Cats Competition History
Cats first appeared in competition at the Show in the late 19th century with exhibits shown sporadically in ‘extra exhibit’ classes attached to the Poultry section. In 1874 Mrs Laughnan entered White Persian cats, while in 1876 Mrs Coar entered a Fancy cat (blue).
In 1892 the Poultry section offered an ‘extra class for cats’, the first time cats were specifically mentioned in a class of their own. Two Cyprus, two white Persian cats, and two white Persian kittens were apparently shown.
A stand-alone cat competition was finally instituted in 1929 and has been a consistent part of the Show ever since.
In 1998 the Kitten Carnival started, and in the year 2000 classes for companion cats were introduced.
The Cat section awards five perpetual trophies. The longest running trophy is the EJ Lonsdale Memorial Perpetual Trophy which was first awarded in 1962.
Timeline for the introduction of different breeds at the Show
Note: many breeds have not appeared continuously at the Show since they were first introduced. This list records the first time they are mentioned in RAS catalogues. The first appearance of different ‘colours’ of breeds have not been recorded.
1929 Persians (Blue, Black, Smoke, White, Masked Silver, Silver Tabby, Red Tabby, Brown Tabby,
Chinchilla, Shaded Silver), Siamese, Long hair, Any other breed
1949 Royal Sacred Siamese instead of Siamese
1959 Burmese
1960 Abyssinian
1968 Manx, Russian Blue, Chestnut Brown (European equivalent of Havana Brown), British Shorthairs, Foreign Shorthairs
1969 Havana, Himalayan, Birman, British Blue (now known as British Shorthair
1971 Rex, Korat
1972 Cornish Rex
1974 Manx (SR)
1975 Devon Rex
1976 Colourpoint Shorthair
1977 Russian White
1979 Russian Black
1981 Sydney Silver
1982 Turkish Van, Orientals
1984 Balinese
1985 Exotic Shorthair
1986 SR Cymric
1987 Spotted Mist (now Australian Mist name changed in 1998/1999)
1988 Sydney Silver Shorthair
1990 SR Scottish Fold
1993 Marked Persian, Self Persian
1994 Abyssinian/Somali, SR Ragdoll
1995 Maine Coon
1996 ER Burmilla
1997 Somali becomes own breed
1998 Bengal
1999 Norwegian Forest Cat, Australian Mist, Singapura
2003 Oriental Long Hair, Scottish Short Hair, Burmilla Long Hair
2004 Siberian, Selkirk Rex
2005 Tonkinese, Ocicat
2006 American Bombay, Sphynx, Egyptian Mau
2007 Bombay, Munchkin
2008 Asian Self, Japanese Bobtail, Selkirk Rex Longhair, Foreign White Longhair
2010 Bombay (American), Bombay (Australian)
2011 La Perm
2012 Chartreux, European Shorthair, German Rex, Scottish Longhair
2013 Pixie Bob
2015 Peterbald, Toyger
2016 Oriental Longhair (Javanese), Pixie Bob Longhair, La Perm Shorthair
2017 La Perm Longhair
2019 Mandalay, American Shorthair, Snowshoe, Munchkin Longhair