|
|
March 2013 CFA's Monthly eNewsletter
|
|
|
_______
|
|
Upcoming Deadlines
| |
March 15 - Deadline for CFA Board candidate declarations
April 15 - Submission of Amendments & Resolutions for consideration at the Annual.
|
|
|
CFA's On Pinterest
 You may have noticed that CFA is now on Pinterest. Pinterest takes the old, fabric pinboard to the next level. The Pinterest site is a virtual pinboard which allows the user to discover, organize and share things on the web. We have launched CFA's Pinterest site with our 42 recognized breeds. Each breed has its own FAQ which links back to CFA's breed pages. Go to http://pinterest.com/cfaorg/ to see
CFA's Pinterest site and if you have not already done so, sign up for your own Pinterest site so that you can begin collecting and organizing things that you find on the web!
Don't forget to add CFA's breed boards to your own site so that you can like and pin the images of our breeds to your boards for all of your followers to see and share.
|
 Election: Directors-At-Large
This year we elect seven Directors-At-Large. Clubs in good standing as of 2/01/13 will be sent ballots. Deadline for declaring is March 15th. Ballots are scheduled to be mailed on March 19th. Check here to see who has declared.
|
|
Advertise your show in the CFA eNewsletter for only $50. Contact Mark. |
|
Central Office Report
Submitted by Donna Jean Thompson
Delegate, Delegate who's gonna be the Delegate to the CFA Annual Meeting. Clubs should have received the Delegate form packages with all the Annual information enclosed. Routine business, exciting events, CFA reminders invaluable to many of you, ever wonder how all this information gets to you?
Welllll, since you asked. Some of it is routine, simply set up and only minor date/time changes to fit the new year required. The other informational parts require extensive behind the scenes labor, just ask Shelly, Jodell, Ginger, Pam, Cheryl, Nancy, Kristi, Linda, Marianne, Brian and a host of others who are working tirelessly to spread the news so we may all share in the beautiful Northwest Region come June.
Tax time - April 15th! YES indeed as well as the deadline date to submit Constitutional Amendments and Resolutions for consideration at the June Annual Meeting. These must be received in the Central Office via email or fax (330-680-4633). Prior to celebrating the successes of our Breeders and Exhibitors we have work to do during our Annual Meeting, Breed Council Meetings and various program meetings. It is our time together to share, learn, grow and repair if need be.
NEWBIES - Judy, who registers your new Cattery Name wants you to know that the address you use for your Cattery Registration is the one that goes into the system and where we will send your mail. Be sure to use an address where you wish to receive mail.
YES - Email - YES we can and will email most of the registration forms - however, litter registrations are not emailed and must be snail mailed to the Breeder address. Please be sure you carefully print: Name, Street Address, City, State/Locality, Zip Code and Country if outside the U. S. We've been tracking returns and "I didn't get mines" only to discover more often than not it is an address omission. Double check before you click send or deposit work in the mailbox.
 SHOW SECRETARIES - Please check your show boxes upon receipt. Omissions are rare but those boxes are shipped to you 6 weeks in advance of your show and a panic call the week of the show could easily be avoided if you would check upon receipt.
All things considered our customers are "top notch"! You've listened to our suggestions and are submitting work very carefully. Yes, at times we appear to be preaching to the choir but that choir is slowly growing.
|
|
Seven Can Be Your Lucky Number
Submitted by Linda Osburn & Ann Segrest
 | |
GC GP NW Arrow's James Byron Dean
|
How many of the CFA cat shows you have attended were totally filled this season? To those of you who produce cat shows all over the world: would it have been helpful to have an extra $200-400 in entry fees? How about 6 to 10 more entries?
There is a way to increase your entry numbers and show revenues by using existing show rules and attracting more cats from your regular exhibitors and from potential new exhibitors. All it will cost you is some inexpensive (or free) flats and rosettes, plus the same per-cat fee paid to the judges.
OK, now that we have your attention, we will explain: Include Veterans' competition to your show.
CFA Show rules provide the rules and procedures for showing cats that are seven years old and older in competition at any and all CFA cat shows. The main difference between the veterans' classes and the "regular" classes (kittens, championship, and premiership) is that the older cat can be altered or whole, and there are no color classes. Veterans are judged as longhairs or shorthairs and each cat is judged against its official standard of perfection. After examining each cat, the judge awards the cat a silver or gray flat ribbon. Cats are not competing within their breed or division. Continue reading ...
|
|
2013 Annual Meeting
Submitted by Mary Auth, Marketing Coordinator
 Between now and the CFA Annual, the Annual Committee will chronicle the journey westward of Lewis and Clark and their companion cat Chinook. The story is meant to be light-hearted, fun and adventurous. It is also intended to engage the cat fanciers to participate in the story until it concludes with Lewis and Clark (hopefully) making an appearance at the Annual's Thursday night hospitality room, where a collection of story contributions will be displayed - for the purposes of selecting the most engaging pieces and potentially awarding a prize for the best contributions (details are still being worked out). So watch for more of the Lewis and Clark expedition at it works its way west across America and be prepared to help tell the story.
Chapter 1. Let the journey begin to the 2013 CFA Annual. In 1803 (210 years ago) President Thomas Jefferson commissioned the Corps of Discovery and names Meriwether Lewis, who selected William Clark as his partner to find the most direct and practical water route across the nation for the purposes of commerce. They left Camp Dubois (just north of St. Louis) on May 14, 1804. There were 33 people and one cat, named Chinook. Chinook was a red cat - a working cat, strongly built, well-balanced with conformation indicating power, endurance and agility. Details of him joining the expedition are sketchy, but he was heard to say - wait the diary is blurred here - can anyone fill in what he said?
Watch your Yahoo Groups for more of the story.
|
The CFA Foundation
Submitted by Karen Lawrence
 The CFA Foundation web site has recently undergone a redesign and now has a completely new look. We've included additional information about the museum and our substantial collection of artifacts. In addition to details of the beginning of the Foundation, we've added a series of articles about the history of the cat fancy, domestication of the cat, and historical information about individual pieces in our collection.
Breed Exhibit
 The Feline Historical Museum is busy preparing for an exhibit about the Manx breed - the first breed exhibit to be held in the museum. We are looking forward to receipt of artifacts and contributions from the Manx breeders themselves, who are generously loaning items to us.
Anyone interested in producing the next breed exhibit should be in touch with us now through their breed council secretary or breed club representative. We would like to setup a series of breed displays over the next few years, and have a room that we can dedicate to these exhibits. Contact Karen Lawrence at the museum (KarenLawrence@neo.rr.com or 330-680-4444).
|
|
Kitten Registration and Recordkeeping 101:
Submitted by Annette Wilson
One of the privileges and responsibilities of a CFA breeder is registering kittens; registrations contribute to the financial health of CFA and also support the 'health' of your breed by accurately maintaining breed statistics. A registration is a record of your work with a breed.
 | |
One of Annette's "Kitty Terrorists"
|
Often, however, kitten buyers are so excited about getting their new kitten, they don't pay too much attention to why sending in the 'blue slip' or 'yellow slip' is so important. A breeder can order a CFA Cattery Report to see how many kittens have been registered out of their litters and very quickly see how many-or more likely, how few-pet owners have sent in their 'proof of ownership.'
Breeders who understand and agree that all eligible kittens in a litter should be registered will pre-pay the individual kitten registrations when they register a litter with CFA. This can be done easily on line and your litter registration and the individual 'yellow slips' will be found on your secure CFA Online Service home page.
After years of following this procedure (of prepaying all individual registrations) and not having much luck following up with new owners to get their kittens registered, I found a process that works to register all kittens, provide me with a copy of the individual registration and lets me sign the kittens up for CFA's free 60 day trial Pet Healthcare Plan. I'd like to share it! Continue reading ...
|
|
Cat Fever Goes Viral in America
even beyond Internet
According to the Boston Globe ...
Not that cats care, or would let on if they did, but America is having a cat moment.
The cat's enhanced status was recognized last month when it beat out a robot and a helicopter to replace the iron as a game piece in Monopoly. That validation, combined with feline domination of the Internet, cat TV shows, and thronged kitty film festivals, raises a question: Who seems crazy now? The cat lady?
|
|
On The Road Again
Submitted by Cheryl Coleman
 It's not too early to start getting PHOTOS together for this year's Annual OTRA! If you're unfamiliar with this term, it is the "On the Road Again" presentation that features YOU (judges, exhibitors, cats, places) in candid photos. I normally receive anywhere from 3000-4000 photos each year, in which I sort thru, and try and pick the best ones that depict OUR cat fancy!
I've already contacted your Regional Directors to let me know who your regional OTRA contact person is. Most of my photos come from them - however, last year several regions did not send any photos, so make sure your Regional OTRA rep sends those photos to me, or your region may not get represented!
MEMORIAL PHOTOS
We have lost a lot of our fellow CFA exhibitors/judges/friends this year. If you have photos of these individuals, please rename the file to that person's name and send to me. ONLY in Digital format - the higher the resolution the better (see more specifics below for OTRA).
ON THE ROAD AGAIN (OTRA)
Get those photos together and start sending them in! If you haven't started taking pictures, GET GOING!! Walk around the showhall between rings, or while in rings - or wherever...start snapping! The more candid the shot the better. (Note: these are not professional photos that are used to showcase the winners - these are created for/by your fellow exhibitors!) Resolution of the photo is KEY for it being used in the presentation. If it's fuzzy when you send it, it gets fuzzier when it's enlarged. If you send a photo of a group of people, and you can't recognize them right off when viewed on a regular screen, it doesn't get easier to recognize them when it's enlarged. So, neither of those are normally used in the presentation. 
All photos for OTRA must be scanned. Do not send original photos! You can send them via email, in a Zip file, on a CD/DVD/USB drive. Make sure the photos are at least 150 dpi (or better) and the best file format is JPEG. If you do send them on a device and you want the device returned, please send a stamped, self-addressed envelope with it. Otherwise, they will not be returned.
|
|
Hotel Tips
 Many of us stay at hotels/motels throughout the show season as we attend shows outside our immediate area. It's important that we treat these establishments right which includes keeping our rooms clean and not leaving the rooms a mess for the hotel staff to work harder than usual to prepare the rooms for their next guests. It is also expected that we leave a tip for the maid. According to AARP magazine, "Tip $1 or $2 per guest per night in most hotels. At higher-end properties, $3 to $5 per guest per night is typical, says Lillian Africano, president of the Society of American Travel Writers." It is suggested that if you are staying more than one night, that you leave a tip each day since you could have different maids each day.
Remember, the club hosting the show will want to use these hotels again and if we leave a bad impression on the hotel managers and staff, they may not want us to return. Next year you may have a long drive to the nearest hotel willing to accept us and our cats.
|
|
Cat Shows US!!
 Now owned by CFA, Cat Shows US!! lists ALL of CFA's shows and is an important part of the CFA's ongoing effort to provide the most comprehensive show schedule for exhibitors and spectators.
NOW OFFERING banners ads to spotlight your show!! Go to http://catshows.us/bannerads.pdf for details.
Enhanced listings start for as little as $15 and will provide your show with an Internet presence that will bring in exhibitors and spectators.
Don't have a club web site to host show info or coupons...you do now!! CSUS!! will provide your club with a URL (catshows.us/YOURCLUB'SNAME) to use for all your exhibitor and spectator advertising.
Link Cat Shows US!! on your club or cattery web site. Link button is available at http://catshows.us/linktoCSUS.shtml
Go to http://catshows.us/advertise or contact catshowsus@cfa.org for additional info or assistance.
|
|
WINN FELINE FOUNDATION
Submitted by Betty White
Winn welcomed two new board members in February, Brian Holub, DVM and Glenn A Olah, DVM, PhD, DABVP (feline). Both veterinarians participated in Winn's annual grant review held in Houston.
Dr. Holub is no stranger to the cat fancy, as he bred American Shorthairs for 23 years and has been on Winn's scientific review panel for nearly as many. Graduating from Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1983, he practiced at the Countryside Veterinary Hospital in Chelmsford, MA (Greater Boston area) until he sold the practice in 2012. Dr. Holub is presently the Chief Medical Officer at VetCor, yet still practices one day a week at Countryside.
Before going to Oklahoma State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1998 and graduating in 2002, Dr. Olah completed a PhD in Physics at Rice University in 1990. He enjoyed a distinguished career at Los Alamos National Laboratories, Los Alamos, NM, 1992-1998. Dr. Olah practiced veterinary medicine in Santa Fe, NM, for a number of years, and now is associate veterinarian at the Albuquerque Cat Clinic, Albuquerque, NM.  Are any of you wearing green? I found some green yarn in my assistant's knitting basket and was having a wonderful time festooning myself until my assistant came on the scene. She says it is highly unlikely that any of my ancestors hail from Ireland, but I just think she's a spoilsport. We should ALL celebrate St. Patrick's Day -- whatever!
|
|
Red Roof Inn
 Red Roof Inns Appreciates our CFA Guests ~ please use your CFA 15% discount code < 526223 > at any Red Roof Inn nationwide & 5% of your stay goes back to benefit CFA!
Join Red Roof Inns with 'Operation Feed' to Stomp out Hunger in the United States! Now through April 30, 2013, donate $1 to Operation Feed, benefiting the mid-Ohio food bank & we'll take $1 off each night of your stay at any participating Red Roof Inn!
|
Upcoming CFA Clerking Schools
Mad Catters Cat Club-Frederick, MD
 March 29, 2013
Chatte Noir-Moscow, Russia
April 7, 2013
National Birman Fanciers-Mesquite, TX
April 19, 2013
Seacoast Cat Club-Concord, NH
May 3, 2013
Rebel Rousers-Lawrenceville, GA
May 15, 2013
|
|
Club Requests for Date/Location Changes
New Request:
Steel City Kitties (Pittsburgh PA) requests approval to hold a 6x6 show on the 2nd weekend of February, 2014, with five Allbreed rings each day.
Clubs with comments should provide them to their Regional Director by March 22, 2013.
|
 Legislation
Submitted by Joan Miller, CFA Legislative Information Liaison
Fighting Anti-breeder Legislation means knowing the FACTS ! Occasionally we hear from constituents - CFA needs to be more "proactive". When we ask how they envision us doing this, the usual reply is "to avoid bad breeder licensing laws, we should be introducing our own better laws." The CFA Legislative Group has avoided writing laws for many reasons. Most important - we do not believe that breeders of pedigreed cats need to be licensed at all. Inspecting breeders' homes, charging high yearly fees and administering a licensing program is extremely counter productive. Licensing laws that mandate the number of cats a breeder may own, record keeping, inappropriate care standards for non-commercial breeders, and restrictions on litters born or sold are intrusive. They only serve to discourage an excellent source of home raised kittens for those who want a pet with predictable characteristics. No cat breeder licensing law has ever reduced the number of feral/un-owned homeless cats on the streets or reduced the cats euthanized in the shelters. Animal cruelty laws are in place in every state to assure proper treatment of cats, no matter who owns them. Targeting cat breeders with laws that cannot be reasonably enforced and are expensive to administer does not benefit the municipalities or shelters. CFA's proactive stance has always been to "first define the problem in order to determine the solution". We prefer to focus on community research. When programs are targeted to cats and directly address the problems revealed, this can positively achieve the successful results everyone wants for cats. CFA has partially funded demographic studies, through the Sy Howard Legislative Fund, uncovering important facts about cats in several communities. One example has just been published in PeerJ. https://peerj.com/articles/18.pdf When mandatory spay/neuter or breeder licensing Is proposed In your area, data from this study should be in the hands of your local animal shelter, animal welfare commission or City/County Council Members. Continue reading ... |
|
|
|
Region 2
Submitted by Ginger Meeker, Regional Director
Be on the look-out for the Annual salmon to make its way to the Boise show March 16-17...for a donation of only $5 you too can have your picture taken with the salmon and be guaranteed of a place in the
 | | See more photos here. |
Regional OTRA! If you are camera shy, consider having your cat photographed with this lovely salmon. All proceeds to benefit the 2013 Annual fund.
McKenzie River CC show in Portland, March 9-10, was the site of a surprise birthday party for retired judge Emeritus Betty Denny. Betty turned 94 and was surprised by club members, exhibitors and friends. Betty is a long time member of the McKenzie River club and we all appreciate her service to the Fancy in a variety of ways for many years. Happy Birthday Betty!!!
Nominations are being solicited for Exibitor of the Year. Details are on the R-2 website. Last years EOY, Wendy Heidt, is heading up this years process. Please go the website, review the criteria and then submit your nomination.
Also on the website, sponsorship opportunities for regional awards and recognitions are available. Your help is greatly appreciated and this always turns out to be a very special part fo the evening when those getting awards discover their award "sponsor". Its a lovely way to pay tribute to that special cat or exhibitor you've admired over the course of the season.
|
|
Region 4
Submitted by Loretta Baugh, Regional Director
The Great Lakes Region is very proud of John Hiemstra, Northville, Michigan on his advancement to Approval Pending Longhair Judge. John is very active in clubs in the Detroit area and is working his way through the Judging Program.
The region invites you to finish out the 2012-2013 show season at a Great Lakes Region show, The Mid-Ohio Cat Club invites you to a 6X6 in Columbus, Ohio on April 6-7.
Cincinnati Cat Club is holding a ten ring show, also in Columbus, on April 20-21 being held in conjunction with a Pet Expo at the Fairgrounds.
The last show, the Season Finale, is a 6X6 being hosted by the Cat Nation club and the Buffalo Cat Fanciers, the last weekend of the season, in Erie Pa.
Mark your calendars to attend the Great Lakes Regional Awards show and Banquet. These events are being held at the Canton Memorial Civic Center, with the banquet at the McKinley Grand Hotel in Canton, Ohio The region takes great pride in our Awards show and Banquet, the highlight of the Season.
We are busy getting ready and making plans for the 2015 CFA Annual Meeting being held in Toronto, Canada. We are encouraging everyone who doesn't have a passport to save $5 - $10 a month to enable you to get a Passport Card or Passport, both of which are good for ten years. This will be an event you won't want to miss!!!
|
|
Region 6
Midwest Region HHP Trifecta Winners
The Cinderella Cat or how a nameless injured stray became Trapper, the show cat.
Submitted by Roseann A Davis
 It all started with a phone call from Kylee, a co-worker. "Hey, we're out at my mom's house, and Gavin found a cat with its paw almost cut off. What do we do?"
Sigh. I asked if she had called the local Humane Society. She had. They were closed, so Kylee did the next best thing. She called me, the local crazy cat lady.
"Have you taken him to the vet?" I asked. "No" she replied. "Well, take him to the vet and see what they tell you, "I said. She hummed and hawed a little, and it was apparent she was worried about the cost. She's a full time mom of two, full time student and part time waitress. Not a lot of money left over for fun, let alone a badly hurt stray cat. I said I'd help with the cost, and recommended a vet clinic that had recently relocated in town. Then I called our boss and told her the story. She loves cats, too, and agreed to help.
There wasn't anything else to be done around the house, so I put on my shoes and went to the vet clinic. Kylee was there with her mother in law, Denise, three year old son, Gavin, and a box covered with a towel. Kylee moved the towel so we could see inside. There was a cat, thin, dirty, and scrawny with scabs on his face and what appeared to be a cut on top of his right front paw. I rubbed his head. He purred. Kylee asked what sex the cat was, and picked him up so we could look. That's when I saw how severe his injury was. He had been caught in a trap. His paw was almost completely severed. Tendons were clearly visible, and there was a strong smell of decomposition. A quick look at his nether regions determined he was indeed a he, and the cat returned to the box.
Now, I was worried. This cat was in really rough shape. Would he survive the surgery needed to save his life? Continue reading ...
|
|
Region 7
Submitted by Tracy Petty, Regional Director
Atlanta Phoenix Honors Ande DeGeer
Ande DeGeer, a long-time member of the Atlanta Phoenix Cat Society, was remembered with a special award for the highest scoring American Shorthairs at this year's Atlanta Phoenix show on March 9 & 10 in Cumming, Georgia. Judge Jody Garrison presented the awards.  The award for highest scoring American Shorthair in championship went to GC Li Xiang's American Idol of Enko, a brown tabby male owned by Sharon Rogers, Amanda Cheng, and Cary Plummer.
Best American Shorthair in premiership was GP Crisp's Cecilia Kipp, a red tabby and white spay owned by Dawn and Jerry Crisp. |
|
|
  
526223 542766 542767 CATFAN9
 
#U285933 # Z926291
Discounts Available to You!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
