LISBON – When Anna Herling walks with Destiny and Carlotta into a crowded, cat-filled Bath Middle School later this week, it will be a dream come true for the 11-year-old.
A real championship cat show. And her very own cats are competing.
“I always thought it might be cool because Carlotta has such a cool personality,” Anna said.
Her passion for all things furry and fluffy started when she was just a toddler. Her first word was “meow.”
After the family’s beloved calico, Dylan, died a couple of years ago, Anna’s parents agreed to take home two kittens from the local shelter.
Her mother picked out Carlotta, a sweet-when-she-wants-to-be brown and white tabby with a heart-shaped nose. Anna chose Destiny, a lovable brown tabby that could fit in her father’s shirt pocket.
“When I first held her, she put her claws in my shirt and wouldn’t let go,” Anna said.
Now a year and a half old – teenagers, in cat years – they swing between hyperactive and unruffled. Anna cuddles them and provides string for chasing. They take turns sleeping on her bed at night.
Anna figured the local cat show would be a good place to show them off.
“They’re just awesome cats,” she said. “I don’t think I could get a better cat.”
Sponsored by the United Maine Coon Cat Association, the two-day show will feature purebred Maine Coon Cats. Cool Carlotta and sweet Destiny will be entered in the “household pet” part of the contest.
Anna’s not quite sure how they will react with more 100 other cats there.
“I think once Carlotta gets used to it she’ll be OK,” Anna said. “Destiny doesn’t do well with other cats.”
Anna, a sixth-grader at Lisbon Community School, doesn’t have to do a lot to prepare the trim, short-haired cats. Shortly before the show, she’ll clip their nails and bathe them.
She told a few close friends about the show. If she wins, she figures, she’ll tell everybody.
Not that winning is the most important thing, she said.
“I won’t be disappointed if they lose because they probably did the best they could,” Anna said.
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