Our banner cat for the February 2015 Newsletter is CFA's Eighth Best Cat in Premiership, GP, NW Ladiluck's Barrons, a red tabby & white Exotic Longhair.

(Photo by Chanan)

DEADLINES

March 15, 2015

- CFA Director-at-Large declarations due in to Central Office

April 15, 2015
Proposed Amendments & Resolutions must be RECEIVED in CO by this date.

Breed Council
Membership Reminder

RENEWAL DATES
HAVE CHANGED

Breed Council Membership now runs from May 1 to April 30. Membership for individuals whose applications were received on or before August 1, 2014 will be extended to April 30, 2015. Applications for membership for the membership year (2015) May 1, 2015 to April 30, 2016 will be accepted starting May 1, 2015. Reminder notices will be sent out in the weeks prior to May 1.

Eligible individuals in any breed/division may obtain membership by submitting to the Central Office a completed 2015 membership application form together with the appropriate fee(s). In order to be eligible to vote, you must submit your application for the current year (2015), by renewing from May 1, 2015 through August 1, 2015. Membership applications for any given year will not be accepted after August 1 of that year.

Social Cats for Social Media

Attention show cats

we need your photos!

Jodell Raymond would love to have photos of cats at shows so that she can feature them in CFA's social media outlets. Send those cute, funny and entertaining pictures to Jodell Raymond at Jraymond@cfa.org and we will make sure to give you photo credit.

Photo courtesy of Mark Hannon

CFA Annual Meeting in Toronto

complete info at
www.2015cfaannual.org

Links to passport information is at

http://2015cfaannual.org/2015/01/

The 2015 CFA Yearbook

is here!!!

Get your record of the 2013-14 show season! You can place your online order at:

http://catalog.cfa.org/yearbook.shtml

Join Our Mailing List

Welcome to the 'high flying' edition of the CFA Newsletter. I composed most of it on my flights to and from Hong Kong this past weekend, which made good use of that extended period of time.

Which brings me to a common theme that I've heard over the past few week. Although the cat fancy is based in part around shows, often the travel to these shows is a richer reward than the rosette. I know that as an exhibitor it gave me a reason to travel to places that yes, I could have gone to on my own, but just needed a reason to go. It also allowed me to make friends all over the US, and then later, the world. My horizons may have broadened a bit as a judge, but that feeling of friendship is still the same. And it all began with our mutual love of cats.

Stay warm and safe during this next round of cold weather!!

Teresa

Greetings!

Registration statistics for calendar year 2014 have been compiled and I am happy to report that despite our challenges with the new computer system we had a 6.3% increase in registrations over the previous year. That follows a 6.2% increase in 2013 after a decade of a decline in registrations. Great to see we are headed in the right direction. Thanks to our dedicated staff who worked many hours of overtime to make this possible. Thanks also to our customers who see the value of a CFA registration.

Earlier this month your Board met at the Feline Historical Museum which is located on the ground floor of CFA's building in Ohio. Thanks to the CFA Foundation for serving as our hosts and to Karen Lawrence in particular. Thanks are also due to some CFA staff members (Brian, Verna and Terri) who worked hard to provide ground transportation to those who flew and who did so much more for us. So what of significance happened at the meeting?

The 2014 World Show's finances are still being finalized; however, it is anticipated that the show lost money but was within budget. That is, the show was expected to lose money and we actually lost less than budgeted. We are returning to the same location in 2015 but we have changed the name of the show. We are returning to a name familiar to many: The CFA International Cat Show. The event will be two shows of eight rings and the voting to select the judges should start next week.

The Super Specialties experimental format was extended through the next show season. Clubs wishing to make use of this format need to contact Sharon Roy before proceeding.

By unanimous vote of the Board, longhair Exotics will continue to be shown in the Persian classes. I single this out because this impacts CFA's two largest breeds and was controversial. The Board also voted to drop the Chinese Li Hua as a CFA recognized breed effective May 1, 2015.

The 2015 Yearbook is out and we are hearing lots of positive feedback about the cover in particular. The artwork depicts one of the fancy's favorite cats, a calico Exotic often seen at our shows with her owner Shirley Peet. It's an honor well-deserved for "Hope." If you don't have a copy, you can either order it online or some Board members will have them for sale at shows the next few weeks.

Due to issues with the new computer system, we had been unable to issue Grand certificates at all this show season. I am happy to report that the issue has been resolved and yesterday we sent out the certificates for the cats that granded in May and the others will soon follow.

This Spring we will hold elections for the seven Director At Large seats on our Board of Directors. The deadline for declaring is March 15^th and you can see who has already declared here.

It's been a difficult winter for many of you due to the weather but a large number of you have braved the difficult travel and found warmth in the friendships at our shows. No matter where you are in the world, I wish you good luck at the shows and hope you have fun.

Temporary Registration Numbers (TRN)

At the recent meeting of the CFA Board of Directors, a change was made to the free TRNs that have been available for kittens. After May 1, 2015, the previously allowed free TRN for kittens for U.S. shows will no longer be available.

The $15 fee applicable to adults will also apply to kittens. The rationale is that eCats is now virtually current. Snail mail and secure CFA registrations are being turned around within 30 days. The removal of the fee was always intended to be temporary.

The "Notes" from the recent Board meeting which were distributed via a CFA-News notice incorrectly stated that the free kitten TRN was being rescinded across CFA. That was incorrect; the charge for kitten TRNs only applies to shows in the United States.

feature 2014 Registration Statistics

Exotics Become the Most Popular Breed
Exotic

For the first time ever, the Exotic has overtaken the Persian as the most registered breed in CFA. Persian registrations fell just slightly as compared to the previous year, whereas Exotic registrations rose by 21 percent.

Persian

Rounding out the Top Ten Most Registered Breeds:

3. Maine Coon

4. Ragdoll
5. British Shorthair
6. American Shorthair
7. Abyssinian
8. Sphynx
9. Siamese

Maine Coon

10. Scottish Fold.

British Shorthair

A complete list of breed rankings is available here.

Managing Your Registrations

We are aware that there have been computer issues which have contributed to customer registration requests that had not been entered when they should have been or requests which are still pending.

If you have not received a response to a registration request which was sent in prior to January 20, 2015 or your registration is older than January 20, 2015 registrations that are currently being processed, please contact Verna Dobbins at Vdobbins@cfa.org.

New Breed Articles Available

by Kathy Durdick, CFA Webmaster

Two new breed articles are now available online!

From the June 1999 Cat Fanciers' Almanac,
"The Chartreux"

From the

1990- 91 CFA Yearbook:

"Somalis
- The First Decade and Beyond"

Grand Photos

The latest Yearbook is out and there are a disappointing number of Grand photos. Granding a cat is a significant accomplishment and we all want to share in your joy. As our Yearbook is read years from now, many will want to see photos of the cats that granded in the show season highlighted in that Yearbook. Breeders will be interested in seeing photos of cats in their pedigrees. As incentive to submit your grand photos to the Yearbook and to Cat Talk magazine, we have been offering to have your grand photo on the CFA website for free. During the 2+ months left this show season, take the time to have your new Grand's photo taken and submit it to both the Yearbook and Cat Talk.

Winter continues to moving ahead as usual here in northeast Ohio. It's been cold but we have had a few days of sun and temperatures in the high 30's, unlike last year's polar vortex. At the time I am pulling this together we had just completed our Board Strategic Planning Session and February Board meeting. Both were long, involved , interesting, and I hope fruitful. I was also glad for the opportunity to get to know the Board members better.

I found my first Breeds and Standards portion of the Board agenda interesting with a lot of passion expressed.

It is with a heavy heart I must inform you that due to family obligations Diane Cioci has tendered her resignation effective the end of February. As some of you know she is one of the "original" Alliance employees. She has graciously agreed to come in on Saturdays to help out should we need her to do so. Whoever is selected will have big shoes to fill and we will miss her greatly.

I would like to take this opportunity to pass on a very special THANK YOU to three special ladies: Melanie Morgan, Carla Bizzell and Susan Cook Henry. They spent hours, days and I'm sure weeks updating our Breed Book Rules of Registration. I had the opportunity to review what they had compiled during a break at the recent Board Meeting. The detailed work necessary for this to be completed and placed into a usable format was unbelievable and had to be intense. I can't thank them enough for all the hard work, time and energy they devoted to this important update! Should you see these ladies around, please also thank them.

~ Terri Barry
CFA Executive Director

Happy Valentine's Day From Central Office!

Reverse Pedigree

We are happy to announce that we can once again produce Reverse Pedigrees! As of Monday, February 16, 2015 Reverse Pedigrees will be available for purchase in the CFA Catalog.

Registration

Registrations received by snail mail on and before January 20, 2015 are being processed. E-Cats are being processed within 24 to 48 hours.

Reminder!

As of March 2, 2015 if Central Office receives a request for any CFA service and it is not complete it will be returned to the customer.

Directors at Large

The deadline to declare for DAL is March 16, 2015, below is the link for information and the Declaration Form.

http://www.cfa.org/AboutCFA/BoardofDirectors/DirectorAtLargeCandidates.aspx

Verna M. Dobbins, Director of CFA Services

Change of Central Office Personnel

Bookkeeper Diane Cioci has resigned her position to pursue other endeavors. Anna Bowe, current Assistant Bookkeeper, has been hired as Bookkeeper.

Cat Talk

It's Kitten Season!

Kittens are the subject of the April 2015 issue of Cat Talk and we'd like to see one (or perhaps more) of our subscribers' kittens on that issue's cover.

Submit your photo to submissions@cattalk.org. You may submit a low res photo for consideration, but if selected, you will need to be able to provide a high res photo. 1-3 winners will be selected by the Cat Talk staff.

Must be a Cat Talk subscriber to win. Not open to members of the Cat Talk staff.
Deadline: March 1, 2015

Cat Talk - The Digital Edition

Did you know that you can subscribe to the online edition of Cat Talk for the same price as the US print edition? AND that you can have the online issue as part of the Online Almanac combo? And no, you don't have to subscribe to the print edition to get the online edition - it's your choice as to which version you subscribe to.

You can subscribe to the online edition here. Or purchase the Cat Talk/Online Almanac combo here.

CFA Judging Program

by Annette Wilson, Chair

The following actions were taken at the CFA Board of Directors meeting Feb. 7, 2014

Resignations

Rhett Bockman - retired effective1/1/2015
Paul Patton - retiring effective 8/3/2015

Advancements

Danny Tai - LH trainee (first specialty)

Fung Chun Kit ("Kit Fung") - SH trainee (first specialty)

Wendy Heidt - LH trainee (first specialty)

John Adelhoch - Approval Pending LH (1st Specialty)
Marilee Griswold - Approval Pending SH (1st Specialty)
Etsuko Hamayasu - Approval Pending SH (2nd Specialty)
Toshihiko Tsuchiya - Approval PendingS H (1st Specialty)

Donna Jean Thompson - Medical Leave of Absence extended to May 1

CFA Business Development

by Ginger Meeker

Chair, Business Management Committee
Director at Large

One of the many exciting changes from this last BOD meeting was the acceptance of a CFA Organizational Chart. The chart clearly outlines the chain of command and the pathway for effective and efficient communication. All Committee Chairs are now asked to take their questions, concerns, projects and issues directly to Executive Director Terri Barry. Ms Barry will then take it to the staff involved. In this way, she will be able to determine priorities for the staff at the Central Office and limit pulling the staff off of their other necessary tasks. If you are a member of a CFA Committee and want to make an issue or project known, take it to your Committee Chair and they in turn can take it to Terri. In this way, all members of the Committee work through the chair and eliminate some "surprises" for these folks. Using this new route for communication, you will do your part to help Central Office more easily set priorities and accomplish tasks.

March 1, 2015 is the start date for Central Office to begin returning illegible or incomplete work back to the customer for correction. Money will be returned with the work so no longer should there be concerns about a charged credit card before the work is completed. If you are paying by check, there still will be the needed time taken to make sure the check clears. The eCats system is a highly efficient way for you to complete your litter and individual kitten/cat registrations. If you haven't tried this system please do- and I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Do you have a particular skill set you would like to volunteer? Please send that information to me glm.cfa@gmail.org A list will be compiled and folks will be matched with projects as they occur.

Central Office is reporting that they are still needing to deal with customers that feel screaming, profanity and insults are appropriate behaviors to use when calling or emailing Central Office. When and if necessary, the appropriate RD for the person(s) may be called on to help modify the behaviors. In the real world, many of us have dealt with new computer systems...I know you are all very tired of hearing that patience is still required, but it is and in this situation it is not unusual. I'm pretty tired of saying it! At some point all this will work.

Thanks to all for all you do each and every day to make CFA a stronger and better organization!

CFA Ambassador Cats

by Karen Helmhold, CFA ACats Chair

CFA Ambassador Cat Hope is now our first "Cover Girl"

Hope, along with Shirley and David Peet, is an original in so many ways. She was one of the first six CFA-Iams Ambassador Cats at our program launch in New York City. She is certainly the most photographed Ambassador Cat and has appeared in more show advertising than any other Ambassador Cat.

This year Hope is now the "Cover Girl" for the CFA 2015 Yearbook. Our program is over-joyed to have one of "us" grace the Yearbook cover. This year's Yearbook also has an article about the history of our program, so we will never forget our beginnings and how far we have come.

Shirley & David Peet live in a suburb of Baltimore, at the very northern end of region 7. Both are retired, David as a railroad engineer and Shirley as an Office Administer for a major food service company. They are originally from Pittsburgh, home of the "Mighty Steelers".

Hope was purchased in 2000 as a gift from Shirley to David as a birthday present to start their Exotic breeding program. Hope's love for people was developed because she quickly became a therapy cat for David's father and grandfather. Most recently she is a therapy cat for David's mother.

Besides being this years "Cover Girl" for CFA. Hope has been regularly seen in advertising for CFA Events. She has been featured in television commercials, as well Commercial print advertising.

Our CFA Ambassador Program is fortunate enough to have Hope and her fun loving personality within our Ambassador Family.

Special thanks to Shirley, David and Hope................

WINN FELINE FOUNDATION

by Vicki Thayer DVM , Winn Executive Director

We want to hear from you! Please participate in Winn's current survey on the interests and concerns of cat fanciers and cat lovers everywhere regarding cat health issues. The survey will take less than 5 minutes to complete. If you have not already completed this survey, you can find it at:http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07eai5dyxpi5okiptz/start

Your input is important to Winn.

Raise the Roof for FIP Research: 2015 is the 10th Anniversary of the founding of the Bria Fund for FIP Research at the Winn Feline Foundation. To celebrate our anniversary, and in recognition of progress being made through important research the Bria Fund supports, we want to make 2015 the best year ever for raising money needed to continue the fight to end FIP. Our yearlong celebration of the Bria Fund's 10^th anniversary got off to a great start. Currently, there are several supporters holding fundraising events. You can access the information on Facebook's Events' section or on our web site www.briafundsupporters.com. New fundraising projects will be added all year. Please help us to "Raise the Roof" even Higher!

Norwegian Forest Cat HCM study needs assistance: Dr. Virginia Luis Fuentes' research group from the Royal Veterinary College-London is requesting help in locating cases for their Winn funded study, W13-029, on NFC HCM. The specific request is available here . Contact Winn at info@winnfelinefoundation.org for further information.

Amazon Smile and IGive now together: Winn Feline Foundation has been part of the Amazon Smile program for the past several months. Now Winn is part of combining Amazon Smile and IGive through the link www.IGive.com/Amazon. When you use IGive/Amazon to shop, Winn will receive a donation of 1.3% of each purchase of eligible items. Please select Winn Feline Foundation as your charitable organization of choice. Internet surfing through IGive.com businesses until mid-March will earn bonuses for Winn and you.

Planned Giving Tip of the month: You probably know you can make a gift to the Winn Feline Foundation in your Will or Trust. But did you know you may also make Winn primary or secondary beneficiary of other 'due on death' benefits? These may include life insurance, IRA accounts, certain annuities, pensions or 401(k) plans.

(Be sure to ask your tax advisor about rights of your surviving spouse if applicable.)

January Monthly Donor List, $100 or more

Please make note of our new contact information:

Mailing address: 637 Wyckoff Ave., Suite 336, Wyckoff, NJ 07481

Email address: info@winnfelinefoundation.org

Website address: www.winnfelinefoundation.org

By Kelly Crouch, CFA Legislative Information Liaison

And they're off!

The state legislation races are on. Every year CFA tracks hundreds of legislation proposed in state legislatures. Proposed legislation usually rolls in hot and furious and this year is no different. It is a race to keep up with all legislation which cat fanciers may have to get involved in for all 50 states. Fortunately a lot of the proposed legislation doesn't get past the watch stage. It may be because of an "and cat" issue that never arises, it may die or be withdrawn before we need to act, or another reason altogether why it doesn't get past the watch stage.

Here is a link to a few pieces of state legislation proposed that will raise concern among cat fanciers either because they directly affect cats or can easily become an "and cat" issue we should help the dog fanciers to fight. To summerize:

Connecticut: revisions to animal importer records requirements for adoptions

Hawaii: declawing, microchipping and reporting requirements.

Illinois: modifying the kennel operator definition and requiring zoning compliance are among the changes in the Animal Welfare Act.

Iowa: changes commercial establishments for nonagricultural animal to include small breeders, competitive show breeders, specialized breeder, animal rescue and animal sanctuary to the licensing scheme.

Kansas: amends the Kansas Pet Animal Act to expand animal breeder premises, includes rescue network regulations, and other changes.

Missouri: removes the Animal Care Act and Canine Cruelty Prevention Act from the Department of Agriculture to the Occupations and Professions Chapter and creates the State Commission of Animal Care Facilities.

Nebraska: proposed changes to the commercial dog and Cat Operator Inspection Act.

New Hampshire: record keeping requirements for transferred animals.

New Jersey: Animal importer requirements.

New York: several bills introduced to amend the Pet Dealer definition and other requirements, declawing, devocalization, Charlamagne's law on outdoor companion animals, microchipping, and regulation of backyard animal breeding.

Oklahoma: restricting where commercial pet breeders may be located.

Virginia: restricts locations for sale of certain pets.

Legislative Quick Look

Legislation continues to be filed so please check back frequently for updates in your area. Let us know if you can help fight detrimental legislation!

For a complete listing of state and federal bills being tracked see the recently updated CFA Tracking List.

Please report legislation happening in your area to
the Legislative Group - legislation@cfa.org

CFA Ambassador Program

by Candilee Jackson

Ambassador Update

Good news! The data collection tool is out to Ambassador Coordinators and to ambassadors at large. Hopefully this tool will give us a good picture of what is going on in show halls in all 9 regions. Additionally, the new handbook only has 3 sections left to create! Hallelujah! The training webinar has taken a back seat to the handbook, and chair Candilee Jackson, hopes to hit it hard as soon as the new handbook goes through final editing.

Region 1: Meghan Noeker, Jane Ramey- no report

Region 2: Mary Siestma

The Northwest Region found the Call of the Wild Cat Show in Santa Rosa, California, celebrating Valentine's Day in style. Held in a fairgrounds building, the show has used this venue several times for its size and awesome gate. The show hall was busy and full most of the day, with lots of repeat spectators. One of the highlights was the Agility Ring which was a HUGE hit with spectators. The show also had a "spectator's choice" contest: every cat entered had a card to place on its cage so that spectators could walk around the show hall and pick their choice of BEST cat. As an Ambassador, Mary found that the cards on the cages identifying the breeds helped with spectator questions.

Mary was busy answering questions from returning visitors who asked about specific cats from last year! The gate was also looking for specific breeds including Maine Coons, Eqyptian Maus, Ragdolls and Ragamuffins. Spectators in the ring were curious about the ribbons, who the winner was, the breed of cat. Probably the most interesting question Mary answered in the ring was, "Why don't they speak to one another?" ,meaning the judge, clerk and exhibitor.

CFA judge John Webster, wore a mic the entire time he was judging, and Mary heard a LOT of positive comments about this aspect of the show. Everyone loved to hear what he was saying, the breed and exactly what he was looking for in each cat. It was a HUGE hit with the crowd.

Region 3: Harold Bourgeois, Janis Walkingstick

Janis Walkingstick and Donna Waskiewicz

Gulf Shore Ambassador Janis Walkingstick and Persian breeder Donna Waskiewicz were excited to show just how friendly Region 3 is! They attended the Wichita Cat Show February 7-8 at the Cotillion Ballroom in Wichita, Kansas. The well-known venue attracts a great gate every year, with some of the spectators come back year-after-year. The club gives a lot of space to rescue groups who run a well-attended raffle. Upon seeing the Ask Me sticker on Janis, one spectator asked, "Oh, you're an ambassador and we can ask you questions." We were glad the spectator knew about CFA Ambassadors, Janis told the spectator she could ask anyone in the showhall questions, as well as the ambassadors. The next show in the Gulf Shore Region is coming up in south Texas where the southern hospitality will be laid out in full. Hope to see you there.

Region 4: Mariane Toth- no report

Region 5: Ken Cribbs (Hawai'i) no shows in Hawai'i this reporting period

Shari Millar

Food and Water Bowl, January 24-25, del Mar, California

Many exhibitors took their kitties to the beach before the show started on Sunday!

The spectators came in waves to watch the best cats in the world at del Mar, California, home of the biggest cat show on the West Coast. Also known as "The Food and Water Bowl," this show always has a larger-than-normal gate, with many newbie cat enthusiasts. Many visitors come back year after year. All the breeds were kept very busy because of the large assortment of breed booths that graced both sides of the show hall. With stuffing 75 degree sunny weather, the show as a real treat for the snow-bound East Coasters. A huge number of cat adoptions was also a pleasant part of this show-many thanks to the local rescues for participating in the adoption program. Additionally, the education ring was packed all weekend.

Region 2 Ambassador Coordinator, Mary Siestma, also attended the San Diego Cat Fanciers Show. This back to back show featured 7 allbreed rings and 1 specialty ring or HHPs and Veterans. A highlight and great "gate grabber" was the agility ring! Ambassadors were in place, ready to answer questions, introduce breeds and listen to gate stories. Also highlighted for youth outreach was the Children's Pet Kitty Ring: children were invited to bring a stuffed kitty or choose one from a big group of stuffed kitties. All the participating "kitties" and their "owners" received rosettes! This was a terrific way to encourage families to attend shows, and possible get them interested in showing a cat.

Poppy State Cat Club hosted a one-day, 6-ring show in Stockton, California on January 17^th. Although the gate was small, Ambassadors were there to support as needed. This wonderful show featured HHPs and Veterans, as well as several fun raffles and drawings. Everyone enjoyed a great time!

Region 6: Candilee Jackson

Ambassadors had a great time at the two shows held in the MWR during the last month. Saintly City Cat Club held its yearly show in conjunction with the St Paul Winter Carnival, and enjoyed a tremendous gate. Ambassadors were on hand to answer questions about everything from "what's going on in the rings" to questions about breeds and declawing. There was a great deal of interest in the household pet competition because CFA crowns its Winter Carnival King and Queen each year. Many spectators were surprised to see "everyday" cats at a pedigreed cat show. Next up was Hawkeye State Cat Club who hosted a Valentine's weekend show at the Adventureland Palace in Altoona, Iowa. Featuring a Valentine theme cage decorating contest, the gate was excited to see many colorful cages in the benching areas as well as the judging rings.

Region 7: Lyn Knight, Jane Wood- no report

Region 8: Takako Koijima, Masanari Koijima

Japan Regional Show, January 10-11, Tokyo

Exhibitors at the Takazazuka Show

Takazazuka Cat Show, January 24-25

^th, Kobe

Takanazuka Cat Fanciers hosted a lovely show onJanuary 24-25^th at the Kobe City Sangyo Shinko Center. The 6 x 6 ring show was near the Kobe Sannomiya Station which made it easy for both exhibitors and spectators

Ambassador Takao Koijima entered the show with his Pet Me! Cat, "Raptor." The gate was small as the venue is a new one and somewhat unknown to the area. The gate, however, had a great time, and were mostly young people, students of the Kobe Animal School.

Ambassador Booth at the show

CFA Ambassadors encountered questions about what type of cat would be best as pets; looking at breeds never seen before such as the Singapura and American Shorthair; looking for specific show cats such as the Norwegian Forest Cat and again, the America Shorthair. Questions people asked dealt with bathing how-tos, re-training to stop bad habits, and how to locate good breeders with good cats.

Several breeders came to ambassador booth to get Ask Me pamphlets and other useful documents for showing. The Ask Me pamphlet is very useful when new exhibitor show their cats for the first time. If breeder is not able to mentor a new exhibitor, Takako suggested they use the Ask Me pamphlet for support. "We try to match up veteran exhibitors to support and assist new exhibitors".

Tadashi Fujuda at Japan Regional show.

Region 9: Natalya Gnatyuk, Ulrike Kneupple

Asia/International: Phebe Low

Hosted by the Hong Kong Black Cat Club, and under the show management of Phebe Low, Asia's BIGGEST cat show, Valentine's Championship Cat Show, took place February 14-15 at Hall 3 of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibitors Centre, Wan Chai, Hong Kong. The event featured 8 rings, 7 allbreed and 1 specialty. The CFA cat show, boasting 300 entries, is in conjunction with the largest pet show in Hong Kong, featuring 100 booths for pet services, food and training. Ambassadors were on hand to work with a 300,000+ gate ... yes, you did read that correctly!!! Ambassadors conducted tours, produced and hosted a breed board for breed introduction, and coordinated a "KID-CAT Corner" workshop for children's art.

The Ambassador's station was set up at the end of a row, close to the entrance. On hand were Ambassador pamphlets, CFA yearbooks, Annual Award booklet, and breed ID pamphlets. Ambassador logos could be seen in every corner of the show hall as well as in the benching areas, and spectators were encouraged to ask questions. The kids who came as visitors has a great time in the KID-CAT Corner, and we let them hug the cats....watching the expressions on childrens' faces is what Phebe enjoys the most.

"Hooray! The Ambassador Program is such a wonderful platform for spectators to recognize someone who can give them answers to all their questions at a cat show." Phebe Low, show manager

Amy with Hong Kong Show Manager and Ambassador Coordinator Phebe Low

Pam DelaBar with Candilee's "Hong Kong Daughter" Amy and her daughter Keira

CFAF

by Karen Lawrence

Director, The CFA Foundation, Inc.

Manager, Feline Historical Museum

On February 7-8, 2015, the Feline Historical Museum was the meeting place for the CFA Board of Directors. The CFA Foundation was proud to host the event in the museum, and we appreciate the positive comments from board members and guests alike.

The CFA Foundation has established a Children's Library on the mezzanine level of the Feline Historical Museum. The walls of the new library are home to colorful illustrated panels drawn by the famous cat artist, Louis Wain, and taken from an 1895 "Fairy Tales" linen book published by Raphael Tuck & Sons. Four pieces of artwork by Jamie S. Perry also can be found in a corner of the library. A collection of over 1,500 pieces that will appeal to children include books, videos, CDs and other audio/visual entertainment - all specific to the domestic cat. The books cover the varied interests of children from pre-school age through to young adult.

The Children's Library will open for public use on March 1st. Our intention is to contact the local Board of Education, as well as home schooling groups and day care centers and offer the library for their use. We are also considering having a Saturday morning reading hour, with a former school teacher who has volunteered her time.

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Region 1

by Geri Fellerman, Regional Director

Brrrrr - yes, going out in this icy white stuff is difficult, especially if you happen to be a warm weather person at heart. That being said, our region two fun successful shows in the latter part of January despite the cold, snow and ice! The first was in Dover, New Hampshire, and, well, those New Englanders don't let a little snow hold them back. Even with the snow all day Saturday, spectators galore flowed in the doors. I wasn't able to get to the Leesport, PA, show this year but did get a glowing report from friends who attended. Those people sure know how to put on a show and, as usual, the raffle was great.

Coming up next weekend in Kimberton, PA, is the annual Black Diamond/Ramapo Cat Fanciers show and the annual piergois have been promised! One week later NNFCBC show, together with Delaware River will be holding their show in Iselin, NJ, in the beautiful Renaissance hotel. Just one week later, we look forward to a show in a new venue - Feline Forum and Main Coon CC are combining to hold a show in Wilmington, DE.

All-in-all, a very busy few weeks for us in the NAR - look forward to seeing some of you!

Region 2

by Terri Zittel, Regional Secretary

Let It Rain!

On January 2nd, Poppy State Cat Club held their Winterfest show in Stockton, CA at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds. This was a very nice venue and was easy to travel to from the Sacramento Airport. The theme was "Doin' The Rain Dance" and the exhibitors were invited to perform a rain dance for some really nice prizes. First prize was a $100.00. The club served a hot dog bar for lunch that was truly delicious. Far from your average show hall dog.

Heidi Murphy organized a 50-50 raffle to help fund the 2015 Regional Awards Banquet. The banquet will be held in Sacramento in conjunction with the summer Poppy State Cat show. Heidi took in $630 which was split between the region and the winner, Megan Antijunti. Way to go Heidi!

There is only one show in February in the Northwest Region. The Call of the Wild show is held in Santa Rosa on the 14th and 15th. The theme is "Our Valentine Show".

March has four shows: Pacific Rim Cat Fanciers - Longview, WA March 1st
Tails and No Tails Cat Club - San Jose, CA March 7th & 8th McKenzie River Cat Club - Portland, OR March 14th 7 15th

Idaho Cat Fanciers - Boise, ID March 21st & 22nd

Included are several pictures of the "Rain Dance" participants. Thanks to Vicki Jensen for the photography.

Region 3

by Steve McCullough, Regional Director

Sheila Haskins

January brought bitter cold weather with a few inches of

snow thrown in. However, the weather was spectacular in Humble, TX for the Houston Charity Cat Show. Houston had to move this year because of the preparations for the 2017 SUPERBOWL in Houston, and lost the George R Brown Convention center with the adjoining Hilton Hotel. The show was well attended by both exhibitors and a huge gate, thanks to the sponsorship monies from CFA.

Mark, Sally and Jason Dellman

Following big Houston, came Cowboy Country Cat Fanciers and Colorado Cat Fanciers, joining forces in Loveland, CO. WOW!! What a great facility. The clubs went out of their way to show everyone a great time. Thanks to you all!! February will start off with a windy roar with the annual Wichita Cat Fanciers show in Wichita.

Region 4

by John Colilla, Regional Director

John Colilla and Rosina McGlynn are selling lapel pins for the 2015 Annual in Toronto. Please see one of them to purchase your pin and help support the annual. We hope to start seeing more and more people out there wearing these great pins.

Also, if you'd be interested in volunteering your services during the 2015 CFA Annual in Toronto, be sure to contact Rosina McGlynn; she'd be happy to put you to work!

We have a Facebook page and are a member of Pinterest, both which provideinformation about our region. The links are https://www.facebook.com/cfagreatlakes and https://www.pinterest.com/carmencitamarie/great-lakes-region-cfa/

We would like to welcome two new members, Bob and Donna Metcalf, into our region.

Be sure to mark your calendar with our upcoming shows:

February 21, Kitty Hawk Feline Fanciers a 6 Allbreed and 6 Super Specialty Championship only in Dayton, OH
March 7-8, Genesee Cat Fanciers Club a 9 Allbreed and 1 Specialty at Brockport, NY
March 21, Western Pennsylvania Cat Fanciers a 5 Allbreed and 1 Specialty at Youngwood, PA
March 22 Western Pennsylvania Cat Fanciers a 5 Allbreed and 1 Specialty at Youngwood, PA

Region 5

by Lisa Marie Kuta, Regional Director

The San Diego Cat Fanciers' did their usual fabulous job producing a show that was both fun and educational! Here are the highlights from Joan Miller's Education Committee report to the CFA Board:

Education at the San Diego Cat Fanciers Show January 24-25. This was a successful program with 12 speakers, including four committee members, Dee Dee Cantley, Karen Lawrence, Lisa-Maria Pedilla and myself. Carolyn Osier handled cats and presented two topics. Hope Gonano was a presenter along with Lauren Gonano-Metz, Judy Friedman, Dottie Olsen, Carolyn Withers, and Isabel Pomphrey. Peter Keys was the Stuffed Animal "judge" this year on Saturday and Sunday. The talks were designed to be both entertaining and educational for many visitors who had never been to a cat show and knew little about pedigreed cats or Household Pet judging. The stuffed animal contest each year draws numerous youngsters and parents to the show and exposes them to the cat fancy and the fun of showing cats. For coverage of the show go to YouTube to see club member, Alain Lescart's, photo montage: http://tinyurl.com/SDCFshow2015

Just a few more days to enter the Malibu Cat Club show in Glendale, California. Glendale is adjacent to Los Angeles and a few miles from the Burbank (BUR) airport. LAX, Ontario (ONT), Long Beach (LGB) and Orange County (SNA) airports are also within driving distance. We can't promise the sun, but we can say there won't be ice and snow!

Region 6

by Candilee Jackson, Midwest Region Secretary

"The purr is like a metronome keeping a time all its own."

Sueann Spinder, MWR exhibitor, Molly Maines

MWR Planning Committee Update:

As you are aware, the majority of our plans for this year's regional awards show and banquet are held up as HelmsBriscoe, a negotiating firm, works with our venue general manager. However, the MWR planning committee is please to announce the following information regarding the show:

Format: The region will present a 4 x 4 format, with 4 allbreed rings on Saturday, and 2 double specialty rings and 2 all breed rings on Sunday. Both days will have an 8:30am start, with the show ending by 3pm each day.

Our slate of judges was determined by a MWR vote held in the fall of 2013. Saturday judges will be Larry Adkison, Darrell Newkirk, Patti Jacobberger, and Rachel Anger. The Sunday lineup includes Kathy Calhoun and Doug Myers judging allbreed, with Paul Patton and Brian Pearson judging specialty.

The show will be hosted "by committee" rather than having a hosting club.

Introducing: Peggy Shulman!

The MWR is excited to welcome Peggy Shulman who has been selected as the show manager for the MWR Awards Show. Peggy began with CFA in 1986 showing both Scottish Folds and Japanese Bobtails. Prior to exhibiting, she began her career as vendor in 1984. Peggy has participated in show production since 1988, and served as show manager in both regions 5 and 3. She has also served CFA as an entry clerk for many shows in Texas and Southern California. Peggy moved to Independence, MO in 2012 and currently holds memberships in Mo-Kan, Frontier Felines and Santa Fe Trails cat clubs. The MWR is very thrilled to welcome such an accomplished trouper to the planning committee!

Show News

Saintly City Cat Club hosted a whale of a show in the River-Centre-Exhibition Hall, St Paul, MN on January 24-25. Thanks to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, a wonderful article featuring Brian Tripp's Sphinx and Bombay, Linda Mae Baker's black Persian, and Dave and Gayle Long's household pet, the over 7000 spectators turned out to see what all the fuss was about. Congratulations on a terrific show and spectacular advertising! This wonderful show is held each year in conjunction with the St Paul Winter Carnival, and the 2015 Household Pet King and Queen were crowned: CFA's newest royalty is KING "Dawson," owned and loved by Mary Clemens, and QUEEN "Whisky River Gianna Rose" is owned and loved by Janis Benjamin.

Hawkeye State's Valentine's Day, February 14-15 saw a terrific (and not to mention chilly!) show at the Adventureland Palace in Altoona, Iowa. Featuring a Valentine's themed cage decorating contest, and the "Kissing Frogs" won applause from everyone! Congratulations to Loreli Cauffman of Psycatics Maine Coons for her wonderfulcage d�cor! (right)

Introducing a "must-have" New Toy!

Bobbie Weihrauch decided to add some adventure to the lives of her Korats by buying them a One Fast Cat exercise wheel. "Think hamster wheel on steroids!" quipped Bobbie. This is a four-foot diameter wheel, and in less than a week after assembly of the wheel, most of her cats were using it. "We started out encouraging them with a laser pointer. The next evening I heard a strange noise and realized a cat was running on the wheel, on her own, no enticement! Bobbie reports that each day has seen more wheel use. In ads for cat exercise wheels, she has usually seen Bengals or Abys. "I am amazed how well the smaller Korats can make this go. All in all, an excellent investment."

For those interested: http://onefastcat.com Price: $249 with free shipping

MWR Brags

Brian Tripp and Troy Weier are pleased to announce that Rokstarr John Legend, a Bombay stud, became a grand champion at the Saintly City show.

New breeder Michelle Lovell is excited to have her first grand champion, a champagne Burmese stud, Starburm's Super Hero of Hart2Hart.

Co-owners Julie Johnson and Jill Sullivan are pleased to announce their new grand champion, Silvermark's Mr Big of Silverlight, having taken his grand championship at the Saintly City show.

Upcoming MWR Shows:

February 28-March 1 Lincoln State CANCELED .... Lost show venue

March 7-8 TGIF Indianapolis IN

Noon start; free soup/sandwich dinner!

March 14-15 Mo-Kan Overland Park KS

Region 7

by Jean Dugger, Regional Director

The following is an excerpt of my eNewsletter to the Southern Region for February. If you aren't currently receiving it and would like to, please email me at jean.dugger@att.net and I will get you added to our mailing list.

As you all may know, I was tasked by the Board to compile the results of surveys conducted at our CFA shows throughout the world regarding the Super-Specialty experimental format this show season. I presented my report to the Board, which was overwhelmingly positive (89.6%) of exhibitors in favor of the incorporation of specialty rings with allbreed rings. I am happy to report that the Board voted unanimously for us to continue the Super-Specialty format for another year, and has tasked me with compiling guidelines (potentially "show rules") and suggestions for clubs who wish to try this format. I was excited that Annette Wilson and Pam Delabar immediately offered their expertise! I want to offer guidance to our clubs, and by allowing us to continue to tweak this format we can make this a good option for them. As clubs struggle to make their bottom line, this may be an option for them to attract entries and save their shows! We must remember that so many of us saw positive things in this and its potential cannot be ignored. Please don't hesitate to share your ideas how we can make this better -- if we work out the bugs together, we will all win!

If you participate in a show utilizing the super-specialty format, please be sure to complete an evaluation form. All of your thoughts and feedback is essential as we look at ways to make our shows better for all of us!

The month of February has been a "dry spell" for the Southern Region, with only the Pawprints Show last weekend. However, things are looking up, and with March brings all time Southern Region favorite shows of Atlanta Phoenix, Crab & Mallet; Coastal Paws is back in Raleigh the 3rd weekend, followed by Tennessee Valley in Knoxville!

Hope to see you at a Southern Region show soon!

Region 8

by Edward Maeda, Regional Director

We had our 2015 Regional show in Tokyo on January 10-11 and was very successful with a large entry.
Highest score cat was Eascloud Yukihimezakura, copper-eyed White Persian ownd by Naomi Kishikami. Highest score kitten was Tincarbell Tiger Song, Silver Tabby American Shorhair ownd by Ikuko Sugita and Highest score cat in Premiership was Marin's Snow The Great Wall, Silver Tabby American Shorthair owned by Y. Kuramochi/ Katsuhide Sakurai. These cats were presented with Highest score rossettes after all finals.

Region 9

submitted by Michael Schleissner

OH ISLAND IN THE SUN............

After a longer break Malta Cat Society is back in business. Under new board the club starts with a one day 8 AB/HHP rings on February/28/2015. Everything looks like to become a great event und you should not miss being a part of it.

Show hall:

COTTONERA SPORTS COMPLEX - COSPICUA

The Cottonera Sports Comples is the main sports complex in the south of Malta and largest indoor sports facility in Malta. The complex design is innovative and unique to Malta and its roof convers one of the largest spans. The hall has a rubber surface and a floor area of 1250 sqm.

Show hotel:

Le Meridien St.Julians Hotel & Spa, 39 Main Street, St.Julians, STJ1017

Overlooking Balluta Bay, Le M�ridien St Julian's offers the charm of a boutique hotel and the facilities of a spa resort, including a heated indoor pool, free fitness centre, and spa. Rooms come with a balcony. Wi-Fi is free in communal areas

Le M�ridien St Julian's Hotel and Spa is located in a quiet area just 5 minutes' walk from the shops of Sliema and the bars and clubs of Paceville. There are excellent public transport links to various locations in Malta.and most of the rooms.

Airport to show hotel is only 10km away and the club will be offering free transportation from show hotel to show hall on both days !

The club expect a huge gate since the club will be donating Euro 1.50 for every paid ticket to Maltese Cat Sanctuaries .

Royal Canin Malta will be donating prizes to Best cat in show in each category and a memorial trophy.

Come join the fun while enjoying the precious island of Malta found in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.

Malta is a popular tourist destination with its warm climate, numerous recreational areas, and architectural and historical monuments, including nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, Valletta, and seven Megalithic Temples, which are some of the oldest free-standing structures in the world.

SEE YOU SOON ON THE ISLAND IN THE SUN!

International Division

Dick Kallemyer, International Division Rep

Danny Tai and Kit Fung storing up energy for judging training

The International Division is excited that we have two new judging trainees, both from Hong Kong: Danny Tai and Fung Chun Kit. They will join our other ID judging staff of Amanda Cheng, Chloe Chung, Suki Lee, Nicolaus Pung and Alan Raymond.

The Ice City Cat Fans Club show in Shenyang lived up to their name. The temperature was -6F! Luckily, it was a hotel show and exhibitors and cats stayed warm.

There will be some show rule changes for the next show season (beginning May 2, 2014) that you should be aware of:

Only cats from mainland China (that excludes Hong Kong and Macau) may accrue DW points from China shows. Other cats may still earn National (Global) points and grand points.
Mainland China shows (again excluding Hong Kong and Macau) will pay the full CFA surcharge of $2/cat. All other ID shows will pay the $1/cat surcharge.
There will be a new tier for DW country awards. A country putting on more than 160 rings will be eligible for 25 awards for kittens and championship, 15 for premiership.
The points required for Grand Champion awards in Taiwan will be 90, Grand Premier will require 40 points.
Shows in the ID will be required to have the same number of specialty rings as Regions 1-8.

Have a question or a comment about the CFA Newsletter?

Feel free to contact me at tkeiger@cfa.org
Thank you for being a subscriber!

Teresa Keiger

CFA Newsletter Editor