Pirated hand-made Simon's Cat Soap and Other Wonders of Russian Cat Shows

Last weekend me and my husband went to annual cat show, a couple of them are held each year in our city.  This particular one was about Maine Coons and British cats, with a few of other breeds presented. Besides getting myself a random flu strain (that’s been fighting with me for a week straight now), I’ve got a few pictures to show you. First of all, no sane cat owner would go without a piece of hand-made pirated Simon’s Cat soap. Pirated because Simon Toffield doesn’t has a clue that Russian housewives are making soap out of his cat. It doesn’t looks like Simon’s Cat that much, thought, so the owner of those soaps put a hand-written sign to let everyone know what this is. Oh, and let’s not forget about Russians’ favorite character of all times – Gordon Shumway aka Alf from 80s TV series! (Pictures under the cut).

The Alf series was aired in Russia by at least 4 channels up until now (maybe more, i don’t know). The first time was in early 90s, when US lifestyle in general and sitcom genre in particular were unknown to the masses; since then Alf is still very popular. Also, there was this “cowgirl” selling kittens instead of cattle:

The show is being held in a relatively small premises with complete lack of ventilation and so many cat owners, cats themselves and visitors stuffed in one place, that you have to practically squeeze your way through. The poor animals are fed with tons of sedative and then stuffed into small, cluttered and breathless spaces where they spent the whole day, ignoring swarming kids and adults. 

I was mainly interested in Maine Coons because my own kitten (he’s younger than 18 months, so i guess that’s technically still a “kitten”) has grown into a huge and fluffy beast – a lot bigger than an average cat is supposed to be. I don’t when exactly he was born and who the parents were because he and his brother were foundlings, brought to my hubby friend’s doorsteps in September, 2011.

We have a theory that there may be a Maine Coone somewhere among our cat’s ancestors, because his weight is already 5,8 kg and I’ve been told that an average Maine Coon’s weight is 7-12 kg. Some of the younger kittens (about 5-6 months old) were actually smaller than my beast, and i took photos to compare.

Maine Coons are the biggest among cat breeds, and they cost a shiny dime – between 30,000 and 40,000 rubles per animal = ~$1000-$1300. For comparison: my husband’s sister makes 9,000 rubles per month working as a librarian, and she has to feed two kids who aren’t out of institute (would be “college” in USA system) yet.

Some more Maine Coon pictures:

 

I know there are silent readers here, do you have any questions, people? =)