From the Scorers’ Desks

June 12, 2025

Titles

What They Mean & How to Use Them

Paula Noble

Now that I’ve been scoring shows for about 8.5 months, it has become clear that not everyone knows how important it is for exhibitors to enter their cats in shows with the correct title. You may be asking yourself: “How do I know if my cat should be an Open, Champion/Premier, or Grand Champion/Grand Premier?”  Entering your cat in the wrong category can cause some problems in navigating your way to a Regional/Divisional/National win. I hope this helps explain how and why it’s important.

Open

SR 2.08b. b. The OPEN CLASS is for CFA registered cats with either a temporary or permanent registration number of a color accepted for Championship competition, of either sex, 8 calendar months old or over on the opening day of the show, except cats that have completed requirements for Championship confirmation. When a cat has completed requirements for confirmation, it is ineligible for the Open Class at any subsequent show (see 27.05 and 28.01).

Your cat can be an OPEN in either Championship or Premiership. This is your first step into either of these two arenas in the show ring. In all but a few instances, your cats are OPENs for their first 6 rings, provided they are not disqualified or not judged for whatever reason. As part of scoring, we keep track of those first rings, called “qualifying rings.” After your cat has been in those first 6 rings, it either qualifies to be a Champion or a Premier. Any additional qualifying rings don’t help or hurt you – they are just not necessary, and ultimately create extra work for those involved in scoring.

Champion or Premier

Once you get past those qualifying rings and claim/pay for your Champion or Premier title for your cat (either with the master clerk at the qualifying show or via eCats online), you are on your way to acquiring the required number of points necessary to be declared a Grand Champion or Grand Premier. Many of you get stalled because while you were accumulating points, you still have not claimed your cat’s title. Let’s say your cat is successful in attaining  the 200 points to be a Grand Champion or 75 points to be a Grand Premier, but because you have not yet claimed your title as a CH/PR, you will not get your cat’s Grand Certificate.

SR 28.01 A cat will not receive its Grand title until the Central Office has received a Championship Claim form, appropriate fees, and confirmed that championship or premiership requirements have been met. In the case of cats that earned points with a temporary registration number, those points also will not be posted to a cat’s record until the cat has received a permanent registration number.

It is best to pre-pay and submit the claim form when you are entering that first show as an adult so that as soon as the required number of qualifying rings for the title are achieved, it can be approved.

Grand Champion or Grand Premier

Now that you’re here it’s smooth sailing … or is it? For those who know they’ve achieved the required number of points to become a GC or GP but have not yet claimed their CH/PR title, the Grand Certificate cannot be processed. If you enter a show as a GC/GP and have not received your Grand Certificate, any points your cat receives at that show will NOT COUNT, because your cat’s judging was determined to be mechanically incorrect. This is certainly not the fault of the judges at the show, but as stated in the following show rules it is the responsibility of the exhibitor/owner to do the right thing.

SR 6.18 It is the responsibility of the owner to enter a cat or kitten correctly under its exact registered name, registered ownership, region/area of residence, exact color/tabby pattern (except Sphynx, which are shown with no color or pattern description listed), color class, and when required, registration number. (See rules 6.15 and 10.23).

SR 6.19 It is the responsibility of the owner to enter and show a cat or kitten in its correct competitive category, class and color class and correct color/pattern description (except Sphynx, which are shown with no color or pattern description listed).

We have been trying to help you all navigate this with the new scoring software and new scorers, but effective May 1, 2025, we will no longer be “fixing” these things for you. You need to be sure to enter your cat in the correct category, or you may struggle with getting the appropriate titles on your cat while you are trying reach whatever goals you have set.