Is your pet camera-ready?
BY NICK BARNETTHave you ever looked at your cat and thought "I swear he/she is posing for me"? And have you ever thought that your pet is cute enough to put on a greeting card? Well, now's your chance to put your pet's face up in lights.
Two competitions are open now, looking for pets of exceptional gorgeousness - or maybe just a winning personality that shines out.
The SPCA is presenting New Zealand's Next Top Cat Model. For just a $20 entry fee, you can have your own web page where you can post pictures and videos of your beloved cat and raise money for your chosen cat charity.
It's the second year the competition has run, and this year the judges include catwalk specialist Colin Mathura-Jeffree and SPCA chief executive Robyn Kippenberger.
The grand prize is a luscious lineup of pet-related goodies including a year's worth of catfood and a cover shot on Pet magazine.
Which is all very nice, but the main thing is that the money raised will go to deserving cat charities at the rate of $19 out of every $20 raised - which is pretty high, when you consider all the admin involved.
The other competition is run by Hallmark Cards, who are looking for funny or endearing pet photos to use on their cards. How cool would that be? And this one's not just for cats.
So have a go, and let us know how you get on. Many of you have sent us your pet photos for the Four Legs Good Furry Friday feature, and I reckon a lot of those are fully a match for anything I've ever seen on a greeting card or a catwalk!
To prove my point, here's a lineup of cats and kittens that you readers have emailed in or left on the 4LG Facebook page. Who's your favourite? Has your pet ever won a competition or been on a card or suchlike?
And if your own cat is among this collection, how about entering one if not both competitions?
First up: Graceful, grey Gracie.
An unnamed kit playing peekaboo. (Chris, let me know the name and I'll add it.)
Here's Mac, exploring Benchworld:
The elegant Rosie:
The exotic Harrison:
Black and white Beezle:
Cosy, tucked-up Lisbeth:
Imperial Genghis:
Silky Charlie:
Guess the name of this beauty:
Sweet-faced Ruby:
And tongue-proud Smudge.
Thanks everyone for sharing your photos.
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Thank you so much for featuring my handsome Harrison! He is a poser at heart, we've never managed to take a bad photo of him. Not all cats are so lucky, Harry's sister Abby is super cute yet in pictures she always looks like she's just woken up!
of course they are all lovely, but the first two are choc box / greeting card photos for sure.
Ohh you put Ruby up there! She now has a cute little brother to play with, a long haired black & stinky creature called Flex, who purrs like a tractor! These kitties are all gorgeous!
Aw that first cat is adorable, what breed is she?
Very cute indeed. I have a few perfect pictures to enter in the competition and often think my cat is posing. She's even the feature picture on my visa debit card and every time i pay in shops with it people always remark how cute she is :)
Great photos!
Not quite so convinced about the Hallmark competition. Basically, they're offering to pay $500 for commercial rights to your photo and card design. Whether that's an okay pay rate probably depends on the photo.
Rule #23 means they could swipe your design, modify it and claim it's theirs. I guess it'd be hard to get away with that with a photo, but it's what the rule says.
Genghis strikes me as one of those lucky mogeys that have some Maine Coon in them. Is Genghis's owner about? Does he have a loud distinctive meow, is as affectionate as anything but thicker than two planks of wood? (that last trait may have only of been applicable to our McGuyver though, he was a mogey with clearly some Maine Coon lineage in him)
Gorgeous photos. I need this blog. Have just moved to Australia, and haven't had a chance to invite a kitten to share our life while we wait to see what happens after our apartment sells. Thanks for my daily dose of cat goodness.
Awww! my Rosie AND Charlie are famous!! they were both real posers, I have some lovely photos so might try the comp's. And thanks Four Legs Good for such great pics and somewhere for us animal lovers to catch up. :-)
Cute stuff!! We have a folder dedicated to our (late) cat, she was so photogenic :) My dog won a competition once, and was in a calendar! The professional photoshoot with a 18mth old stubborn puppy was not easy, but everyone got calendars featuring their favourite pug for Christmas that year, haha.
I've been a member of the Beezle fanclub for some time and my greatest ambition is to meet the famous Beezle in person and get a scratchograph. :)
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My kitty Darwin is one of the contestants in NZNTCM. The competition has been a lot of fun so far with all sorts of fun and fundraising going on. Darwin has made a lot of new kitty friends and it's been great seeing the cats are from all walks of life - some adopted, some fancy bought from breeders ones, some with bits missing...but all loved!