Why does the CFA list 45 cat breeds while TICA lists 73?

CFA versus TICA on cat breed acceptance

As stated in the title, at November 2023, the Cat Fanciers’ Association (CFA) accept and register 45 cat breeds while the other North American premier cat association, The International Cat Association (TICA) accept and register 73 cat breeds. Why the difference? Firstly, I will list the differences. The first list below is of the …

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Persian cat breed standard – critical appraisal and illustrated

Are Persian Cats Healthy? I am afraid not.

April 11th 2011: This article is about the Cat Fanciers’ Association (CFA) breed standard for the contemporary flat faced Persian cat. This cat is sometimes referred to as the “Ultra Persian” in recognition of selective cat breeding to an extreme degree i.e., “ultra”. Note: This page has been republished after a check and some …

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Ragdoll breed standard – an illustrated summary

Ragdoll by Tetsu

I won’t try and simply duplicate the breed standard of a cat association – no point. The first thing I have done is to include one of Helmi Flick’s fabulous photographs. I really like discussions about breed standards when there is an image of the breed in question in front of me. It is …

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Sphynx breed standard – summary plus illustration

Sphynx Cat photographed by Helmi Flick

This is an illustrated version of the breed standard for the purebred Sphynx cat. This an interesting, intelligent cat that is nice to touch and hold – the feel of warm, silky chamois leather. The photograph is by the celebrated cat photographer, Helmi Flick. It is protected by copyright, which I ask you to …

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Turkish Angora breed standard – illustrated summary

Turkish Angora

I use the CFA Turkish Angora breed standard as my guide in writing this summary. I also use my own words, which are less formal and I don’t make an attempt to cover the entire standard as this is meant to be an overview of the cat and how she should look when looked at …

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Japanese Bobtail breed standard – comprehensive and illustrated

Japanese Bobtail van pattern

Japanese Bobtail Breed Standard – Photograph of Joudama © Helmi Flick. The markings (words and lines) on the photograph were made by MikeB at PoC I felt the need to see if the mathematical nature of the standard worked – it does. Helmi Flick has kindly allowed me to mark up her photographs if …

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‘Modified wedge’ terminology used in the cat fancy (infographic)

NFC (Norwegian Forest Cat) head is an equilateral triangle

This is an infographic on the well-used cat fancy phrase ‘modified wedge’. It is used all the time in cat association breed standards. I see it used a lot in the Cat Fanciers’ Association (CFA) breed standards and I’ve extracted some examples for the infographic below. The cat fancy administrators were drawn into using the phrase ‘modified wedge’ because they had to find a way to describe the head and face shape of their registered cats. Fundamentally, the wedge shape fits the feline head shape but only in a very general way which is why it is ‘modified’!

Modified wedge terminology used in the cat fancy breed standards explained in an infographic.
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