News from our members around the globe 2010-1

The Australian Cat Federation

Changing of the guard in ACF

The recent National Show weekend was hosted in Perth, Western Australia, by founding member body FCCWA, from 11 – 14 June.

A new President was elected; Prof. Diana Davis, of Canberra, whose experience as a chairman of many national professional organizations and boards (both professional and government) makes her eminently suitable for this position. Please note that it is ACF policy that the President is preferably not a judge nor a breeder; unusual as this may be in the cat world, it has served us well over the years and serves to ensure impartiality. The new Vice President is Sandi Gemmell, of Darwin.

Breed Changes

Subject to ratification, ACF member bodies voted in favour of accepting amber in the Norwegian Forest breed, oriental whites with blue, green and odd eyes were given the nod and Ocicats with classic pattern will have provisional recognition as Ocicat AOV. The restriction on colours derived from Siamese, Burmese and Abyssinian in Manx was removed, as the majority of WCC bodies allow these.

Judging panel at National Show

The judging panel for the National show was varied: joining ACF judges were 2 from FIFe, 2 CFA, 2 TICA and one each of NZCF’s and SACC’s panel. Supreme Exhibit in show was an exquisite chocolate tabby point Siamese, Syrecks Sheyenne, owned by M Osler, of Melbourne (almost on the opposite side of the country!). A hot contender was Saph GC Kimara Silva Leerah, the personification of the Australian-style Russian blue, pictured here with a delighted judge, Fabrice Calmes (FIFe).

Also pictured, at least the hands, if not the face of Rachel Anger (CFA), meeting a Burmilla kitten. Rachel was fascinated to see quite a bevy of Burmillas, particularly as there are moves afoot within CFA for the breed to attempt the first stage of recognition.

The annual Judges’ Guild seminar covered Burmillas, the ‘forest’ breeds and the Peterbald, which will be shortly imported in Australia.

Co-Ordinating Cat Council of Australia

Government Legislation

Our organization is paying particular attention to Government legislation in relation to heritable defects detected in some breeds of felines. CCCA is managing protocols on these issues to guide the various breeders.

Judges Training Courses

CCCA is actively involved currently in “revamping” its Judges Training Courses to make them uniform in methodology throughout all CCCA member bodies. In conjunction with this revamp is also the retention of licence qualifications of each and every CCCA listed judge. All CCCA delegates with directions from their affiliate are involved in the revamp and all opinions and suggestions are listened to, debated on and finally voted on.

World Cat Congress

Perhaps the most significant events this year was the hosting of the WCC Seminar and Business meeting. The CCCA also held its National show in conjunction with these events. The Feline Control Council of Victoria was the organiser on behalf of the CCCA.

It was a great opportunity for Australian exhibitors and breeders to be in the position of having so many highly regarded and internationally experienced visitors from various WCC member bodies present as either delegates or judges or both.

Considerable long term planning had gone into ensuring that this event was the success that eventuated. All visiting judges seemed to enjoy not only their participation in the actual show but also meeting the executive of the participating CCCA member bodies.

The sponsorship and support received from Royal Canine and Oz-Pet was most generous and appreciated by exhibitors and the organising committee.

The Cat Fanciers' Association

CFA Announces 2010 Election Results

In a historical move, the Cat Fanciers’ Association, Inc. (CFA) announces the election of a non-judge to head the association.

During the recent annual meeting held in Minneapolis, MN, CFA member clubs elected Jerold (Jerry) Hamza, a businessman and longtime entertainment manager from Lyndonville, New York, to head the non-profit organization.

Mr. Hamza, who has bred national winning Persians for more than a decade under the cattery name Jubileum, is the chief executive officer of Marlen Amusement Company.

Carla Bizzell, a CFA All-Breed Judge and Exotic Breed Council Secretary from Pensacola, Florida, was elected Treasurer.

Joan Miller and Rachel Anger return as Vice-President and Secretary respectively. In addition to both serving for more than 15 years as CFA judges, Ms. Miller of San Diego, California and Ms. Anger of Wayne, Michigan are active in CFA’s animal welfare efforts. Ms. Miller also is instrumental in the organization’s legislative, outreach and education efforts.

Also elected to the Board of Directors to represent their respective regions were:

• Loretta Baugh of Rochester, Michigan
• T. Ann Caell of Houston, Texas
• John Gardiner of Hackensack, New Jersey
• Mark Hannon of Linden, Virginia
• Kayoko Koizumi of Kanagawa-Ken, Japan
• Ginger Meeker of Caldwell, Idaho
• Alene M. Shafnisky of Sycamore, Illinois
• Michael Shelton of Corona, California

The new board members, whose terms continue through June 2012, joined the organization’s current seven Directors-At-Large for an initial meeting before the conclusion of the CFA annual meeting.

The organization’s 600-plus worldwide member cat clubs cast the ballots to elect its Executive Board which is charged with overseeing CFA’s operations in conjunction with its Constitution. Members of the CFA Board of Directors all have significant experience in the cat fancy.

The New Zealand Cat Fancy

New Website Design

NZCF released a new website design at the National Cat Show held in June.

HHCM (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy) Research Grant

A grant of $3750 has been approved to assist Dr Boyd Jones (Massey University). The objective of the study here is to evaluate a subset of Oriental cats in New Zealand with HCM for a causative gene mutation.

HCM is the most common form of heart disease in the domestic cat and is an inherited disease in some breeds, including the Maine Coon and Ragdoll. A causative mutation in these 2 breeds has been identified in the same gene but in different locations. The mutations appear to be breed specific and have not been observed in other breeds of cats with HCM. Not all cats with HCM have the known mutation.

DNA samples will be obtained from oriental cats in New Zealand which have been diagnosed with HCM. In addition samples will be obtained from their healthy siblings and where possible parents (to a maximum of 50 cats). Full pedigree data is available for all cats tested from which samples are submitted for investigation. DNA extraction will be made from blood samples or tissues at Massey University.

All genetic screening studies for a HCM mutation; sequencing, PCR amplification, SWR analysis etc will be completed as part of a world wide multicentre study of feline HCM.

Cage Sizes

The Companion Animal Council: have released a further draft recommendation for temporary housing which includes cage sizes for shows. A submission has been sent through from NZCF and the cage size has now been reduced to 60 x 60.

The International Cat Association

TICA Welcomes the Thai Cat

The Thai is appearing on show benches all over TICA’s world.

May 1, 2010 marked the acceptance of the Thai into Championship competition in TICA shows. This lovely breed is dedicated to preserving the native pointed cat of Thailand in as close to its original form as possible. Thai is the official breed name in TICA and in many registries in Europe, but the breed is known in Thailand itself as the Wichienmaat and elsewhere as the “Old-Style Siamese.”

Thais are shorthaired and have the colorpoint pattern, which includes deep blue eyes, whitish beige body, and dark-colored extremities (the “points”), but they are moderate in type, never extreme. To some the Thai is synonymous with “applehead Siamese, ” but to others it is not. “Applehead” is a colloquial American term, not an official breed name, and means different things to different people. The Thai is the natural pointed cat that you find in Thailand today and closely resembles late 19th and early 20th century.

To read more about the Thai and download its description and pictures, visit the TICA website.

The World Cat Federation

WCF Cat Shows in Europe, Asia, Middle East and Africa

From April to June 2010, the WCF members in Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Chile, Cyprus, Estonia, Germany, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Malta, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Russia, Ukraine and Uruguay organized around 140 licensed cat shows, usually international shows during 2 days, which means 2 judgings to the cats, 2 Best-in-Show elections. The judging is “european style”. Each cat receives a written report. The WCF standards and the scale of points for the title award can be found on the WCF website.

In addition, the clubs organize WCF Rings, Master Rings and Specials at their shows. Sometimes they offer also a special contest such as “Child-and-Cat”, Woman-and-Cat”. The winners receive special prizes.

The Joint shows with CFA, FIFe, TICA and with some independent clubs that you can find on the WCF show calendar at the website, prove WCF’s open-mindedness and readiness for co-operation. The judges from the WCC organizations are welcome. The cats from all WCC members are accepted for show and judging, their titles are recognized.

WCF World Show

The WCF celebrated two World Shows in June 2010, one in Tel Aviv/Israel, one in Moscow/Russia. At the WS, the title awards count higher than from usual shows.