GP, NW Caricature's Boyd Tinsley
23rd Best Cat in Premiership
23rd Best Cat in Premiership
CFA's 23rd Best Cat in Premiership is GRP, NW Caricature's Stan "Tookie" Williams, a Bombay neuter bred by Sig & Sharyn Hauck and owned by Jeri & Dan Zottoli of Harrisburg PA. Mom Jeri writes "who would have thought that so may lives could be touched, and irrevocably changed, by one very determined small black cat." When Tookie was born, he had a misshapen nose that caused breathing and eating difficulties. Many breeders would just have let him go, but Sig & Sharyn saw his incredibly strong will to live. He was hand fed, hand carried, diapered, burped and sung to by his doting "Pop Pop." When he weighed approx. 800 grams, his nose was fixed, giving him a wonderful quality of life and allowing him to eat on his own. Jeri had waited for this special kitten out of Sonya and wanted him from birth as her forever pet even if he couldn't be shown. But as Tookie continued to heal and develop, the entire package meowed "could I grand?"
They say it takes a village to raise a child…or an entire cat fancy to show a willful small black cat. Tookie was shown as a kitten and earned NAR's 13th Best Kitten for the 2006-2007 show season. Every trip was an adventure, every show ring a new playground for the happy boy that never met a stranger. Jeri's retirement after 30 years of state employment coincided with the start of the 2007-2008 show season, so it was decided we would "see what we could do" (a.k.a. "we're just going to some shows"). Unfortunately, Jeri's judging schedule put a bit of a monkey wrench into some of Tookie's show schedule. Enter "Team Tookie" - the many aunts and uncles, the agents extraordinaire, the numbers crunchers, the "Tookie taxi" system that helped get Tookie where he needed to be when Jeri couldn't.
We can't say there were any horrible travel stories or hotel misadventures - all went as hoped with Tookie eagerly looking forward to each trip (well, he did yell in the car…a lot!), fun in the hotels and each judge's ring a new playground designed for his pleasure. He is truly the consummate show cat, and his entire entourage of family and friends just grew and grew. We'd have to say the highlight of the show season was the entire show season itself - the coming together of so many old friends, the ever-expanding circle of new friends, and all because of one small, very precocious black cat who knew he could be a contender.
Jeri Zottoli, CFA Allbreed Judge
Tookie's owner
Tookie's owner
(c) 2008 by Bombay Enthusiasts of America.
All photographs are copyrighted by the individual photographers.
All photographs are copyrighted by the individual photographers.
No redistribution in any form without the written consent of the copyright holder
Website designed and maintained by
