Every program below runs from the Franklin clubhouse office of INDY CAT CLUB INC at 2648 Branigin Creek Blvd, Franklin - 46131-7507, United States (US). Sheets, rosters and litter notes are written by hand on the row and entered in the office the same day, so members can rely on one clean record for show, adoption and retirement.
The show sheet bays are where an entry becomes a real show entry. A member brings the entry form, the pedigree copy and the current health certificate to the bay on the row, and a clerk reads each line against the club register. Classes are checked for fit, coat designations are matched to the cat in front of us, and every correction is initialled rather than erased. Nothing leaves the bay until a second clerk has read the sheet again, which is why our entries rarely come back from a judge with a query.
The bays also hold the working bench for the event binder. Each show day gets a binder with the running order, the ring assignments and the steward notes for the volunteers on duty. When a cat is withdrawn at short notice, the bay clerk marks the binder and the ring steward is told before the class is called. The whole system depends on paper moving quickly, and the bays are placed at the front of the row so a member passing the condos can hand in a sheet without walking the length of the building.
Members who show often find it useful to keep a standing file in the bays. A standing file holds the pedigree, the certificates and a list of prior classes, so a new entry takes a few minutes rather than an hour. The file stays with the club office and is returned at the close of the season, and any member can ask for a copy of everything the club holds on request.
The member roster is the spine of the club. It carries every household, every breeding name and every contact line the office uses to reach members. Once a week the office runs the roster against the dues ledger and against the mail list, and every difference is written back to the roster sheet before the next run. The process is dull on purpose. A roster that drifts by one address turns into a member who never hears about a show, and a member who never hears about a show stops renewing.
Roster runs also decide stall order at the clubhouse and seating at the annual meeting. We rotate the order each season so the same families do not always sit closest to the ring, and the rotation rule is printed at the head of the roster so any member can follow it. New members are added at the next scheduled run after their application clears, and their first fallback note carries the club rules and the how-to for the show sheet bays.
The office keeps a plain list of members who have asked not to receive print mail, and that list is checked before every mailing. Requests to correct a name, a phone line or an email address are honoured within two business days. The roster is never sold, rented or shared with a commercial list broker.
Every litter raised under the club banner keeps a note from the first weighing to the day a cat leaves the row. The litter note desk holds those pages in a flat file, grouped by dam and then by season, with a typed index the office can search. The written page is the original and stays in the desk. The typed copy is the working copy, and when the two disagree the written page wins until the desk reviews the entry with the breeder who wrote it.
A complete litter note carries birth date, birth weight for each kitten, the coat call at four weeks, the first vaccination date, the health round entries and the departure note. Breeders who send a cat to another household hand over a copy of the note with the cat, and the receiving family can ask the club to confirm any line in writing. This is one reason our retirees travel with a full history and one reason buyers keep coming back to a club row rather than to a private sale.
The desks also keep a quiet corner for pedigree questions. A member who wants to know how a particular line came into the club can sit at the desk and read through the note sequence without an appointment. Volunteers on the desk help with the index but never interpret a pedigree for a buyer, since that is a matter for the breeder and the office together.
The adoption window is a short, posted visiting period when a family can meet a cat that is ready for a home. Windows open on a printed schedule and close with a signed application. We keep them short because a crowded window works against a cat, and because a family that has booked a slot arrives expecting to settle, not to wander. Each visit is supervised by a member who knows the cat and who can answer routine questions about feeding, routine and temperament.
Applications are reviewed within a few days. We look for a home that can meet the feeding plan, keep the indoor routine and take the cat to the vet partner the club already uses for the health rounds. We do not require a show career and we do not require any particular family shape. We do ask that the household reads the litter note before the visit, so the first conversation is about the cat in front of us rather than about logistics.
Retirees from the row are matched through the same window, though their file carries a longer history and their visit is usually quieter. Families who want a companion without a show schedule are encouraged to ask about the retire list at the office. Each retirement is documented on the litter note desk so the club can track the cat through the rest of its life.
The health round is the most important walk of the week. A vet partner walks the row on posted mornings, checks each cat on the shelf it actually sleeps on, and records every observation in a round book. Weight, coat, eyes, ears, teeth and movement all get a line. Anything that needs a follow-up is marked and a member on duty schedules the follow-up before the vet leaves the clubhouse. Round notes reach the litter desks the same afternoon.
Rounds also decide whether a cat is ready for a show sitting. A cat with an open question on the round book is held back, even if the entry is already paid. We would rather refund a ring fee than send a cat that is not fit for a long day. Members have supported this rule for years, and it is the reason our show entries are accepted by judges without argument about condition.
The round book is kept with the office and is partially open to members. A member can read the notes for the cats that member owns at any time and can request a written summary for a vet or for an adoption file. Notes on cats owned by another member are not shared without that owner agreeing in writing.
A show day is long for a cat, and the sitting desk exists to shorten it. Members on the sitting rota take turns with entered cats through the event, watching the rest shelf, refilling water, brushing a coat before a class and noting how much a cat actually eats. The sitting log tracks each cat hour by hour so no cat works two long blocks in a row. If a cat needs a quieter break, the sitter can ask the ring steward to hold it back from the next call.
The desk also looks after the small things that decide a show. Combs are cleaned between cats. Bowl mats are swapped after every meal. The rest area gets fresh bedding and a shaded corner for cats that run hot. Sitters do not judge and do not discuss a cat with the public while they sit, since their job is to keep the cat calm and nothing else.
Members join the rota once a season and are matched to a cat they already know where possible. The office prints the rota with the show sheets so each sitter has a written brief on the morning of the event. Sitters who cannot attend are asked to call the desk as early as they can, so a replacement can be found from the clubhouse row rather than at the ring.
The process runs in the same order every week, which lets members plan around it and lets the office keep one record rather than five.
INDY CAT CLUB INC opens its show window again this season, and any member can start with a single desk before joining the full rota.
Tell the office which desk interests you and ask for a morning slot. You will see the show sheets, the roster drawer and the feeding mat in the same hour, and you can decide where you want to help. Every program at INDY CAT CLUB INC is open to members who are willing to read the sheets carefully.
Contact the membership desk →