Francine Hicks dreads that moment when she sits down on a plane and her seat mate asks her why she’s traveling.

“When I say I’m a cat judge, they’re always like, ‘Huh?'”

With the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show gaining popularity over the years, people always ask if the cats get paraded around a ring like in a dog show.

But it’s nothing like that in the world of competitive cats.

Hicks, 49, of Lisbon Falls was given her first cat by her sister, Donna Madison, in the mid-1990s after Madison attended a cat show.

“She said to me, ‘He’s a really nice cat. You should go to the shows with me and show him!'”

So with Sir Lance-A-Lot, an Ocicat, a domestic breed that resembles a wild cat, Hicks entered the lucrative business of becoming a cat judge.

“It’s quite a long process to get into judging,” Hicks said. “You can go through the process as a breeder or non-breeder but must show a cat to Grand Champion.”

Then there are classes and certifications, but to Hicks it is all worth it.

The full-time medical assistant and office manager for a Portland doctor, Hicks knows she has a slight stigma as a crazy cat lady.

But she laughs it off.

“It’s the best second job anyone could have. You can’t live on being a cat judge, but I’m extremely lucky and grateful every time I get to do it.”

Host clubs will invite judges, like Hicks, to their shows all over the world. The clubs pay for travel, lodging and meals, plus a stipend for the judges’ time.

This season alone, Hicks is planning to see Moscow and Copenhagen, along with half a dozen U.S. states, including California. The farthest she has traveled to judge a cat show was Tokyo. She has also been to Colombia and St. Petersburg, Russia, and all over Europe.

She may not have a favorite place to go for a cat show, but her favorite cat to judge is the Siamese.

“The modern-day Siamese is long and elegant, so I love watching them. They have such a beauty about them.”

Besides her Ocicats, which she breeds, Hicks is fond of the Maine coon cat, which makes it into the top three favored breeds by people in the cat show circuit.

“There is nothing bigger than a Maine coon. We are quite proud of them.”

Hicks has five cats and two Italian greyhounds at home. Her pets give her great joy, she said.

“Dogs and cats give you so much every day. When you come home from a bad day and you see those waggy little tails and the purrs and, you know, somehow it doesn’t matter anymore.”