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CFA’s 6th Best Kitten GC BW NW Emau’s Minuet, Silver Egyptian Mau female by GC Mautrix Likely Story Out of GC BW RW Emau’s You’ve Gotta Have Faith As we move through life from childhood to maturity, we encounter an endless array of people and on rare occasions, for one reason or another, we connect. Those few special people enter our lives, for an instant, or a lifetime, make an impact and change us forever. We call these people friends and they shape what we become as we move through our lives. They become our most precious treasures. Rita Malone was one of those special people who changed me for the better and despite the short time we knew each other became a friend. She contacted me looking for a pet and ended up taking Hope (GC BW RW Emau’s You’ve Gotta Have Faith) as a breeding cat instead. Hope was one of those special cats who loves everyone and deserved a special, perfect life as the center of someone’s home. Rita gave her that home and that life for one perfect year… In February, in her second litter Hope gave birth to the kitten that had everything I could have asked for from Hope; a silver girl with all her strong points. As soon as I saw her at three weeks I told Rita that she was “the one”. Rita provided an ideal environment for the precocious litter of three. She looked forward to coming to the babies debut show the second weekend in June. I will never forget talking with her to plan that much awaited debut. She was so excited about the babies and going to her first show as an exhibitor. She told me that the babies gave her so much joy and laughter that she could not wait to wake up in the morning to see what new marvels they would bring to her. Sadly, Rita never made it to that first show. She passed away the week before the kittens turned four months old. Edward, the boy in the litter left for his pet home the night we lost Rita. In the meantime, Tulip (GP Emau’s Duet) and Minuet (GC BW NW Emau’s Minuet) lives changed overnight. Linda Peterson picked them up from the grieving family and brought them to me at the S.R. Awards show where they ended up rooming with Carol Osborne for the weekend. Minuet did not end up debuting until the first weekend in July where she ended up making five of six finals and earning her first best Kitten. Garden State two weekends later gave her the second Best of her career. The honest truth was that although I was pleased, I thought nothing much of it. I was excited, but really did not think it would go much further. We had missed most of her first month as a kitten and I was just happy that she was a happy well adjusted baby. I personally had never had a kitten win of any sort and certainly had no such plans for Minuet. She, however, had other things in mind. I had nothing to do with what happened next… She purely and simply took things into her own paws. Blessed with a breed defining brilliant silver coat, a perfect profilr and a flawless pattern, she was not only flashy, but sweet and showy. After a string of 5 shows as highest scoring kitten in show and with a record of 10 shows with at least one best kitten it seemed like she had won everyone over but me. She was the only kitten to make all 8 finals at National Capital and just missed being highest scoring kitten there. Shortly after that she moved into position as Best Kitten in CFA and went on to hold that spot for almost 3 full months. What a contrast to the run in 2006/2007 with Sunny (GC BW NW Emau’s Drop-Of-Golden Sun). Sunny did her best to self destruct at every turn. Minuet made the whole process seem effortless. I just get shaking my head and saying “go figure” and “I am just the chauffeur”. She was the one who did it all. By the last month of her kitten career I started to realize that I was not only looking the first Emau Egyptian Mau kitten to earn a title, but what looked like a history in the making for the breed. She ended up CFA’s 6th best kitten, Southern Region’s Best Kitten and CFA’s highest scoring Egyptian Mau kitten ever. Showing her was a joy. Meeting the other gorgeous kitten competitors humbling. One of the highlights of her kitten career was her last kitten show when Mau breeders from across the country came together to be a part of breed history. 16 Mau kittens from many different Mau breeders came to cheer her on and celebrate with her. This little joyful kitten with the sweet earnest personality made us so many friends. It was hard not to love her and once again I was struck by how special the journey is in this process. It is indeed all about the memories and from the very beginning when she brought joy and laughter to a very special lady’s last days on this earth to her last ring she gave everything she had. What a gift this special kitten is; we left her kitten run so much richer with new friends and old. Both she and I would like to dedicate her win to her first mother: Rita Malone – one special lady who raised one special kitten. And as a postscript, she finally did win me over as well… although it took her until she matured into the elegant lady she is today and had her own life’s traumas like her infamous housemate Sunny! She makes me proud.
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