Hotels across Charleston were filled with the sound of hair dryers Saturday morning as contestants got prepared for competition.
Contestants were primped and pampered before the big event.
If you listened closely, you might have heard a hiss, a meow and even a, "Good kitty, good kitty."
This isn't a beauty pageant, but instead the Cat Fanciers' Association's All Breed Cat Show.
Almost Heaven Cat Club and its sister organization, Western Pennsylvania Cat Fanciers, co-hosted a show for the Cat Fanciers' Association.
Owners of purebred cats from around the country came to Charleston for a shot at gold. They brushed and they fluffed cats of all shapes and sizes for the chance to win.
More than 200 cats lined up in rows in the Civic Center, waiting to be judged. Ron Pastor, the show's manager and member of a cat club in Pennsylvania, said cat owners come here not just for the competition, but to meet and connect with other cat enthusiasts who share their similar love of felines.
But how does it all work?
There are three different classes a cat can fall under: kitten, premiere or champion. If a cat is designated a premiere, that means it has been spayed or neutered and can only compete against other premiere cats. A champion, the most common type of cat at Saturday's event, is a full cat - "it has all its bits and pieces," as Pastor describes it, meaning the cat hasn't been spayed or neutered.
Owners line their cats' cages up in row - but that's almost part of the competition, too. Owners like to deck out the cages, adorning them with brightly colored fabrics, jewels and name plates. Cat owners may spend up to an hour fussing over the cat's fur, fluffing it this way and that to make it just right.
"It's really just a beauty contest, after they meet the breed's standards, of course," said Cleveland resident Susan Rzyczyciki, as she brushed and fluffed her 8-month-old Maine coon champion cat, Glacier. "They have to be appealing to the eye.
"A day or two before the show, you give the cat a six-part bath - it's not like putting your kitty in a bath."
Before the show, cats go through different washes, including washes to strip off dirt and oil, and another to tint the color of their fur. Glacier is a white cat the color of fresh snow. Rzyczyciki used a purple tinting color to take out any possible yellow in the cat's fur before the competition.
Rzyczyciki is an expert in grooming now, but she found herself in the world of the Cat Fanciers' Association by necessity, really. She bought her husband a Maine coon kitten for his birthday after he had taken a liking to a stray cat that was wandering their neighborhood.
Maine coon cats require significant time to groom because their soft undercoat is prone to matting easily. Not knowing how to groom their new cat, the couple went to their first Cat Fanciers' show.
"Then they made us drink the purple Kool-Aid," Rzyczyciki says laughing, "and we became people who showed cats. What is it they always say? Oh yeah, 'This is what CFA does, they put on shows so people know where all of the crazies are.'"
Then, Rzyczyciki hears Glacier's number called over a loudspeaker. She rushes off to the first of six rings in which Glacier will have to compete. There's one judge for every ring. Judges will decide on their top 10 cats of the day.
Once all of the judges have their top picks, they tally up which cat got the highest rankings and crown the best in show.
Pastor's cat, a Maine coon as well, is no stranger to the winner's circle. In 2010, his cat was crowned the fourth best in the entire world.
"My wife says I'm more competitive than she is," Pastor said. "And yeah, I am."
The couple got involved with Cat Fanciers' about 20 years ago, after their children left home and they started looking for a hobby. Since then, Pastor has gotten more heavily involved with the organization. For the past few years, he said he has run the Western Pennsylvania Cat Fanciers' Show in Pittsburgh.
"You know, when you're out on the show trail, you make so many friends," Pastor said, smiling. "We've made so many friends across the county."
Reach Jake Jarvis at jake.jarvis@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-7939 or follow @NewsroomJake on Twitter.