Jim, this is good advice for anyone shooting show animals. Thanks for posting. I'll throw my 2 cents in about shooting cats. You have to know the breed standards and you try to emphasize everything that is great about the animal, and if there are any flaws you try to work around them. With cats, color accuracy is of paramount importance.

For example, a Persian cat should be meticulously groomed, have a short tail, very round eyes, a cobby body, a flat face and muzzle, and small ears...you work the pose and the angle to try to accomplish all of that. This is not easy work.