ZIGGI'S PAGE
14.10.00 - 2.11.10
This website is dedicated to the memory of my lovely Ziggi who fired my passion for showing.
IMPERIAL GRAND PREMIER
ADMILSH ZABARI
BEST FOREIGN EXHIBIT
- NATIONAL CC SHOW 2009
also
THE
FIRST
AND ONLY BENGAL CAT
TO BE TITLED BY ALL THREE SHOWING ORGANISATIONS!!!
GCCF IMPERIAL GRAND PREMIER, TICA CHAMPION ALTER & FIFE INTERNATIONAL PREMIER
Even as a kitten, Ziggi displayed the characteristics of a wise old man. He can look at you with his expressive green eyes and you somehow get the feeling that this cat has seen it all, and done it all in one of his previous lives. He reminds me of Aslan, the Lion in the Narnia tales. Although a huge and imposing male neutered Bengal, Ziggi is the most good-natured and gentle cat I have ever known. As one judge put it, 'a gentle giant'.
He is incredibly
affectionate as well as being as faithful as a puppy. But despite this, he is a
very demanding cat and he has the whole household trained to his every whim.
When he wants something he will go on relentlessly until he gets it. He hates it when
I have a lie in, and will persistently nag me until I get out of bed.
His antics have resulted in
door handles having to be replaced with doorknobs as he learnt very
early in life how to open them. A child lock had to be put on the fridge door
as he kept breaking and entering and emptying the contents onto the kitchen floor.
I recently, on a whim,
decided to teach Ziggi to sit. Amazingly he responded immediately. I tried it a
couple more times to check that it was not a coincidence and no, it wasn’t. You
see, having three dogs in the family, Ziggi already knew what the word ‘sit’
meant and was only too pleased to demonstrate his knowledge of the English
language! Teaching him to come to the whistle was also effortless, leading me to
think that maybe he WAS a dog in a previous life.
At the age of six months I
introduced Ziggi and his sister to the UK show scene. At that time Bengals were
still only at the Preliminary stage, so their Open class was not competitive.
Each cat was judged individually on their conformity to the breed
standard and, if they reached that standard, they were awarded a Merit
Certificate. Apart from this compulsory Open class they were also eligible to be entered
in the competitive miscellaneous classes, usually against other breeds. At this stage Ziggi
was fairly successful and in his first year he went to seven shows and had
fourteen first placings in the miscellaneous classes and one nomination for Best
in Show. Sometimes he was in the same class as his sister Misti, though she had a slight
edge on him, and he was pipped to the post on many occasion into second place by
her.
A year later the Brown
Spotted Bengals qualified for the next stage of competition, the Provisional
stage. One step left towards the coveted goal of
Championship status. At this stage they were in
competition with other Bengals in their Open Class, and the winner was awarded an
Intermediate Certificate. Ziggi was the first male neuter Bengal in the UK to
gain an Intermediate Certificate and it was a truly landmark day for him winning
against a very large class.
The GCCF kept the Brown Spotted Bengals down at Provisional level for a full two years after this, despite having the required number of qualifying cats to take them up to Championship status. This was unfortunate for Ziggi as he was getting older and I was afraid that his age might restrict his progression to gain any Titles. During these two years he was awarded an incredible nineteen Intermediate Certificates.
In July of 2005 I took
Ziggi to the very prestigious Bengal Cat Club show at
Cricklade near Swindon. I’m afraid, against the top
Bengals in the country, my aspirations for him had already been surpassed in the
previous two years when he came third in both years so I was praying for a third
once again even though the competition was the hottest so far.
From mid-day onwards at the show
I
don’t really remember much. I don’t remember driving home, or the bottle of
Cava I downed when I got there or probably the rest of the following week. My
astonishment at him coming first out of eight in his class, being awarded Best
of Breed out of a total of eleven cats, AND winning two trophies was just too
much for me to take in! It was the pinnacle of his show career and Ziggi and I
were on cloud nine!
At last, in June 2006,
the Brown Spotted Bengals were able to compete for Championship status with the
GCCF and Ziggi did it once again when he was the first male neuter Bengal in the
UK to be awarded a Premier Certificate.
Two weeks later he went on to gain his first Title when he was made up to Fife Premier during the two-day Aristocats Cat Club show near Bristol with the International showing body Felis Brittanica. He has since gained his second Fife title, that on International Premier. In January of 2007 he gained his GCCF Premier title after gaining his third Premier Certificate, and four months later I took him to his first Tica show where he gained enough points to be awarded the title of Tica Champion Alter. He is the first Bengal cat EVER to be titled by all three showing organisations and as many judges have remarked, a true Ambassador of the Bengal breed. By September Ziggi gained a further title, that of GCCF Grand Premier.
In July 2009 Ziggi reached yet another pinnacle in his long career by gaining the title of Imperial Grand Premier after he gained his fifth Imperial Grand Premier Certificate at the Wiltshire and District Cat Club show. This was an aim I hadn't dare dream about when the Bengals first went up to Championship status as, because he was by now getting on in years, I nearly retired him after he became a Premier! What a mistake that would have been because as time has gone by, Ziggi has enjoyed his show days more and more and it really is a pleasure to continue to show him. First and foremost though, Ziggi is just a regular cat, with an ordinary cat life consisting of hunting, exploring, eating and sleeping ....... all his favourite things!
**UPDATE - Ziggi reaches another milestone in his show career by winning BEST IN SHOW FOREIGN EXHIBIT at the National CC show 2009!!!**
***Ziggi has now retired from showing after a long and successful career as an Ambassador for the Bengal breed***
April 2010 - Ziggi enjoys his retirement by hunting in the barn
Ziggi and his great friend Buckles,
playing in the snow!!
Just click on the arrow to view this short video
10.11.07
After developing a tumor, we said goodbye to dear Buckles ... he's now buried in the garden.
Photographs and content of this website are Copyright © 2006 - 2011 Anne Wedge – Coak
Website design by Anne
Wedge - Coak 