American Cat Fanciers Association

Last updated
American Cat Fanciers Association
Formation1955;68 years ago (1955)
Region served
United States
Official language
English

The American Cat Fanciers Association (ACFA) is an American non-profit organization formed with the intent of allowing greater flexibility in the development of pedigreed cats. The ACFA is a cat registry for purebred, pedigreed cats, experimental breeds of cats, and household pet cats. [1]

Contents

ACFA sanctioned cat shows include classes for championship adult cats, championship altered cats, registered kittens from the age of four to eight months, and household pet cats. Wins from licensed shows can be used to claim titles including championships and multiple championships, grand championships and multiple grand championships, and the household pet titles of Royal Household Pet and Supreme Household Pet.

ACFA is directly affiliated with the Cat Aficionado Association of China, who use the ACFA breed standards.[ citation needed ]

History

ACFA was founded in 1955 in the Dallas and Fort Worth area. [2] It was created by a group of cat fanciers desiring to show their cats in a democratic association, that is, one where individual members had voting rights on election of officers, acceptance of new show rules, by-laws and breed standards and acceptance of new breeds of cats. [2]

As of 2009, the ACFA officially recognized 68 different cat breeds, together with The International Cat Association. [3] By 2018. the ACFA (by itself) recognized 41 distinct pedigree breeds. [4] As of August 2023 there are 69 recognized ACFA breeds.

See also

Notes

  1. "Encyberpedia".
  2. 1 2 Helgren, J. Anne (2013-04-01). Encyclopedia of Cat Breeds. Sourcebooks, Inc. ISBN   978-1-4380-9207-2.
  3. Takeuchi, Yukari; Mori, Yuji (2009). "Behavioral Profiles of Feline Breeds in Japan". Journal of Veterinary Medical Science. 71 (8): 1053–1057. doi: 10.1292/jvms.71.1053 . PMID   19721357 via J-STAGE.
  4. Mornement, Kate (2018-01-01), Scanes, Colin G.; Toukhsati, Samia R. (eds.), "Chapter 12 - Animals as Companions", Animals and Human Society, Academic Press, pp. 281–304, ISBN   978-0-12-805247-1 , retrieved 2023-01-03

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">York Chocolate</span> Breed of cat

The York Chocolate was an uncommon American breed of show cat, with a long, fluffy coat and a tapered tail and most of them were mostly or entirely chocolate-brown or the dilute form of brown, known as lavender. The breed was named after New York state, where it was established in 1983. This breed was created by color-selecting domestic long-haired cats of mixed ancestry. The breed was not widely recognized by cat registries. It was not recognized by the major organizations such as The International Cat Association (TICA), the Cat Fanciers' Association or Fédération Internationale Féline. By 2015 there was only one listed breeder of York Chocolates. By 2016, no registry carried its breed standard, there were no breeder websites and the breed is considered extinct. Although similar looking random-bred cats can be found today, without pedigree papers these are not York Chocolate cats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cymric cat</span> Breed of cat

The Cymric is a Canadian cat breed. Some cat registries consider the Cymric a semi-long-haired variety of the Manx breed, rather than a separate breed. Except for the length of fur, in all other respects, the two varieties are the same, and kittens of either sort may appear in the same litter. The name comes from Cymru, the indigenous Welsh name of Wales, even though the breed is not associated with Wales. The name may have been chosen to provide a "Celtic" sounding moniker for the breed. While the breed's Manx bloodline originated from the Isle of Man, the long-haired variant is claimed to have been developed by Canada. The breed is called the Longhair Manx or a similar name by some registries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Munchkin cat</span> Breed of cat

The Munchkin, also known as Sausage Cat, is a breed of cat characterized by its very short legs, which are caused by genetic mutation. Compared to many other cat breeds, it is a relatively new breed, documented since 1940s and officially recognized in 1991. The Munchkin is considered to be the original breed of dwarf cat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nebelung</span> Breed of cat

The Nebelung is a rare pedigree breed of domestic cat. Nebelungs have long bodies, wide-set green eyes, long and dense fur, and mild dispositions. The cat is related to the Russian Blue, but with longer, silkier hair, and is in fact sometimes called the Long-haired Russian Blue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cat Fanciers' Association</span> American Cat Registry

The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) was established in the United States in 1906. The CFA is currently the world's largest registry of pedigreed cats. Originally headquartered in Manasquan, New Jersey the CFA moved to Alliance, Ohio in 2010. The association's stated mission is preserving and promoting pedigreed breeds of cats while also enhancing the well-being of all cats. CFA's first licensed cat shows were held in Buffalo, New York and Detroit, Michigan in 1906. The association today has a known presence in Europe, China, and Japan along with its well-established activity in the United States and Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oriental Shorthair</span> Breed of cat

The Oriental Shorthair is a breed of domestic cat that is developed from and closely related to the Siamese cat. It maintains the modern Siamese head and body type but appears in a wide range of coat colors and patterns. Like the Siamese, Orientals have almond-shaped eyes, a triangular head shape, large ears, and an elongated, slender, and muscular body. Their personalities are also very similar. Orientals are social, intelligent, and many are rather vocal. They often remain playful into adulthood, with many enjoying playing fetch. Despite their slender appearance, they are athletic and can leap into high places. They prefer to live in pairs or groups and also seek human interaction. Unlike the breed's blue-eyed forebear, Orientals are usually green-eyed. The Oriental Longhair differs only with respect to coat length.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siberian cat</span> Breed of cat

The Siberian is a centuries-old landrace of domestic cat in Russia and recently developed as a formal breed with standards promulgated the world over since the late-1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snowshoe cat</span> Breed of cat

The Snowshoe is a breed of cat originating in the United States of America in the 1960s. Snowshoes were first produced in Philadelphia when a Siamese breeder's cat gave birth to three kittens with white feet. The breeder, Dorothy Hinds-Daugherty, then began a breeding program to produce what were originally called "Silver Laces", crossing the strangely marked Siamese cats with bi-color American Shorthair cats and other breeds. When Hinds-Daugherty left the program, Vikki Olander began working with the cats and recruited new breeders, as well as worked towards full recognition within cat associations. Despite having existed for 45 years, Snowshoes are rare due to the difficulty of reproducing the correct coat markings. The marks are based on recessive genes for color points and on the co-dominant but variably-expressed piebald pattern gene, making it difficult to predict the appearance of offspring.

A cat show is a judged event where the owners of cats compete to win titles in various cat registering organizations by entering their cats to be judged after a breed standard. Both pedigreed and companion cats are admissible, although the rules differ from organization to organization. Cats are compared to a breed standard, and the owners of those judged to be closest to it are awarded a prize. Moggys are judged based on their temperament. Often, at the end of the year, all of the points accrued at various shows are added up and more national and regional titles are awarded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The International Cat Association</span> American Cat Registry

The International Cat Association (TICA) is considered the world's largest genetic cat registry. Originally a North American organization, it now has a worldwide presence. The organization has a genetic registry for pedigreed and household pet cats and is one of the world's largest sanctioning bodies for cat shows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ragamuffin cat</span> Breed of cat

The Ragamuffin is a breed of domestic cat. It was once considered to be a variant of the Ragdoll cat but was established as a separate breed in 1994. Ragamuffins are notable for their friendly personalities and thick fur.

A cat registry or cat breed registry, also known as a cat fancier organization, cattery federation, or cat breeders' association, is an organization that registers domestic cats of many breeds, for exhibition and for breeding lineage tracking purposes. A cat registry stores the pedigrees (genealogies) of cats, cattery names, and other details of cats; studbooks, breed descriptions, and the formal breed standards ; lists of judges qualified to judge at shows run by or affiliated with that registry, and sometimes other information. A cat registry is not the same as a breed club or breed society. Cat registries each have their own rules and usually also organize or license (sanction) cat shows. The show procedures vary widely, and awards won in one registry are not normally recognized by another. Some registries only serve breeders, while others are oriented toward pet owners and provide individual as well as cattery memberships, while yet others are federations only deal with breed clubs or even other registries as intermediaries between the organization and breeders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dragon Li</span> Breed of cat

The Dragon Li is a recently established Chinese breed of domestic cat. It was developed from a common landrace of cats in China, known as 貍花貓, Pinyin: líhuā māo, literally 'fox flower cat' ; the native cats are featured in some Chinese folklore stories. The derived standardized breed is recognized by China's Cat Aficionado Association (CAA) the US-based, international Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA).

The Cat Aficionado Association (CAA) is China's largest registry of pedigreed cats and is recognized internationally in conjunction with American Cat Fanciers Association (ACFA) as the premiere pedigreed cat registering association in Asia. Headquartered in Beijing, China, CAA was established on March 3, 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian Cat Association</span>

The Canadian Cat Association is a non-profit organization in Canada whose mission is to promote the welfare of all cats in Canada, maintain a registry of pedigreed cats in Canada, and further the improvement of all breeds of cats in Canada. CCA-AFC is Canada's only globally-recognized national cat registry, with its pedigrees and registrations accepted by major global associations such as the Cat Fanciers' Association, The International Cat Association, and Fédération Internationale Féline. To date, CCA-AFC has registered over 190,000 cats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abyssinian cat</span> Breed of cat

The Abyssinian is a breed of domestic short-haired cat with a distinctive "ticked" tabby coat, in which individual hairs are banded with different colors. They are also known simply as Abys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minuet cat</span> Breed of cat

The Minuet is a hybrid mix of Persian and Munchkin cat breeds. Categorized by The International Cat Association (TICA) as a domestic hybrid, "developed from a deliberate cross between two existing domestic breeds, incorporating characteristics of both parental breeds into the new mix." The Minuet cat is characterized by its short legs, as a result of the dwarfism-mutation similar to the Munchkin cats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Persian cat</span> Breed of cat

The Persian cat, also known as the Persian longhair, is a long-haired breed of cat characterized by a round face and short muzzle. The first documented ancestors of Persian cats might have been imported into Italy from Khorasan as early as around 1620, however this has not been proven. Instead there is stronger evidence for a longhaired cat breed being exported from Afghanistan and Iran from the 19th century onwards. Widely recognized by cat fancy since the late 19th century, Persian cats were first adopted by the British, and later by American breeders after World War II. Some cat fancier organizations' breed standards subsume the Himalayan and Exotic Shorthair as variants of this breed, while others generally treat them as separate breeds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Highlander cat</span> Breed of cat

The Highlander is a new breed of cat. The unique appearance of the Highlander comes from the deliberate cross between the Desert Lynx and the Jungle Curl breeds, also recently developed.

References