News from our members around the globe 2015-1

Australian Cat Federation Inc

ACF now has 11 member bodies and continues to be represented in all states and territories of the continent – just a bit more so than in the past!

2014 - 2015

The 2014 National (sponsored by Proplan and Ozpet) was once again organised by a team of 'freelance' ACF personnel from all over the country. This time it was held in Sydney and Cats NSW personnel (headed by Brad Curtis as Show Manager) provided the local muscle and knowledge needed to help run a successful event. Judges from TICA, FIFe, NZCF and of course, ACF, officiated.

Items of business at the meeting were recognition of the Aphrodite, golden in Burmilla, reports on ongoing work by various sub-committees, a change to the Ragdoll standard to keep it in line with TICA policy on paw pad colour in mitred and bicolour and a great deal of time was spent on adjustments to the Manx breeding policy, to bring it in line with that of the body of origin, GCCF.

Our President since 2011, Prof Diana Davis, retired in 2014 and was replaced by Prof Eleanor Ramsay whose impartiality and empathetic yet incisive style was much appreciated at her debut meeting in Perth, this June. Long-term Secretary Nell Evans retired this year and her successor is Carole Galli, of WA. Nell is to be thanked for her 17 years' service to ACF in that capacity.

Cats NSW - since 2013, a provisional (probationary/patronage) member was granted full membership at our June 2015 AGM. We are looking forward to their very experienced judges (of course, on the ACF panel) being recognised by CCCA and understand that this will occur in November. Long-established former CCCA member body COAWA (Cat Owners' Assn of Western Australia) applied for and was granted provisional membership of ACF Inc.

2015 AGM and National Show weekend

The 2015 National show and meetings were hosted in Perth, by Cats WA (previously FCCWA) and for the first time, the National was of 8 rings. Again, our thanks to Ozpet and Proplan for supporting us. Judges were varied: representatives from TICA, FIFe, GCCF and NZCF were on the panel as well as ACF judges. Ambritt Hurricane Harry (BSH a) was for the second year in succession Supreme Exhibit in show at the ACF National – 2014 and 2015.

A real crowd pleaser was the first occasion on which a Manx won Best of Group at an ACF National (judge: M Peltonen, Sweden) in a very strong field of 64 Group 3 adults. Ch Rebuss Wassa Matta You was subsequently selected as one of the five contenders for Supreme All Breeds Exhibit.

A most interesting seminar was held by the Judges Guild. Adriana Kajon (TICA genetics committee) spoke on recent developments in newer colour determination in a 'extension gene 101' style, while Vicki Shields gave food for thought with a presentation on structural faults. Martti Peltonen led a discussion which covered many aspects of judging, but essentially, its essence was the responsibility of judges to the breeds, breeders and the standards.

At the official dinner, Sandi Gemmell joined the ranks of those (4) awarded the ACF's Distinguished Service Award. This is an award rarely given and marks not just longevity, but exceptional dedication to ACF and its interests over a considerable period of time.

The General Meeting determined, among many other decisions, the following: that in all breeds, reduced, pinched nasal aperture and audible breathing is a W/H certificate fault; that cow-hocking be a W/H fault in all breeds; that the Scottish breeds be judged in agouti/agouti & white and equivalent agouti classes. The allocation of points was amended. Suggested changes to the Russian standard were successful, as was acceptance of pointed Siberian, under the name "Neva Masquerade".

Lesley Morgan

International Liaison Officer,
Australian Cat Federation Inc

The Cat Fanciers' Association

It has been a busy year for CFA, with the usual highs and lows, but accentuated each weekend with the beautiful cats who bring us all together.

The 2014 CFA Annual Meeting was held June 26-29, 2014, in “the Big Easy” – New Orleans, Louisiana. The event featured lavishly-decorated hospitality suites, including a Thursday night “Taste of New Orleans” hospitality night (self-explanatory – yum!) and featured a live band playing dance music until the wee hours, a Friday night “Mas-purr-ade” Ball with the best costume winner being awarded an all-expense paid cruise, topped off by the Saturday night Awards Banquet with a Mardi Gras Queen Parade, at which we honored our National Winners. The following cats, along with their breeders and owners were recognized, as well as the top 24 other cats in each of the categories and the top 3 winners in each breed.

CFA Cat of the Year

CFA’s Cat of the Year was GC, BW, NW Belamy’s Desiderata of Cinema, a Calico female Persian born on June 24, 2012. Desi’s breeder is Monika Vowe of Leverkusen, Germany. Her owners are Connie Stewart of Temple City, California, and Blake Mayes and Dennis Adler of Boise, Idaho. Desi also took the highest honors at the Best-of-the-Best competition at the 2013 CFA-Dr. Elsey’s Precious Cat Litter World Championship Cat Show in Novi, Michigan in November. The Championship competition is for unaltered pedigreed cats over the age of eight months.

CFA Kitten of the Year

The Kitten of the Year was GC, NW Dotdotdot BornintheUSA of Wild Rain (“Uncle Sam”), a Chocolate Spotted Male Ocicat, born on March 25, 2014. Breeders/Owners are Roger & Nancy Brown of Elkhorn, Nebraska & David and Carol Freels of Pleasant Grove, California. Uncle Sam was named second runner up in the Best-of-the Best competition at the 2013 CFA-Dr. Elsey’s Precious Cat Litter World Championship Cat Show. The Kitten competition is for unaltered or altered, pedigreed kittens between the ages of four and eight months.

CFA Premiership Cat of the Year

The Premiership Cat of the Year was GP, NW Sandesox Justsweetness of Whitesox (“Tommy”), a Blue Point Birman neuter born on August 17, 2012. Tommy’s breeders are Karen Lane & Sandy Faust. He is owned by Karen Lane of Delray Beach, FL, Sandy Faust of Antioch, Illinois and Yvonne Griffin of Casselbarry, Florida. Tommy is the first Birman ever to receive the title of CFA’s Premiership Cat of the Year. Tommy was the third runner up in the Best-of- the Best competition at the 2013 CFA-Dr. Elsey’s Precious Cat Litter World Championship Cat Show. The Premiership competition is for altered pedigreed cats over the age of eight months.

Delegate Meeting

The delegate meeting was chaired by Vice President Mark Hannon, who went on to be elected CFA President and is now serving a two-year term. 450 member clubs voted for officers and regional directors, with the follow results:

• OFFICERS:
• President: Mark Hannon – Linden, Virginia
• Vice President: Richard Kallmeyer – Scottsdale, Arizona
• Secretary: Rachel Anger – Wayne, Michigan
• Treasurer: Barbara Schreck – Ann Arbor, Michigan
•  
• REGIONAL DIRECTORS:
• North Atlantic (1): Geri Fellerman – Clark, New Jersey
• Northwest (2): Pam Moser – Gresham, Oregon
• Gulf Shore (3): Steve McCullough – Caldwell, Kansas
• Great Lakes (4): John Colilla – Columbus, Ohio
• Southwest (5): Lisa Marie Kuta – Glendale, California
• Midwest (6): Kathy Calhoun – Chicago, Illinois
• Southern (7): Jean Dugger – Loganville, Georgia
• Japan (8): Edward Maeda – Ohtsu Shiga, Japan
• Europe (9): Pam DelaBar – Tampere, Finland

The October meeting features changes to our Show Rules. Notable action includes the creation of an award recognition program and scoring for Household Pets, a “three bites and you’re out” rule, and the implementation of mandatory specialty rings. Also of note was the reconsideration of acceptance of the ticked tabby Maine Coon for registration, which was approved by the Board.

The 2014 CFA/Dr. Elsey’s Precious Cat Litter World Championship Cat Show was held November 23, 2014 at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. The 1,000 entry show was divided into two competitions (named “Red” and “Purple”), which each sent their highest scoring cat in Kitten, Championship and Premiership to Best of the Best judging. Selection was based on total points earned. The six cats were judged by CFA All Breed Judges Larry Adkison of Springfield, Missouri; Diana Doernberg of Akron, Ohio; and Kathy Black of Duncan, Oklahoma, who selected their first and second runners up along with the Best in Show. The excitement of the two day event came to a colorful end on Sunday with the selection of Best-of-the-Best Winner.

Second runner up was GC Tombrock’s Chopin, a black Exotic male bred by Salvatore Cuccu and Giovanni Giordano, and owned by Salvatore Cuccu, Maria Christina Bertello and Giovanni Giordano of Italy.

First runner up was GC/NW Wynterwynd Clair De Lune, a Russian Blue female bred and owned by Annette Wilson of South Haven, Michigan.

Best in Show was GC, GP, NW Velvetkist Pack’n Heat of Krimpurrs (“Frankie”), a cream and white Persian neuter who was 4 years/7 months old. Frankie was bred by Noralyn Heisig of Finksburg, Maryland, and is owned by Noralyn Heisig and Beth Holly of Huber Heights, Ohio. Frankie went on to become CFA’s Premiership Cat of the Year for 2014-2015.

In February, the Board considered previously balloted items regarding changes to breed standards or registration rules which received a favorable recommendation from each of our 42 Breed Councils. The Breed Councils are comprised of qualified individuals experienced in their chosen breed/division section, and serve as an advisory body on breed standards to the CFA Executive Board. Notable action taken was as follows:

• British Shorthair declined to accept chocolate and lilac for registration.
• The showing of Longhair Exotics in Persian color classes was upheld.
• The 5-generation Persian pedigree requirement was upheld.
• Persian Tabby pattern description was expanded to penalize for indistinguishable pattern or lack of pattern.
• Selkirk Rex allowable outcross to Exotic was extended until 2025; Persian outcross was upheld until 2020.
• Siberian added golden and blue golden tabby pattern descriptions to the standard.
• Sphynx now allows the registration and exhibition of Sphynx whose pedigree contains Devon Rex in any generation, and clarified that coated Sphynx be registered “for breeding only”.
• The Chinese Li Hua Mao was accepted for registration in February 2010, and was removed from Miscellaneous status, effective 1 May 2015. CFA no longer registers the Li Hua Mao.

The policy regarding Breeding of Domestic and Non-Domestic Cats policy amended as follows (deleted text in strikeout): “The Cat Fanciers’ Association, Inc., does not encourage or promote the breeding of non-domestic (wild) cats of any species to any domesticated Cats. The Cat Fanciers’ Association, Inc. will not consider for registration the offspring of such a breeding."

This newsletter finds our Board of Directors and delegates preparing for the 2015 CFA Annual Meeting, which will be held in Toronto, Ontario Canada on July 2-5, 2015.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, we wish all of the members of the World Cat Congress success in bringing our beautiful cats onto the show bench and showing them off to the world!

Regards,

Rachel Anger

Secretary, The Cat Fanciers’ Association, Inc.

Governing Council of the Cat Fancy

The GCCF held its Annual General Meeting on the 17th June 2015. The delegates elected the Board of Directors for the company, with three new directors joining twelve who were standing for re-election, and a new Vice Chairman in John Hansson, who will serve for two years. A new system was introduced to elect to the committees of the disciplinary system, enabling greater participation. Candidates submitted CVs in advance to state what qualifications, skills and experience they have to take on a position on one of these important committees.

To coincide with the AGM, GCCF launched its new look official website, which we believe gives a modern, clean image and a site that is both highly informative and easy to navigate. Please take a look at our site and enjoy some super photographs of all our recognised breeds.

Breed and show news

A round of applause greeted the RagaMuffin’s promotion to Championship Status and the Blue Chinchilla, Blue Shaded Silver Persian and Blue Golden Persian were welcomed into the Persian breed classes. The Sokoke has been recognised at Preliminary level, in both the original and Snow varieties, and may now be shown in competition at GCCF shows. Following a request from the Ocicat Breed Advisory Committee, a change of name was granted to the Ocicat Classic, which will now be known the “Aztec” (EMS code agreed as AZT) on the GCCF register.

Welfare incentives

A rule change was agreed at the meeting to ensure that all kittens sold must be fully vaccinated against panleukopaenia (FPV), FHV and FCV at least one week prior to sale unless it is agreed otherwise is writing and signed by both parties.

GCCF has published a revised General Breeding Policy and to accompany it, a Guide to Outcrossing, with an introduction by Professor Lyons, is designed to help breeders who wish to use an approved outcross in their breeding programme to broaden the gene-pool. Both documents may be viewed on the GCCF website.

Following the recent retirement of three trustees, the Cat Welfare Trust (GCCF’s own charity) has appointed new trustees: Dr Karen Kempsell, Mrs Pat Perkins and Ms Juanita Sharp. Last year the charity broadened the scope of its award, to enable the support of projects initiated by clubs and Breed Advisory Committees. The first of these of these is in progress as the Russian Blue Breeders Association is gathering DNA from a cross section of their breed so that an assessment of the genetic diversity of GCCF UK Russians can be made.

New Zealand Cat Fancy

NZCF News

It has been an exciting year for the NZCF with the opportunity to host the 2015 WCC meeting. This gave us access to a wonderful array of international judges and motivated us to put together a great seminar. It was also great to have the opportunity to learn from the wisdom of other cat associations in the closed meeting.

In the seminar, after the WCC delegates were introduced by Eric Reijers, we moved on to an excellent presentation by veterinarian Elsa Flint who is also behavioural specialist. The presentation dealt with inappropriate peeing - and gave a clear outline of how to figure out what type of inappropriate peeing is going on (is it because of a medical problem causing pain or discomfort so the cat is avoiding the litterbox, or is it a marking issue?) and then depending on the issue, what some possible solutions may be. Along with suggestions about managing the environment, Elsa spoke about the benefits of Feliway in reducing anxiety in many contexts. Much of this advice would be familiar to breeders but it was an excellent and comprehensive review.

The next speaker was Steve Crow, Chairman of the GCCF in the UK. The GCCF faces many of the same challenges that the NZCF does. Steve’s presentation covered the ways in which they are striving to meet those challenges. These included organisational changes, managing their money more carefully (just like us) and updating their IT systems (as we would like to). They’ve also made commercial partnerships with cat related businesses to the benefit of members but also increasing cash flow to the GCCF.

A large part of the talk dealt with what the GCCF is doing to improve the health and genetic diversity of breeds through developing breeding policies around DNA testing for harmful conditions and also developing outcrossing policies for each breed. This is in response to the adverse publicity that pedigree dog breeds have received and resultant negative attitudes among the public and intended to pre-empt the same thing happening with cats.

The GCCF is working (as we are) to promote themselves and their breeders as the first stop for anyone looking to buy a pedigree cat. Steve concluded by suggesting that cat associations look at adopting a world pedigree cat/cat fancy day as a means of raising the profile of pedigree cats and our organisations.

Royal Canin gave a very interesting presentation about the research that has gone into formulating some of their foods, particularly their baby cat milk replacer and baby cat biscuits and wet food They continue to have a strong commitment to research to improve their breed, veterinary, and age stage products.

This was followed by a very entertaining talk by George Sofronidis in which he revealed to us the results of his own DNA profiling and also related this to dog and cat genetic research and testing. He also acknowledged the recent issues his company Orivet have had with their chocolate test, and how this came about (some incorrect information was published which they based their test on).

Leslie Lyons’ talk gave us a catch up on current genetic testing research and outcomes - there is now a test for white spotting, and also for the W gene (solid white), and some associated research showing no obvious link with the deafness that occurs in white cats, two polydactyly genes have been identified, there is a test available for the Scottish Fold gene, there are tests for two forms of PRA (progressive retinal atrophy causing blindness), and great news for Devon and Sphynx breeders, there is a test for the gene that causes spasticity. Leslie is currently involved with the 99 Lives project which is raising money to enable further genome sequencing and give more insight into genetic diseases that affect cats.

Finally John Smithson gave a fascinating account of the early history of the Cat Fancy complete with photographs. This was followed by a lively panel discussion as the audience brought questions for the speakers.

This was an extremely successful, enjoyable and inspiring seminar day. The focus for the NZCF during the coming year (and beyond) is on developing breeding guidelines for each breed. This will include guidance on appropriate testing to minimise the chance of harmful conditions occurring. While we will be consulting with breed sections, these guidelines will be formulated in their final version by our breed standards advisory council to ensure that we are consistent and in step with ethical practice in other countries. Following a thought-provoking submission from a breeder member who is also a vet our guidelines will also include (where appropriate) information about extreme or incorrect conformation issues that can affect health and welfare. Breed standards may also be amended to ensure these are penalised. This is all part of our commitment to cat welfare and promoting best practice among our breeders. It has become very clear that if we do not take action to encourage, support and where necessary police these issues ourselves, the government will step in and do it for us (and not necessarily in the best or most appropriate way).

Zena Pigden

Chair

NZCF

---

World Cat Federation

27 years experience in loving cats!

This is our motto and the Olimpia in Riga/Latvia was a milestone in our idée of togetherness under the common bond of love for cats that we share.

Cat’s Meow, WCF partner in Latvia invited and organized the most important event of the year in WCF. Cat Olimpia offers special competitions, for which you have to be pre-qualified, such as Olimpic Master Ring for example.

At this very event the most beautiful cats, which had collected the most points in our Best Cat of WCF competition were presented and their owners were honoured and awarded.

More than 400 cats were present from 11 different countries.

From Sweden the best household pet was also present as well as the best Aphrodite shorthair, which lives in Pskov/Russia.

The show started with a very emotional project of art, which you can watch.

The event lived from being carried away in our love for cats after this show. Next years WCF Cat Olimpia will happen at the end of March 2016 in Bukarest Romania and we can be excited which highlights WCF member Magnificats will present.

Growth of WCF

Even though the financial crisis is hitting all of us hard, WCF can proudly announce that we are still growing. New clubs affiliated with WCF from Serbia, Peru, China, Romania and Thailand. WCF clubs held already 347 shows in the first 5 month of 2015, and a highlight was the First WCF Show in Bangkok, Thailand held by our member club CAT (The Cat Society of Thailand).