A good body and a pretty face alone won't placea cat at the top. The quality of opponents doesnot factor into the equation, only the number orvictories, so an ambitious owner must work thecircuit every weekend, builing up points.

Sullivan explains that her business is"basically about bloodlines." She researches theancestory of cats before breeding them. "You haveto understand pedigrees, what combinations work,what will produce top quality."

Almost all of the exhibitors are breeders. Theycome looking for customers as much as victories inthe ring, handling out business cards and explaingwhy their breed is the kindest, most loyal, mostfriendly, best behaves.

John Lacouture keeps 35 birds and 16 Manx inhis Woonsocket, R.I. house. He feeds his cats rawhambuger neat which he buys in bulk at a greyhoundrace track. "My cat friends and my vet arescandalized, they say there is too much bacteriaand I should cook the meat, but I figure, theyfeed it to the greyhounds which are worth 50grand."

Breeders are careful with their cats. They keeptheir cats indoors to avoid contamination withparasites and diseases and strays. The purebredsthus drifever further from the wild, losingimmunity to inbreeding, killing instinct toinactivity. Now they can at least experience theoutdoors the American way with the "VideoKatsette," a $24.89 videotape of birds, mice, andsquirrels that "brings the outdoors to your cat:an ideal catsitter."

Lacouture says that many breeders feel that"the cat is the best thing they have." Platonistsall, the breeders worship their creation, the bodythey have molded through skilled match-making.They know the ancestry of their cats better thantheir own family tree. Few make any money afterpaying registration fees, vet bills, food costs,transportation. They do it, says Lacouture, "forthe prestige, the ego-trip."

At a deeper level, power plays a more urgentrole than prestige. Cats turn the station-wagonmom into entrepreneur, make the insurance salesmanan absolute monarch with uncontested authorityover a feline ream. Human fascination with sex haslong spilled over to a vicarious interest in theromantic lives of domesticated animals. One couplesays, "Ever since we got our first Ocicat fiveyears ago, we've been really into breeding."

Once a year, the Cat Fanciers Association holdsa dinner to honor the top 20cat breeders in thecountry. "You feel like royalty at the banquet,"says Barnaby, the judge. Without regard toposition in the workaday world, the cat breederscan be aristocrats for the weekend.