Stray is now the cat’s meow
Published: July 14, 2006
Nearly three years ago, a stray cat showed up on the Miller family’s doorstep in Gustavus. He had no hair and was extremely malnourished, but he was declawed and neutered, indicating he once had a loving owner.
Jenna Miller, then an eighth-grader, began feeding him along with her six or seven other cats. Within a month, the cat — who she named Ghost because he looked so scary — began to grow hair and gain weight.
On Thursday, Ghost was named Grand Champion during the Trumbull County Fair’s cat judging competition. He won in the domestic short hair division.
Miller, who will be a junior at Badger High School, is a member of the Silver Claws 4-H Club. She has eight cats, but only shows two of them at the fair.
‘‘I have to bathe him, trim his nails, use cotton balls to clean his ears, make sure he has no fleas and brush him,’’ she said of getting Ghost ready to compete. ‘‘Most cats don’t like water, but he loves attention so he doesn’t mind.’’
Miller has been a 4-H member for eight years, and said her sister was involved in the club as well. She said preparing for the fair is a lot of work because the judges test the owner’s knowledge of their animal as well as the appearance of the animal itself.
Kevin Brown of Farmdale was at the fair with his six horses, including an 8-year-old Percheron named Paul, and his brother, a 9-year-old Percheron named Pete. Both horses were set to compete today in the halter competition and Saturday in the hitch competition.
For Brown, a 2006 graduate of Joseph Badger High School, raising horses is a family affair. His grandmother, Cindy Sinn, said her husband had Belgian horses and they went to a horse sale in 1986.
‘‘We came home with two male Percherons,’’ Sinn said.
She said the family used to breed horses, producing four foals each year.
‘‘We got out of the breeding business two years ago,’’ she said. ‘‘Now, we just have fun with them. My husband and I go to Alabama for nine months, so my son and grandkids take care of the horses while we’re gone.’’
Sinn said there is a lot of work involved in raising show animals because they must be trained, groomed and cleaned. Plus, you have to feed them and take them to the vet, which can add up to a lot of money as well.
Dave Sinn, her son, said the family’s horses have won ‘‘hundreds’’ of blue ribbons in the 20 years they have been competing. He said they used to compete in about a dozen shows a year, traveling to Indiana, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Missouri.
‘‘We just do the two county fairs now,’’ Cindy Sinn said. ‘‘We’re getting older and it’s too much work.’’
Amber Owen of Streetsboro, a member of the Very Good Kow Growers 4-H Club, said her family’s 4-H membership started with her grandmother. Her father was a member of the Trumbull County club, and he passed that interest onto her. She said she was showing 15 cows at the fair, including 13 Jerseys and two Ayrshires. They were competing today in the 4-H Dairy Show.
‘‘The cows are judged on their dairy characteristics, such as deep, wide ribs, the smoothness of their coat and how well they stand on their legs. I am judged on how I present them,’’ Owen said.
She said cows live an average of seven to 10 years and they must be at least 2 months old to compete. Her jersey calf, Daisy, was born in March.
‘‘She’s the youngest. My family breeds the cows, but they live on a farm in Clarks Mills, Pa. We go on the weekends to milk them and clip them so they get used to us before we bring them to the fair,’’ Owen said.
Caleb Roth, 10, is a member of Trumbull’s Best Shepherds 4-H Club. This is his first year in the club and he won first-place in showmanship with his sheep Wild Thing.
‘‘My friend, Jarred Crowder, got me involved in 4-H,’’ Roth said. ‘‘I bought my two sheep from a farm in Windham. Both were born on Valentine’s Day.’’
His mother, Debbie Roth, said 4-H has been a great experience, especially the comaraderie that exists.
‘‘The older kids pass their knowledge on to the younger ones. It’s great to see that,’’ she said.
Caleb said it’s hard work competing at the fair because the sheep need walked every day, and have to be cleaned and fed several times a day.
Even though he is a novice 4-H member, Caleb offered a piece of advice for other sheep owners.
‘‘After you wash them, don’t let them lay down. They will get all kinds of stuff stuck to them,’’ he said.
If you enjoyed this good news Subscribe to Good News Blog
If you like this, you'll love Good Animal News:
Share this
To share this simply copy and paste one of the below URL's: