The meOw-vie stars

All my life I’ve lived with cats and loved them. While I come from a family of animal lovers, my sister and I gravitated towards caring for, and fawning over, cats.

And these were not purebred cats. They were the usual, run-of-the-mill native felines, the ones we would rescue from the streets and care for until they were fattened up, and looked as handsome as those pure-breed cats in posters.

After many years of volunteering for the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) and organizing activities that mostly involved dogs, fellow PAWS director and cat lover Libby Lavarro proposed the "Whiskers, Purrs and Tails" Cat Show as a fundraiser for PAWS.

The exciting part about "Whiskers Purrs and Tails Year 2" was that it had a movie-theme cage-décor contest.

I presented my cat, Domeng, to PAWS volunteer Monique Santos, who wanted to join the cage-decorating competition but did not have a cat.

Monique said that Domeng’s cage was going to be done up in a Jaws theme. I quickly dismissed thoughts of dressing up Domeng in polka-dotted trunks. I realized that joining the show would be traumatic for him.

Domeng’s only adventures outside the house have been his annual trips to the veterinarian. I decided it was best for Domeng to come au naturel.

Last Saturday, when Monique and I trooped to the Eastwood Cinema lobby along with the other contestants to start decorating our respective cages, my eyes widened at the props that other contestants had brought for their entries.

Emil Rebano brought small replicas of a Star Wars tie-fighter, an imperial "chicken-walker" (otherwise known to sci-fi movie fans as the "AT-AT") and the Death Star for his Star Wars-themed cat cage.

Dana Tanares brought miniature styro-snow balls and white twigs for her cat Horus’ Narnia-themed cage while Nikki Montilla’s cat Kitit had an ethereal Finding Nemo aquarium backdrop.

I liked Ann Fernandez’ Puss in Boots (from the movie Shrek) cage décor.

The poster on top of the cage with a cut-out image of Puss read: "Hola ,mi amor amigos! Be kind and respect the animals. For in our world, they have no voice, they have no choice."

The Himalayan cat Simba earned sainthood nominations from the other cats for regally bearing a king’s crown and a royal red robe from 2 p.m. until the awarding ceremonies at 6.30 p.m. Guardian Con-Con Bautista decorated Simba’s cage with The Lion King paraphernalia and won third place in "Best in Cage Décor." Simba also won "Best Eyes."

In a perfect face-off, it was a black cat and a white cat that went whisker-to-whisker in the counting of votes for the ultimate "Best in Cage Décor" award.

Marian Barola’s eerie entry for The Ring worked because her all-black native cat Kisha, who was in a white dress, chose to sit patiently on top of a miniature well during the show, looking soulfully at passersby with her mysterious yellow-green eyes. Still, Kisha, whom Marian adopted from the PAWS Animal Rehabilitation Center (PARC), romped away with second place in the cage décor competition.

Sheryl Bautista’s fluffy white Persian cat, Sumo, dressed in angel wings, got first prize. Her cage had a moving angel doll on top and several priceless angel figurines for their Date with an Angel entry. Sumo also won "Most Adorable" by public voting as she was always socializing with and being fawned over by the voters.

I don’t think there has been a greater assembly of rescued native cats in a cat show before. The "Friendliest Cat" awardee Aras, for example, was rescued by his guardian, radio deejay Chico (of Monster Radio’s "Chico and Delamar" fame). Rocco, "Best Native Cat" runner up, was also the recipient of the most votes for "Best Famous Cat Look Alike." His cage was decorated simply with cutout colored Garfield comic strips.

My cat Domeng didn’t win any prize, but I sure had a blast cuddling the other cats and interacting with fellow ailurophiles.

The major sponsors for the cat show were Whiskas, Globe Broadband, Philippine STAR "Pet Life" Section, Eastwood City and Frontline.