11/06/2026
🏆 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐛 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰 • 𝟑𝟎 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 • 𝐖𝐲𝐧𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐠 🏆
This year's Western Province Cat Club Show was a particularly memorable one for me, not only because it fell on my birthday, but because it showcased something truly special about our hobby.
Out of 113 entries, an incredible 40 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘴. Let that sink in for a moment. That's more than a third of the entire show and one of the strongest Maine C**n turnouts I've seen in years.
The Maine C**n community is making a significant contribution to the South African cat fancy, and I believe that deserves to be recognised and celebrated. In fact, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘔𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘚𝘈𝘊𝘊 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘔𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦!
While the competition was fierce, one of the moments I'll remember most wasn't a win, certificate, or nomination. It was seeing an exhibitor who had placed second walk over to the winner, shake his hand, and congratulate him.
That is what good sportsmanship looks like.
Sadly, it is becoming increasingly rare. Two years ago, I sponsored a rosette for Cat of the Year, only to have it handed back to me because the recipient "already had another one". Thankfully, my friend Herlien was delighted to give that unwanted rosette a loving home.
The lesson? 𝘈𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦.
This year's Cat of the Year logs have finally been released, revealing a number of exciting Best in Show nominations and one Cat of the Year qualification!
🏆 𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐎𝐍 𝐒𝐔𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐄 – 𝟎𝟎𝟖
𝐒𝐩 𝐂𝐡 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚 𝐊𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐑𝐐
Bred by Bernice Venter | Owned by Carol Middleton
🥇 3 × Supreme Certificates
🌟 2 × BIS Nominations
🎉 𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐭 𝐎𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫
🏆 𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐎𝐍 𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅 / 𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅 & 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐄 – 𝟎𝟏𝟑
𝐏𝐫 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐡’𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦
Bred by Bernice Venter | Owned by Herlien van Rooyen
🥇 3 × 1st
🏅 2 × Grand Premier Certificates
🌟 1 × BIS Nomination
🏆 𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐎𝐍 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐃 & 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐅𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐄 𝐊𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐍 – 𝟎𝟐𝟏
𝐀𝐬𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐃𝐨𝐥𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐞
Bred by Georgina Greeff | Owned by Bernice Venter
✨ First SACC Show
🥇 2 × 1st
🌟 2 × BIS Nominations
🏆 𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐃 / 𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐃 & 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐄 𝐅𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐄 – 𝟎𝟏𝟎
𝐂𝐡 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐚 *𝐑𝐔 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐞 (𝐈𝐦𝐩)
Bred by Юлия Вениаминовна Макарова and owned by Bernice Venter & Nicole Rawlins
🥇 2 × 1st
🥈 1 × 2nd
🌟 2 × BIS Nominations
🎉 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐚 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧
🏆 𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐃 / 𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐃 & 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐄 – 𝟎𝟏𝟒
𝐏𝐫 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐬
Bred and owned by Bernice Venter
🥉 3 × 3rd
🏆 𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐎𝐍 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐃 & 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍 𝐅𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐄 – 𝟎𝟏𝟗
𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐧 *𝐔𝐀 𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐞 (𝐈𝐦𝐩)
Bred by Анна Жекова and owned by Bernice Venter & Nicole Rawlins
🥇 3 × 1st
🏅 3 × Champion Certificates
🌟 2 × BIS Nominations
🎉 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐚 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧
🏆 𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐄 𝐊𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐍 – 𝟎𝟐𝟒
𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐞 𝐍𝐢𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐧
Bred and owned by Bernice Venter
🥇 1 × 1st
🥈 1 × 2nd
🏆 𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐍𝐄𝐔𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐄 𝐊𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐍 – 𝟎𝟐𝟖
𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐞 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐨𝐡
Bred by Bernice Venter | Owned by Susan Mostert
🥇 1 × 1st
🥉 1 × 3rd
A heartfelt thank you to the wonderful owners who continue to show their Valkyrie babies and make achievements like these possible. ❤️
Thank you also to the sponsors, judges, organisers, stewards, exhibitors, photographers, and everyone working behind the scenes to keep our hobby thriving.
📸 Photo credits: Irene McCullagh | Ursula Van Der Riet Photography