How Breeds Get their Start in the Cat Fanciers’ Association

 New Breeds Have a Prescribed Path to Full Championship Status

Carla Bizzell
Member, CFA Breeds and Standards Committee

With the introductiona and/or advancements of the Khao Manee, the Toybob, and the Lykoi—the latest breeds introduced to CFA—more people are asking about the steps required to bring a breed into our association and advance it to Championship. It’s a long process that requires commitment, dedication, and attention to detail. But as the representatives of these and other breeds have learned, the results can be very rewarding.

There are three key steps a breed must undergo in order to attain championship status. This article will outline those steps and the requirements to advance through each.

The three steps are:

1. Application for registration and exhibition in the Miscellaneous class.
2. Application for advancement to the Provisional class.
3. Application for advancement to Championship.

Starting the Process

When a group of breeders decide to seek acceptance from CFA, they can request an application package from CFA Central Office. In the package, they will find the application form itself (which walks you through the requirements), a matrix showing all the requirements for each step of the new breed advancement process, and some sample forms for registration via pedigree and litter registrations. The minimum requirements for a new breed application are:

• Breed name
• Named spokesperson (with contact information)
• Classification information (longhair vs shorthair, and natural, established, hybrid, or mutation)
• Breed club information (optional)
• Proposed breed standard
• List of breeders (At least ten active breeders are needed. All must have CFA cattery names and provide contact information and signatures.)
• In addition, the names and registration forms for at least 50 cats of the new breed must be submitted to be registered upon acceptance. Payment information must accompany them.

More detail on each of these requirements will follow.

The initial breed application process begins well in advance of the February board meeting where the breed will be considered. All application materials must be received by Central Office no later than August 1st of the previous year. The same time frame applies to subsequent steps (advancements); all required materials must be received by August 1st to be considered at the following February CFA Executive Board meeting.

In a breed that has already been registered with one or more other registering bodies, the breed name should be the same as used elsewhere. In the case of a new breed that is not registered elsewhere, the name should be unique and available to be used for this purpose (not encumbered by copyright or trademark, as examples).

The named spokesperson will be the point of contact for all questions regarding the new breed application. He or she is also responsible for preparing and presenting a presentation before the CFA executive board and arranging for examples of the breed to be present at the board meeting where the breed will be considered.

Classification and Other Considerations

The new breed must be classified as either longhair or shorthair. Outcrosses for the breed must be stated (including any outcross breeds that are allowed in the pedigree) and a proposed cut-off date for the use of outcrosses must be provided. The breed will also be classified as natural, established, hybrid or mutation. A natural breed is one whose parent cats and all ancestors are the same as the breed to be registered. A breed choosing this classification should submit import verification or certification with import and ancestry information. An established breed is the result of mating two or more specified breeds that may be continued by breeding between specimens of the established breed. Both parent cats must be members of the established breed and the pedigree may show only specimens of the established breed and/or breeds used to create the established breed. Hybrids are the result of the mating of two or more breeds, or the result of outcrossing to a specimen outside of the domestic cat. Mutations are the natural offspring of a natural breed showing definite characteristics that may be continued by breeding between specimens of the mutation and/or the natural breed from which it originated. The application must state the number of generations required for registration in CFA and indicate if cats of unknown ancestry will be permitted.

The information provided above on outcrosses (or breeds allowed in the pedigree) will help determine if there are any affected breeds. The definition of “affected breed” for these purposes is one that is: a) a parent breed of the prospective new breed, b) a breed that the prospective new breed would mimic or strongly resemble, or c) a breed that is being asked to be allowed as an outcross for the prospective new breed. The presence of one or more affected breed means that the breed councils for those breeds will be asked for input in the form of a poll. The poll input will be taken into consideration as part of the new breed’s consideration.

The application for a CFA breed club, although not required, is a great way to showcase the new breed and underscore the breeders’ commitment to bring their breed into CFA. A club application form and information can be requested from CFA Central Office.

There must be a proposed breed standard submitted as part of the application. If the breed is already accepted in one or more other registering bodies, it is prudent to submit a standard that closely aligns with one or more of the already-established standards. Variations are permitted, but please remember that cats from other registries may well desire to register in CFA and a drastically different standard in CFA would not be conducive to the breed’s growth.

There must be a minimum of ten breeders actively working with the breed. Each must have a CFA cattery name and be willing to participate in the application process by providing contact information and signature. While only ten names are required, additional breeders may certainly be part of the application process and will strengthen the application.

The application has space designed to list out the minimum of 50 cats/kittens that will be registered upon acceptance in CFA. Separate from the application, CFA must receive registration applications (including litter registrations, if any) at the time of the application. Some form of payment must also be included; however, the registrations and related payments will not be processed until such time that the breed is accepted.

Once the application is considered and approved by the CFA executive board by a majority vote, the individual and litter registrations will be processed and the breed will become eligible for the Miscellaneous class, starting with the new show season. The new breed will be set up with a breed committee and a breed committee chair will be appointed by the CFA president. Applications to join the breed committee will be accepted starting May 1st. For requirements to join a breed committee, please refer to the breed committee application form.

Once the breed has begun exhibition in the Miscellaneous class, each judge who handles the breed will submit an evaluation form that discusses the exhibits handled, indicates how well they meet the current standard and allows for comments on the standard itself. These comments, along with statistics from the shows where the breed has been entered, are the key elements in advancing from Miscellaneous to Provisional class.

Progressing Towards Provisional

As with the initial application stage, the advancement process begins with a formal application, submitted on or before August 1st of any year after the minimum qualifications to move to the Provisional class have been met. Any completed applications that meet the minimum requirements will be considered in the February board meeting the following year. The minimum qualifications in order to advance from the Miscellaneous class to the Provisional class are as follows:

1. There must now be a minimum of 25 breeders working with the breed. All must have CFA cattery names and have registered cats/kittens with CFA. The breed committee chair will request a report from CFA Central Office that will contain this information to include with the application for advancement.
2. The breed must be a currently registered breed being exhibited in the Miscellaneous class.
3. A definite cutoff date for any breeds allowed in background ancestry must be stated.
4. A CFA breed club was optional for the first stage of the process, but it is a definite requirement for advancement to Provisional.
5. The application must include a report that explains the potential value of this new breed to the Fancy and clarifies the differences between the proposed breed and existing recognized breeds.
6. A definitive breed standard with list of acceptable colors is required for Provisional show status.
7. A minimum of 100 cats/kittens of the new breed must have been registered with CFA. The list of these cats, with their registration numbers and owners, can be requested from Central Office and must be submitted with the application. They need not all have been shown.
8. A detailed show report on cats of the new breed that have been exhibited must be provided, including CFA registration number, cat’s name, dates shown, and name of show. Cats must be shown in all CFA regions (technically, this means regions 1-9 as China and the ID are not considered regions, although exhibition of the new breed in these areas would strengthen the application). The Breeds and Standards Committee receives all the show reports/evaluations and maintains a database with cats shown and comments made. This report is made available to the breed committee chair and is presented as part of the breed’s advancement package.
9. The package must include completed favorable judges’ evaluations indicating that the breed standard is understandable and indicative of the cats of that breed being presented in the show ring. There is no minimum number stated in the published requirements. However, it is important that the breed show dedication to the process by getting as many unique examples of the breed to shows in various areas of CFA as possible.
10. While not required, it is also helpful to have examples of the breed present at the executive board meeting where the advancement request will be considered. In addition, it is useful to have a breed newsletter distributed to CFA Central Office and CFA board and to report on the status and activity of the breed’s CFA breed club.

Assuming all minimum requirements are met, the request for advancement from Miscellaneous to Provisional status will be successful if approved by majority vote of the CFA executive board at the February board meeting.

Championship – the Final Frontier

This is the biggest step for any breed, and the step that is hardest to achieve. While acceptance to Miscellaneous and advancement to Provisional require a simple majority vote from the CFA Board, this last step cannot be achieved without a two-third affirmative vote. The Provisional class provides the breed with a platform to exhibit as many unique cats of the breed as possible and in as many regions as possible. In addition, there is an expectation that judges’ evaluations will be mostly supportive of the breed’s adherence to their written standard and supportive of their advancement.

For those breeds that are not already widespread and very well known, the Provisional class is the breed’s chance to continue to receive feedback from the judges, exhibit as many cats as possible and to build support of the breed among judges and the CFA community. This time can also be used to refine the written standard. Once the breed has matured to the point where sufficient cats have been exhibited and most favorable evaluations are received from judges, the breed committee chair can request advancement from Provisional to Championship. The application for advancement must  include a listing of breeders working with the breed, a listing of all cats of the breed that have been registered in CFA, and a complete listing of all cats exhibited and at which shows, as well as the judges’ evaluation comments. As previously noted, advancement requests must be completed and submitted by August 1st of the year before the February board meeting where the advancement request will be considered.

Once the breed is advanced to Championship, the breed committee chair will convert to breed council secretary with the new show season and breed committee members will apply for breed council membership in the next membership cycle.

Occasionally, a very popular breed that is accepted in many other organizations may be able to move quickly through the steps to Championship. Such a breed is referred to as being “fast tracked.” While this is not typical of a new breed coming to CFA, it is possible to move quickly through the advancement steps by registering large number of cats/kittens, exhibiting a great number of the breed in all CFA regions, and achieving strong support from the CFA community and the executive board. The example of Bengals shows how all these requirements fit together and what can happen when a breed goes above and beyond the requirements. In their application for advancement to Provisional status, the Bengal group provided a show report that included 139 unique cats, had formed two breed clubs, had registered well over 100 litters and over 500 individual cats. The application for Provisional was so strong that the board approved Provisional status and then immediately advanced them to Championship. The advancement matrix indicates that “CFA Board on its own motion will accept any Provisional breed for Championship when in the opinion of the Board such action is proper.”  This is how the Bengal went to Championship from its brief (few minutes) stay in Provisional without a formal application for advancement to Championship. This is, of course, not going to be the case in every breed, as most won’t be able to bring this quantity of cats to CFA and will need to follow the full application process as outlined in this article.

So, now that you know how much work the Lykoi, Toybob, and Khao Manee have had and will have ahead of them, we hope that you will welcome them, support their efforts, and do your best to help them become a valued part of CFA.

 

Previously published in Cat Talk Magazine