she said.

“I want to create many lovely cats just like them. The breeding aims to make sure that cat’s next generation maintains its pure genes from its parents, has good health and is good looking.”

Anh is part of a small cat-loving community in Hà Nội which breeds pedigree cats.

Last week in the capital, Việt Nam’s first-ever cat show was held featuring 60 animals.

Organiser Nguyễn Xuân Sơn who owns a British Shorthair, said: “It took us six months to plan and organise the show and call for breeders in Việt Nam to participate. It took a lot of time to gather such a large number of participants, and cats from different breeds.”

In a country where cat meat is considered a delicacy in some quarters, Sơn hopes events like this can help cement a love for cats among the younger generation, many of whom frown upon eating the animal.

“What I wanted to do through the show is to change people’s thinking from ‘cat is food’ to ‘cat is friend’,” he added.

“I also want to build a close-knit cat community in Việt Nam so we can have world-class quality cat breeds in the country.”

The show was held under the umbrella of the World Cat Federation. Chairwoman Anneliese Hackman praised the breeders of Việt Nam.

“I noticed that there were many beautiful cats in the show,” she said.

“With those pure breed cats, Vietnamese breeders definitely have a chance to have world-class quality cat breeds in the country.”

Nguyễn Quỳnh Mai, who has a black golden shorthair cat, said as well as seeing many different types of cats, the show was an ideal place to learn about the animal.

“I love watching pageants and beauty shows. I watched a lot of those human beauty shows, and I was curious what a cat beauty show would be like,” Mai said.

“Joining the show, I got to meet a lot of friends with cats, and they shared with me knowledge on nutrition, diets, and exercises for cats,” she added.

Many prizes were awarded in different categories at the show, with the top prize given to the owner of a Highland Fold cat from Thailand.

Although Anh’s Sphynx cat didn’t win a prize, her pet was awarded CAC certification, which means her pet qualified for the world standard as a pure breed.

“The comments of judges help me to figure out my cat's good and bad points, so I could make good on it and try to produce the cat’s next generation with higher quality,” she said.

The next step for Anh and her pet is to attend cat shows abroad.i

If successful then maybe she will be commissioning another painting of her beloved family member. VNS

GLOSSARY

Yet for cat-lover Trịnh Quỳnh Anh, the image that adorns her living room wall means everything.

Adorns means “decorates”.

It shows two rare Sphynx cats, noticeable because of their lack of fur.

If a sphynx cat is rare, there are not many of them in the world.

Fur is hair, especially when it grows thick on an animal.

These are the animals that convinced Quỳnh Anh to breed pedigree cats for a living.  

To convince someone to do something means to persuade them to think it is a good idea and therefore worth doing.

To breed an animal means to keep those kinds of animals in order that they make babies.

Pedigree animals are animals born to parents from the same breed and whose parents have not been mixed with other breeds.

To breed cats for a living means to breed them in order to make money to live.

 “The breeding aims to make sure that cat’s next generation maintains its pure genes from its parents, has good health and is good looking.”

You and your brothers and sisters are one generation. Your parents and their brothers and sisters (your ants and uncles) are another generation and your grandparents and their brothers and sisters are yet another generation.

Maintains means “keeps”.

Genes are things in the body that carry messages “telling” a baby how to come out when it is born. This makes children look, and even sometimes behave, like their parents.

In a country where cat meat is considered a delicacy in some quarters, Sơn hopes events like this can help cement a love for cats among the younger generation, many of whom frown upon eating the animal.

A delicacy is a very special type of food, eaten only on special occasions.

Cement, in this case, means to form a tight relationship.

To frown upon doing something, like eating the animal, means to believe it is a low-life thing to do.

 “I also want to build a close-knit cat community in Việt Nam so we can have world-class quality cat breeds in the country.”

A close-knit community is a community of people who know one another well and care for one another.

“I love watching pageants and beauty shows. I watched a lot of those human beauty shows, and I was curious what a cat beauty show would be like,” Mai said.

A pageant is a parade.

“Joining the show, I got to meet a lot of friends with cats, and they shared with me knowledge on nutrition, diets, and exercises for cats,” she added.

Nutrition means food.

The next step for Anh and her pet is to attend cat shows abroad.

Abroad means overseas.

If successful then maybe she will be commissioning another painting of her beloved family member.

To commission an artist to do a painting means to ask them to do it and offer money for it.

WORKSHEET

Find words that mean the following in the Word Search:

1. The city in which the country’s very first cat show was held.
2. Trịnh Quỳnh Anh does not want a cat to be thought of as food but as a ______.
3. Eating plans.
4. The country from which the top prize winner came.
5. Food from animals.

ANSWERS: 1. Hanoi; 2. Friend; 3. Diets; 4. Thailand; 5. Meat.