{ My Life as Meowmy } : Upcoming Show & Continuing Education

It's been a bit quiet around the house since the kittens started to leave. Hard to believe how much of a difference it makes for even one or two to go, the vibe is so different. We still have Rory and Jack here for a few days, but after that it will be just Aspen & Remi, Konah & Dusty. A nice even number, all adults, and with Dusty now bred (see this post for more info on that) the hormone levels are finally starting to stabilize. Konah still hasn't come back in to heat yet, so at this point we are only expecting one litter for this Spring.

We have a few exciting things coming up in the next couple weeks!

No. 1: Continuing Education with PawPeds Academy

As many of you remember from our past blog posts, I've previously completed courses one and two offered by the PawPeds Academy, an international online academy designed to educate both cat breeders and pet owners. Courses one and two contain general health and genetics information, as well as covering the basics of setting up a successful breeding program. The third course, which I am SO looking forward to starting next week, is a much more in-depth study of these and other subjects. To qualify for course 3, courses 1 and 2 must have been passed as well as two or more litters of pedigreed kittens having been raised by the applicant. The course is 12 weeks long, college-level, and demands many hours of work to be successful. Imagine my relief when I received the email inviting me to join the spring course, which ends just a few days after I'm due with Lil' Guy! I have been hoping to complete the course before his arrival, for fear that waiting any longer would mean it would never happen. Instead, I get to spend the last three months of this pregnancy learning even more about one of my favorite subjects!

So, what are some things I'm going to be learning, and sharing with you, over the next few months? Well, here's just a peek at the curriculum for the class:

• Anatomy and physiology

• The danger of breeding for extremes

• Behaviour

• Communication

• Behaviour problems

• Reproduction and reproduction disorders

• Kittens and kitten problems

• Colour genetics and pedigree info

• Population genetics

• Breeding for health

• Designing a health programme

• Working with health

• Analysing a genome

• Breeding and selection

• Evaluation systems

• Breeding progression

• Showing vs breeding

• Development of the breeds

• Keeping cats together in groups

• Infectious pressure

• Infectious diseases

• Teeth and oral cavity

• Nutrition for cat

• BARF (Biologically Appropriate Raw Feeding)

• Economy and selling If this is something you'd be interested in doing yourself, check out PawPeds' website to find out about their online courses! Their website also has a fantastic library of information on a variety of feline health subjects. This group is a go-to resource for breeders all around the world, for pedigrees, health programs, and research material.

Exciting Thing No 2: Upcoming Show

Soooo, if you live in the Denver area, make sure you put it on your calendar to come out to meet Remi and Konah at the EconoCat Show in Brighton, CO Feb 4-5th! Originally the plan was just to bring Remi. Since he got his Championship at Ragdolls Around the World, (yaaaaay! Go Remi!!) and is halfway to his Grand, there is a good chance he could collect enough finals to Grand or more at this show. Since Konah did not get bred, we decided at the last moment to go ahead and enter her as well. It's a pretty small show - currently only 60 cats entered - so it's very possible they could both end up with a fair number of finals, although the points will be a bit low. Hoping we come home with new titles for both cats! Our goal for Remi this year is for him to Supreme, which will be a team effort along with our good friend Jill, who has offered to show him for us this year when she can, since we'll be busy with Lil' Guy. (To find out more about what these titles mean and how they are accomplished, check out this link.)

We hope to see you at the show, and I look forward to sharing all kinds of juicy tidbits with you that I learn from the upcoming course!

What do you think?

~Would you take a course to learn more about cat behavior, health, and breeding? ~Have you ever been to a cat show or considered showing your cat?

Answer below!

~Meowmy

#showing #catshows #cats #behavior #pawpeds #education #pawacademy