Yellowknife hosted its second annual cat show at the Elks Lodge on Friday last week, showcasing some of the city’s finest felines.
Organized by the Northern Mosaic Network, this year’s Pussycats Ball Cat Show raised money for the organization – a territorial outreach group for 2SLGBTQIPA+ people and their families – as well as the NWT SPCA animal shelter.
Six-month-old Noah was one of the cats at the show, attending his first public event (Friday also marked his first time on a leash).
His owner, Silke Jahn, adopted him from the animal shelter and said he’s happiest running around with other animals.
Hannah Ascough’s cat, Radish, was at Friday’s event to redeem herself after creating a ruckus during last year’s show.
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“Out of all the cats here last year, she was the worst behaved,” Ascough told Cabin Radio.
@cabinradio Meet Yellowknife’s best cats. This is the Pussycats Ball Cat Show. We met some cats and owners at year two of the gala, where northern cats get to hang out without risking an encounter with a wolverine. #cattok #spectacularnwt #yellowknife #cats ♬ original sound – Cabin Radio
“She got up on stage and immediately tried to escape, which culminated in her dragging the flag across the table in what can only be described as an unhinged effort at escape.”
Despite that first impression, Ascough said nine-year-old Radish is actually a friendly and well-behaved cat.
She said her husband rescued Radish near a highway in Ontario and the two have taken care of her ever since.
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Organizer Tineke Kippers is also the mentorship coordinator at the Northern Mosaic Network. Kippers said the fundraiser was put together to showcase the city’s cats, even though Yellowknife has reputation for being a dog town.
“There’s so many gorgeous cats here – and cat lovers – so we wanted to give them their time to shine as well,” she said.
“We know the SPCA has been struggling and, as a non-profit ourselves, we know the struggles to find funding.”
The night’s costume competition featured cats dressed as “Purlock Holmes,” Glinda and Elphaba from Wicked, and Felix the reindeer.
Cat trivia followed, with the audience trying their paw at 10 questions about cat anatomy, behaviours and history.
The winner of this year’s online photo contest – which received roughly 400 submissions from around the city – was Mitzy, whose prize is to become the new window decal for pet store Bone & Biscuit.
