International Cat Agility Tournaments

ICAT was organized in early 2003 by four long-time cat friends, Vickie Shields, Adriana Kajon, Shirley Piper, and Kathy Krysta to encourage having healthy, happy cats and playful interactions with their owners through cat agility.

Cats negotiate an obstacle course designed to display their speed, coordination, the beauty of movement, physical conditioning, intelligence, training, and the quality and depth of their relationship with their owner, who trains with them and guides them through the course.   

Goals:

-  Encourage owners to interact more with their cats, and enjoy a closer relationship

-  Raise awareness of how intelligent, easily trainable, and skillful cats are

-  Bring cat agility into more homes, cat shows, and pet expos

-  Educate about cat body language, vision, structure, and other interesting aspects

-  Provide zoo cats with big exercise wheels

International Cat Agility Tournaments

Vickie Shields is the co-creator of ICAT, the International Cat Agility Tournaments - because it is fun for the cats, and for owners, and because cats are so intelligent, trainable, and beautiful in motion.  

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"I belong where I can do the things that I’m excellent at, passionate about, willing to show up for, and able to help people with.

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There are only a few things that truly fit this description, and one of them is making [cat agility] accessible for people. Making it easier to understand, pursue, love, and make an impact through."*

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Vickie wants to provide a way for more people to understand, appreciate, and learn about cats. Cats are marvelous, wonderful friends, talented, sensitive, and intelligent.

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Wikipedia names Vickie as the creator of cat agility, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_agility.

Vickie is available to consult, demonstrate, and train your cats, at your house or cat club meeting, and can include setting up an agility course which is easy for you to use, transport or store away. Please email Vickie with your request.

Vickie also has TAGTeach Primary Certification (clicker training for humans).

Vickie is a TICA (The International Cat Association) Distinguished Judge, an Approved Allbreed judge, and a Ring Training and Judging School Instructor. 

She was awarded the TICA Service Award, and the CEU Fiesta Innovation Award for creating cat agility.

She has  shown many international award winners since 1979, and also been honored as TICA’s Member of the Year.  She has served as TICA’s Clerking Administrator, International Committee member, Judges Review Committee member, and she was a co-founder of The French Connection club based in Paris, France, which for several years was TICA’s largest and most active club.  
 

Her education includes certificates in Computer Science, Herpetology, and Aquatic Biology (which included clicker training dolphins).  In her early years, she trained dogs for obedience and field trials.  Born and raised in San Francisco, California, Vickie lives now in Colorado and New Mexico.

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*This inspiring quote is from a ByRegina email to Vickie, with "cat agility" in place of "business.

Adriana is a co-creator of ICAT.  

She was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina where she grew up and received her early education.

Although cats had always been part of her life, Adriana started participating actively in the Argentine cat fancy in 1981 after several years of breeding and showing Doberman Pinchers, including the first Doberman ever to win Best In Show in Argentina.

In 1988 Adriana became an All-Breeds Judge for Federation Internationale Feline (FIFe).  In 1991 Adriana joined TICA, entering the Judging program in 1992.  Adriana is currently a TICA Judge of Merit, an Approved Allbreed Judge, a Ring Training Instructor, a Judging School Instructor, a Genetics Instructor, and a member of TICA’s Genetics Committee. 

Adriana was honored as TICA’s Judge of the Year in 2013.

Adriana has an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from the University of Buenos Aires, and two Ph.D. degrees in Virology, the last of which she obtained in Sweden in 1993.  She is currently doing research in viral pathogenesis at Lovelace Respiratory Research. 

TICA is the world's largest genetic registry of pedigreed cats, and the world's largest registry of household pets. It is also are the only registry in the cat fancy and dog fancy that continues to have steady growth in their number of registrations around the world, and it continues to grow in the number of members and catteries in every continent.

TICA recognizes more new breeds than other cat fancy organizations, and our house cats compete for the same titles and awards as pedigreed cats.  This is important to us at ICAT, because all cats deserve to be loved and have long, happy, healthy lives, even if they don't have pedigree papers. 

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The TICA cat show in Albuquerque, New Mexico in October 2003 is where ICAT started.

The International Cat Association

In 2016, the wonderful Dr. Elsey's kitty litter and cat food company started a sponsorship of ICAT through TICA. 

Their founders share the same visions for the welfare of all cats, and their products are of top-notch quality, so it is an excellent combination.

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Dr. Bruce Elsey has been a feline only veterinarian for over 35 years and his practice cares for over 8,000 cats. Non-use of the litter box is the #1 behavioral reason cats are abused, abandoned and placed in shelters.

Dr. Elsey’s goal is to provide products that help cats live happier, healthier lives with excellent food, and provide litter box solutions that are guaranteed to work.