Have you ever seen advertisements for a cat show in your area (on billboards, posters or on the Internet)? Maybe you saw that we were (as Kotki Kędziorki) at a show, because we wrote about it on Social Media? Or maybe you have already been to such a show at some point?
W tym małym poradniku chcemy napisać what these shows are all about, what they look like, what they are for, who can be at them (both as an exhibitor and as a spectator) and what those strange abbreviations / awards / titles are that cats receive.
Note: Artykuł oparty jest o Regulamin wystawowy FIFe (2025) + nasze doświadczenia z wystaw w naszej federacji FPL: Felis Polonia. In other federations (WCF or TICA) certain elements may differ slightly. The article is written mainly for laypeople and visitors (hence a few simplifications which, for breeders / specialists, may be quite significant, but we deliberately chose to describe it this way). If you're a breeder/exhibitor and have your own comments you'd like to add, write to us at mariusz@kotkikedziorki.pl
Kocie wystawy kotów rasowych odbywają się wiele razy w roku w różnych miejscach Polski oraz świata. Najczęściej odbywają się one w weekendy, w dużych halach – wystawowych czy sportowych.
Są jednymi z najważniejszych wydarzeń promujących i prezentujących świat hodowli i miłośników kotów.
Organizowane są one z kilku powodów.
Dla oglądających, aby mogli:
Dla hodowców, aby mogli:
Dla organizatorów i sędziów, aby mogli:
* Dodatkowo na wystawach poza hodowcami i kotami zawsze są różne stoiska dla miłośników kotów. Here you can find, for example, scratching posts, toys and accessories for cats, producers and distributors of various foods or litters, manufacturers of cat equipment (e.g. litter boxes or vacuum cleaners), and stalls of artists and authors (e.g. making cat-related jewellery, or selling books about cats). So it's also a good place to obejrzenia i kupienia kocich rzeczy (w jednym miejscu i czasie).
Natomiast to co ważne – na wystawach obowiązuje ZAKAZ sprzedaży kotów, czyli nie wyjdziecie z wystawy z nowym koteczkiem.
Nie ma żadnych ograniczeń, przyjść może każdy – adults, children, teenagers, pensioners. A show is most often on weekends, open from 10 to 17. You can come for as long as you like – it can be a quick 30 minutes, or it can be spending half or the whole day with the cats.
Najczęściej wstęp na wystawę jest płatny, often around 10-50 PLN (depending on the organiser and the type of ticket – standard, reduced, family), although there are also free shows (rather rarely). It is worth checking this information before the show on the organisers' websites.
Ciekawe jest to, że swoje stanowisko z kotem na wystawie może mieć nie tylko hodowca kotów, ale również właściciel kota (w tym takiego „na kolanka”, który nie ma hodowli)!
Czyli jeśli kupiliście od nas dowolnego kotka, to Wy sami też możecie z nim pojechać na wystawę! I dla nas będzie to ogromna przyjemność i zaszczyt!
Mamy na przykład jedną kocią mamę – Agnieszkę, która z naszą Balladynką has already been to many shows, where Balladyna also received distinctions and awards (she currently holds the title of PREMIOR, i.e. neuter champion, and is in the process of gaining the International Premior title – more about these titles in a moment).
Ważne jest to, że na wystawie mogą być wystawiane koty z rodowodem (apart from a small exception mentioned later, because you can also come with a „household” cat) and you can exhibit not only cats from a cattery, but also those cats bought „as a pet” (neutered).
So once again – if you bought any kitten from us – then możecie z nim pojechać na wystawę! If you would like to do this – let us know, we will happily tell you and give tips on how to do it (because you have to do a few things beforehand), and maybe one day we will go together 🙂
If you do make the decision that you want to go to a show (as a spectator) then we have a few przydatnych informacji dla Was.
Wystawa trwa najczęściej dwa dni, od około 10 do 17. In theory it does not matter at what time you come, because exhibitors are obliged to be at the show throughout the whole time it is open.
W trakcie jej otwarcia możecie chodzić gdzie chcecie and look at any cats and any catteries (you can spend as much time in any place as you want). You can also look at the stands of various sellers.
WAŻNE: Praktycznie na wszystkich wystawach obowiązuje ZAKAZ dotykania kotów by visitors. Breeders may not give cats to be stroked, visitors should not (even if they have the chance) stroke the cats – all this is dictated by aspektami bezpieczeństwa i higieny.
Na wystawie zobaczycie najczęściej dwa podejścia wystawców – either they use the organisers' cages (metal cages), where they add some accessories or decoration of their own and a net separating them from the public. Or (as we prefer!) they have their own specialist pens with transparent films. Both types should (in line with what I wrote above) block visitors' access to the option of petting the cats.
Usually shows organised in halls (sports or exhibition halls) take up quite a large area, which is divided into smaller sectors. But most often there is no map of which cattery or which breed is where – and very often they are all mixed together! You can simply walk any route and visit different spots (also several times, if you feel like going back somewhere to look at a cat or cattery again).
Natomiast jest kilka ważnych aspektów, w kontekście godziny odwiedzin wystawy (which in theory does not matter, but in practice may matter – depending on what matters to you).
Po pierwsze, może się zdarzyć, że jakieś stanowisko konkretnego wystawcy będzie puste – neither they nor the cat will be there – it means they have probably gone with the cat to be judged by the judge (more on that in a moment). If you did not find us (or another exhibitor) by our cage, then come back in kilka, kilkanaście minut (because that is roughly how long the judging lasts). Sometimes the breeder may also take a break (for the toilet or eating), but then the kitten is often in the cage and you can look at it.
Po drugie, jeśli chcecie obejrzeć finałowe zmagania, then come around 15-16, because that is when the so-called Best in Show. In the morning (and anyway up to a maximum of 14-15) the cats are judged individually (each breeder goes separately with their cat to the judge), but Best in Show is zebranie najlepszych kotów z wystawy i ocena ich jeszcze raz w tej małej grupie i wybranie tych najlepszych.
Thirdly, if a show lasts two days, then most often (in 95% of cases probably) jeden i drugi dzień wyglądają tak samo – there are the same breeders, the same exhibitors, the same sellers with stalls and the same judges + a Best in Show final is also held around 16:00-17:00 (although its results may differ from the first day!). So it doesn't really matter much whether you come on Saturday, Sunday or both days – fit it to your own calendar and plans.
* A small note from our experience – it is best to come to the show przed godziną 16. Because if you come after 16:00 you'll have little time left for viewing + what's probably more important, it happens that some exhibitors leave earlier (especially on the second day, Sunday), so they start packing up and dismantling earlier too. So if you can, we suggest arriving by 16:00 at the latest.
So now briefly and greatly simplifying – what does the assessment and showing of cats consist of?
Na wystawie będzie dosyć charakterystyczne miejsce, gdzie koty są oceniane przez sędziów (the so-called ring). Most often it is on some wall opposite the entrance (depending on the hall).
Na ring odwiedzający nie mogą wchodzić, but there are often benches and a space behind them, where visitors can watch the judges' work and the judging of the cats.
Każdy kot na wystawie jest oceniany and the way of judging has a certain characteristic course. We will describe the details in a moment, but first look at this little diagram (do not worry about the strange names and abbreviations, we will explain them shortly).
Najpierw następuje ocena indywidualna (każdego kota z osobna), która jest dokonywana przez każdego sędziego at the show (in the group of cats assigned to it for judging). In reality these are precisely all those boxes above except the last one (the final).
Każdy sędzia, każdemu kotu – najpierw przyznaje punkty (0-100), potem dokonuje jego kwalifikacji (G, VG, Ex) i klasyfikacji (Ex 1-4), następnie może przyznać kotu certificate (e.g. CACJ, CAC, CACIB). The certificate is needed by the cat and the breeder to gain recognised titles (you need several certificates for a title), which are added to the cat's name and cattery affix (in the pedigree).
Ostatnim etapem oceny indywidualnej każdego kota jest ewentualna nominacja do finału (NOM BIS) oraz przyznanie wyróżnienia the best cat in the assessed colour group (BIV). This is received by selected cats, but every judge has the possibility of awarding these nominations.
Potem następuje finał wystawy (około godziny 15-16), kiedy to już nie indywidualnie, ale przez panel sędziowski (i.e. all the judges at the show) a group assessment is made of ONLY the best (nominated) cats.
Wtedy koty najpierw mogą otrzymać tytuł BIS (Best in Show), and then this choice is narrowed even further to the title BIC (Best in Category), aby finalnie wybrać najlepszego kota wystawy w BOB (Best of The Best).
No dobra, to przejdźmy teraz do szczegółów tego procesu 🙂
NOTE: If this is already too many strange descriptions for you, then you can stop reading here. You have learned the most important information about cat shows and how, why and where cats are judged. However, if you feel like it, we will now describe the way cats are judged in more detail.
W ringu koty oceniane są najpierw indywidualnie. Each breeder approaches the judge with their cat and is assessed by them. Often above the ring there is a display showing the judges in columns (each column is one of the judges), and underneath only the numbers are shown.
Te numery to numery startowe każdego kota (they are assigned based on the cats' show entries and are most often grouped by breed at first). On the exhibitors'/breeders' cages you can see what number a given cat has (exhibitors are obliged to pin them to the cages). When the number on the display above the ring goes higher and higher, it means that a given cat będzie niedługo oceniany i wystawca powinien z nim przemieścić się w kierunku ringu.
Ocena indywidualna kota trwa około kilka minut (up to a max. of 10). The judge looks at a given cat and pays attention to several aspects, which are described in standardzie danej rasy.
Ocena każdego kota jest oceną w zakresie 0-100 punktów. Each breed has its own scoring scheme (!), in which different elements of the cat have different weight and importance (e.g. in the Devon the fur and head are crucial, while the eye colour or indeed the fur colour, for example, is of no significance at all).
Dla rasy Devon Rex podział punktów wygląda tak:
Czyli u Devonów najważniejsze jest futro oraz głowa (with its structure – as well as the nose, skull, cheeks + ears + whiskers) – it is these elements that the judges and breeders mainly pay attention to.
The points score itself does not appear in the judge's report or in the show results, because here a more important element will be the qualification of the cat into an assessment group:
These „scores” (G, VG, Ex) appear already in the report and the show results.
After the points assessment and qualification, the judge additionally compares the cat to other cats in various classes, colours, etc. (we do not have room for that here, but we will have a separate article about the details of judging cats at shows).
Cztery pierwsze koty otrzymują ocenę – Ex 1, Ex 2, Ex 3 i Ex 4.
Przykład: Our GIGA in Piaseczno (April 2025) received Ex 1 on one day from a judge from Spain, and on the second day, also Ex 1 from a judge from Germany. See in the photo below what the judging report looks like after this show – every element of the cat is described + the judge's description/comment, and at the end there's an evaluation – in our case 2x Ex 1 (każda w inny dzień wystawy i od innego sędziego).
Koty (oraz hodowcy) na wystawach walczą o tzw. certyfikaty, które są im potrzebne do tego, aby kot mógł zdobywać tytuły wystawowe (typu Champion).
A certificate can be awarded to a cat only and exclusively if it received the Ex 1 score and has achieved a certain minimum number of points (varying depending on the class it competes in – more on that in another guide), which ranges from 93 to 97 points. Only an Ex 1 grade gives a chance of receiving a certificate (although an Ex 1 grade doesn't always have to end with a certificate being awarded, but those are rather very rare exceptions).
Przykład: Our GIGA in Piaseczno (April 2025) received on one day her first CACJ certificate (because she got the Ex 1 score) from a judge from Spain, and on the second day, she got drugi certyfikat CACJ from a judge from Germany. Look at the photo above – after the Ex 1 qualification, there is an annotation of the certificate won – CACJ.
Kot potem potrzebuje określonej liczby takich certyfikatów, in order finally to win one day a show title in its class. There must be at least 3 of these certificates (for the Champion and Premior titles), each from a different judge.
Przykład: Nasza GIGA ma zdobyte 2 certyfikaty CACJ. Aby mogła otrzymać tytuł wystawowy Junior Champion, must have at least 3 such certificates. We could not do this in the 2 days of the show in Piaseczno, so we will have to go to another show to fight there first for a score of >88 points, to get the Ex 1 qualification, to get the CACJ certificate.
Another important element of the individual assessment is the so-called nomination (described by the abbreviation NOM) to finału wystawy czyli Best in Show (opisywanego skrótem BIS).
Każdy sędzia może nominować 8 kotów do finału (2×4 = 2 sexes x 4 groups: kittens, juveniles, adults, neuters) in each judged category.
The cat then usually receives a mini-diploma or some badge/pendant (which you can see on the exhibitors' cages during the day). It is an important distinction for a cat at a given show.
W finale każdej wystawy prezentowane są the best cats chosen by the various judges and nominated by them to this final (i.e. all those with a nomination – NOM BIS). And this is the part of the show when the judges gather together and together also (as panel sędziowski) oceniają najlepsze koty.
Tu finał podzielony jest (zazwyczaj) na 4 kategorie kotów (długowłose, półdługowłose, krótkowłose i pozostałe).
Potem w każdej kategorii pojawia się podział na klasy: kittens, juniors, adults and neuters + additionally, in each, also by sex. On top of that there's an extra group of veterans (males and females) and litters – of course, if there are any at the show (because not every show has them). So usually we have 8 or even up to 11 „groups” of cats to be judged (in 1 of the 4 categories).
In the final it starts with the presentation of a specific category, and within it the individual classes of cats. Then in each such class the cats prezentowane są na raz dla wszystkich sędziów. Each cat is on its own little table (there are 2 to 5-6 such cats in a group) and the judges approach each of them separately. From among these few cats każdy sędzia głosuje (jawnie) na jednego i tylko jednego.
Ten, który otrzymał najwięcej głosów, otrzymuje właśnie tytuł BIS – Best in Show. In each category (of which there are 4) 8+ BIS titles can be awarded (both sexes in: kittens, juniors, adults, neuters). So the number of awarded cats can be over 30. But these are already the laureates, who also receive material prizes from sponsors and organisers.
Then from among all the cats awarded BIS in a given category (1 of 4), the best cat in the given category is chosen and receives the title BIC – Best in Category.
At the end the best from among all the categories (i.e. BIC) compete for the most important title of the show BOB – Best of The Best. Tu przyznawane są konkretne 4 miejsca: BOB 1, BOB 2, BOB 3 i BOB 4.
To sum up then, there are 3 titles/awards that cats can receive in this final (going to the most important ones):
Przykład: Below is an example of the judging in category 4 (which includes, among others, Devon Rexes), where at the show in Piaseczno our GIGA received a nomination (NOM) and then appeared in the BIS final. We had number 123 in the show catalogue (and that is how it is presented on the monitors). And as you can see w poziomej linii – startowała w grupie/klasie Juniors (8-12) Females. There it competed against a Russian Blue (144), two Cornish Rexes (118 and 131) and an Abyssinian (114). In the end, the BIS in our class was won by the Cornish numbered 118 (highlighted in pink and marked BIS), and the best cat of the whole category 4 (i.e. not only of the horizontal row, but of the entire table) was the Abyssinian numbered 112 (highlighted in yellow and marked BIC). This Abyssinian ultimately also won the BOB1 award, meaning it was the best cat of the whole show.
At the end of each show such results are published (at least in the FPL federation), where anyone can view the results of a given show and see all the awarded cats.
Wszystkie wyniki wystaw FPL dostępne są na stronie: https://catshow.eu/ – where you can look at every show. If you are interested in a summary of the whole show, then on the results subpage of a given show take a look at sekcję: Quick catalogue & Results > ALL.
BIS scores are marked in blue, and BIC/BOB scores are marked in red (to make them easier to spot).
And that's probably all we wanted to show and share with you. We hope that you'll now be able to go to a show more knowingly (which we very strongly encourage). You'll know what to expect, how to make good use of your time, how to view the cats during the show and in the final, and how to see the very best cats of the whole show.
Jak będziecie na wystawie gdzie będziemy i my – to KONIECZNIE przyjdźcie i powiedzcie, że nas znacie i kojarzycie – to jest mega miłe. Możecie też zadać nam dowolne pytanie. Zobaczcie zresztą sami, w naszym poście na Facebook, what questions we were asked during the show in Piaseczno in April 2025.
Śledźcie też nasze Social Media (w tym temacie najlepiej Kotki Kędziorki na Facebook), because there we announce when and where we are at a show. We rather choose shows in our area (the Mazovian Voivodeship), but who knows, maybe you will meet us in other places too.
Aha – jeśli chcecie zobaczyć w jakich wystawach braliśmy już udział, and which of our cats were with us at them + what scores, certificates and titles they won – for this we have prepared a dedicated page Kotki Kędziorki at Shows.
Do zobaczenia!
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