Bobbafett- No, I didn't get to pet any of them. All the ones we saw were in the rings being shown... Didn't see any that were "benched" to talk to the breeders / owners. I got to hold an oriental and pet a tonkinese, so I considered myself lucky.. Most of the folks didn't want you petting their cats, which I can understand. I'd say that a good 40% of the cats at the show were persians, so I guess what they say about them being the most popular show cat is true.