The majority of cats start their show careers in the Kitten class, and once they reach the age of eight months advance from there to Championship Class (described here) or Premiership Class.

All cats entered in the show compete against other cats of the same breed and sex and color for awards. Every registered cat over the age of eight months starts its show career in the Championship and Premiership in the OPEN class. A first place award (blue) in the OPEN class is accompanied by a red/white/blue Winners Ribbon. Once a cat has collected six of these winners ribbons, it becomes a Champion. At its next show it will be eligible to compete against other champions for points toward the Grand Champion title.

After a judge has handled all of the open cats in a breed, division or color grouping, he judges the champions in that group. He then awards first, second and third place ribbons to the three best males, and to the three best females. Next, the judge moves on to the Grand Champions and repeats that process.

When all cats in a color group have been appraised, the judge awards the Best of Color Class (black) and Second Best of Color Class (white) ribbons, which go to the cats in that group that best meet the standard in the opinion of the judge.

Once all color classes of one breed have been judged, the judge will then award Best of Breed (brown), Second Best of Breed (orange) and Best Champion of Breed (purple). The Best Champion will receive one point toward its Grand Championship for each champion it defeated in that breed. Once a cat accumulates 200 points, it becomes a Grand Champion.