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The World's Most Beautiful Pedigreed Feline

Eli's copper-colored
eye, are some of his
best features (left).
Kris plays with Eli in
the living room. For
a Persian, she says,
he has a lot of energy
(bottom).

Photostory by Sara Schenck

From a competitive field of more than 1,300,
"Grand Premier Noblessa's Peace Maker of
Stunning," or Eli for short, was named the Best
of the Best in the world of pedigreed felines.
This year's 1999 Cat Fancier's International
Gat Show, which is the Academy Awards of the
cat world, was held in St Louis, Missouri in
November. The CFA's 12th Annual International
show was the largest in history and featured
different kinds of felines from all over the
world including the United States, Japan,
Australia and Europe.
Eli, a Red Persian Neuter, is owned by Kris
Vanderbeek of Charlevoix, Michigan.
Mrs. Vanderbeek has her hands full taking care
of this prized feline. Each day she untangles
his six-inch coat. She also has to take time to
give him a bath every week to prepare him for
the next show.
"This gorgeous Persian is an excellent example
of the breed," said Donald J. Williams, presi-
dent of the Cat Fancier's Association. "And
while we had numerous beautiful cats --from
Maine Coons to Siamese this Persian is the
closest representation of its breed standard of
any of the felines at our international show this
year." Eli not only won top honors under six
different judges, but went on to win the title of
Best of the Best in a unanimous decision.

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