First a few questions:

1 - What lens choices do you have?
2 - Are you comfortable shooting & processing in RAW?
3 - Are you planning to get studio lights and do formal portraits in the near future?
4 - In this Association do the cats go to a judging ring or do the judges come to the bench?
5 - What is the end result that you are trying to achieve? Is it for web shots for the cat club, or to sell photos to the exhibitors, etc?