Albuquerque, New Mexico was the setting this October for the World Premier of a new and exciting venue for cats! ICAT (International Cat Agility Tournaments) held the first ever exhibition of Cat Agility! Spectators cheered and a few cats tried to rush into the ring in their excitement watching cats jumped through tire jumps, cruised over ‘cat walks’, through tunnels and gracefully flew over jumps and onto kitty-sized pause tables.
The exhibition was a huge success and ICAT has several more events planned before the first season of competition begins in May of 2004. Competitions will be held in conjunction with TICA cat shows.
ICAT is still developing course elements, and at this point a lot of the equipment used and obstacles are loosely based on Dog Agility courses but contain a few more vertical elements. Cats can be lured through the course with play target sticks or wands, and some cat handlers are clicker training cats to move through the courses with verbal and physical cues.
Expect to see the course elements evolve to include some of the many things that cats are so very good at. Possibilities include balancing (as in on the back of your couch), climbing (we know they can climb drapes!), jumping up to high platforms (like the refrigerator) and maybe even ‘fishing’ objects out of containers!
Pedigrees are not a requirement to participate in ICAT events, so all cats have an equal shot at this sport.
The founders of ICAT are very excited about the future of Cat Agility and its potential to enhance the relationships between people and their feline companions and to spotlight the beauty and grace of cats.
Curious? Want to learn more? Visit:
and some info & links on Karen Pryor’s site:
And if you think cats are not trainable...think again
PLAY WITH YOUR CAT EVERY DAY!
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