Trophies and rosettes (top wins and breed wins) have been shipped to addresses within the United States and Canada. If you are expecting a trophy and/or rosette and haven’t received it yet, please contact Amber Goodright, agoodright@cfa.org. We are still determining the best method to ship trophies to our customers residing outside the U.S. and will have a solution very shortly. More info will be posted on CFA News. Thank you to everyone for your patience with this process.

We’ve received several recent inquiries about ordering duplicate trophies. We are unable to order duplicates after the initial orders are placed. The trophies are custom made for CFA and the manufacturer isn’t able to make only one or two at a time.

Breed council membership applications with complete information received by the deadline of August 3 have all been processed. Membership packages are being mailed to recently added members. Applications received after the deadline or applications still incomplete will be returned unprocessed.

I am pleased to announce CFA’s 2-Tiered Guest Judging Program. Our guest judges worldwide have filled a crucial judging role when clubs were not always able to contract a CFA judge. Since 2011, 766 judging rings were filled my our guest judges. This program advances our 14 most frequent guest judges to the “Approved Guest Judge” status.  Congratulations!

CFA Guest Judging Procedures are available here.

Applicants for Consideration at the October 2020 Board Meeting:

Information concerning the moral character, temperament and ethics, and the spectrum of experience concerning the breeding and showing (and agenting) of cats would be helpful to the CFA Executive Board in the evaluation of applicants to the Judging Program. The manner in which an applicant's cats are housed and cared for is also pertinent. See Judging Program Rules, Section V under 7. Recommendations: a,b,c,d,e,f, as well as the Judges' Code of Ethics for more information on what the Board of Directors will require in an excellent candidate.

Recommendations or concerns are encouraged so that the Judging Program Committee and ultimately the CFA Board of Directors may make an informed decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of any individual making an application to the CFA Judging Program. All letters require a signature. Anonymous letters will not be accepted. Negative letters must be documented and substantiated. All negative letters will be shared with the applicant to offer the opportunity for rebuttal. All letters and responses, if any, will accompany the application.

Please send letters by email or snail mail to the Applications Administrator (see below) by the deadline indicated:

Letters of recommendation, or copies thereof, must not be sent to the applicant, nor may the applicant ask for any preview of recommendations. Multiple recommendations stemming from one source will be treated as a single recommendation. Please send letters to:

1753 Blakewood Dr

Chambersburg, Pa 17201

Phone: 717-263-5915

Email: whoos3@comcast.net

The following clubs were accepted at the August 11, 2020 CFA Board meeting:

1. International Toybob Cat Club - North Atlantic Region; Jackson Heights, NY, USA

2. Show Me Cat Fanciers - Midwest Region; Mound, Minnesota, USA

In addition, the Board approved a name change request from Keystone Kat Klub, Southern Region, changing their name to Keystone Kats, effective immediately.

As we have moved through the summer, some countries and some states have begun relaxing restrictions on public gatherings. Some clubs outside of the US have begun holding shows, and clubs within the US are beginning to plan for shows which they hope to hold.

Last spring, the Rachel Anger and the COVID-19 task force wrote a suggested best practices for holding a show and keeping the club and show participants safe, and the CFA Board accepted it. That document is available here for clubs' reference. Additionally, Melanie Morgan and the CFA Judging Program wrote guidelines for alternate judging formats when clubs may consider adopting if they wish. That article is available here for reference as well.

The committee has spent the summer working on materials to help fanciers navigate their way through breed council processes. Earlier Jacqui Bennett had created a guide and flowchart to help breed council secretaries write a ballot proposal. With the deadline for applying for breed council membership looming, she and co-chair Teresa Keiger created a flow chart for applying for membership .

Upcoming committee projects include:

 • New Breed Submission Guidance Document and Glossary (Lead Jacqui Bennett – Anne Mathis) – the Breeds and Standards Committee intends to create a guidance document for new breed standard development to provide a clear concise process for writing a new standard as well as a glossary of common CFA terms and descriptions to drive consistency between standards and avoid lack of clarity or excessive artistic license which may lead to vagaries or subjective interpretations.

• Fast Track Program for Established Breeds (Lead Michael Shelton – Donna Isenberg)- the Breeds and Standards Committee intends to review and propose a program originally submitted by Sharon Roy and Wayne Trevathan some time ago for the fast tracking of acceptance of new breeds in CFA which have an established history in other WCC associations as long as the already developed standard is utilized (formatted and standardized to CFA norms)

• Spelling and Grammar (Lead Teresa Keiger - Krista Schmitt) – The CFA Board ruled that the Breeds and Standards' proposal for permission to make housekeeping grammatical, punctuational, and spelling corrections to breed standards. Instead, the committee was advised to address their concerns with the breed councils, and bring it forward as a constitutional amendment.

The 2021 Yearbook will feature cats that have become a Grand, Grand of Distinction and Distinguished Merit during the show season of May 1, 2019 through March 16 , 2020. If you haven’t yet sent in your photo and payment to be included in this fine publication, please do so now. You can email everything to Sborawski@cfa.org or mail it to

Cat Fanciers Association, Inc.,

260 East Main Street, Alliance OH 44601

ATTN: Publications

Picture your 2019-2020 Regional Winner for $32.00 in the special Regional Winner section of the 2021 Yearbook. This special section will feature the cat’s picture, and list the award, cat’s name, description, breeder and owner. Don’t miss this opportunity. Email a high resolution digital to Sborawski@cfa.org and make your payment at this link.

Any questions please contact Shelly Borawski - sborawski@cfa.org - 732-492-7216

The National Kitten Coalition (NKC) is presenting a series of caregiving workshops specifically for breeders, rescues, friends, fans and followers of CFA. This month, Speaker Susan Spaulding, Director of Neonatal Programs for The National Kitten Coalition, will be presenting:

Fight the Fungus: How to Prevent, Recognize and Treat Ringworm Workshop Webinar

Monday, August 24th at 6:00PM-7:30PM EDT

Ringworm can be a frustrating fungus affecting your kittens. In this webinar you will learn how to minimize risks by preventing infections in the first place, and learn how to recognize the signs of ringworm as well as how to safely and effectively treat it.

Can’t make it? Still register because all registrants will have access to watch the recorded webinar at a later date.

The August issue of Cat Talk is in mailboxes, on the Kindle Newsstand, and on Magzter! This issue celebrates our winners from the 2019-2020 season. The top cats are featured on the issue's wrap-around cover (below)

We had eight people take advantage of the special combo pricing which gave them advertising in both Cat Talk and the upcoming CFA Yearbook.

Other articles include a special look at the big cats in the St. Louis Zoo while the zoo was on lockdown, what fanciers can do to help the plight of homeless cats, planning for any sort of disaster, and what you don't know about Russian Blues.. We have part one of a series on effectively managing a CFA show. Plus - lots of cats have been affected by COVID-19 travel restrictions, and they wrote to us about their plights.

Congratulations to staff writer and copy editor Iris Zinck on her first Cat Writers' Association Muse Medallion award! Her article "Can Kitty's Teeth Be Saved?" (which appeared in the Feb. 2019 issue of Cat Talk) was judged best in the Written Article: Veterinary Medicine and Research - long form" category. Teresa Keiger won the Muse Medallion in the Photographic Art category for Cat Talk's October 2019 cover.

Millennials are adults (not kids) born between 1981-1996, which means we're currently between 24 and 39 years of age. There are over 72.6 million Millennials living in the United States alone as of 2019. By 2025, Millennials will compromise three-quarters of the Global Workforce.

We’re Idealistic. We see the world through rose-colored glasses. We’re also referred to the Optimistic Generation: according to a Gallup poll, 80% of us view our lives in a positive light and think our standard of life is improving. This unbridled idealism is mystifying to other generations, especially given the fact that we shoulder huge student debt loads and must rely on family more for financial support. That said, we live in a world where fortunes can be made overnight.

In the blink of an eye, Mark Zuckerberg became a billionaire. With an entrepreneurial spirit and a good idea, we believe we can change our futures (and those of others) for the better.

Millennials own and founded social media. Being able to express ourselves and engage with one another through social media has led us to believe that we can change the lives and minds of others through online discourse. Social medias are by far the dominant way millennials learn about things online. Search engines are ranked near the top but fall below Facebook and Twitter for content discovery. Accordingly, the advice is to build relationships and trust with Millennials first on social media. Most Millennials use at least two internet devices every day. A minority use three or even four — 37 percent in the US. The survey also found that “19 out of 20” Millennials (globally) own smartphones and check them an average of 43 times per day (in US it’s 45). It is this millennial's opinion that CFA is woefully behind on using social media and technology in general to its fullest potential.

An easy and inexpensive way to do this in a time of social distancing is to host virtual cat shows via social media platforms that can engage people in our association as a way to stay connected while we are not able to safely gather in person. If marketed correctly, we can educate people about our product, the pedigreed cat, and hopefully engage Millennials by allowing them to enter their cats in these fundraisers.

At the August board meeting, the CFA Board approved a regional/international series of Virtual Cat Competitions which will be known as the CFA International Top Cat Challenge, wherein each region or scoring area will host an online fundraising event for their region or a specified charity. All regional qualifier shows will host 6 rings and the four traditional scoring classes, meaning kitten, championship, premiership, and household pets. Additional fun rings may be added at the discretion of the qualifier's show management. The photo conformation competitions at the regional qualifiers will require up to 3 photos of each cat - a full body shot, front-on or angled head shot, and a profile shot. Additionally, the owner may submit a short, pre-recorded video clip positioning the cat as if on a judging table with the camera angled in such a way that the handlers' face is not present in the video.

Stay tuned for more information coming soon!

CFA continues to register cats all over the world. Over the past 6 months, CFA has registered cats in all US states and Puerto Rico, all Canadian provinces, and all China administrative divisions.

Since January 1, 2020, CFA has registered cats in 4,088 cities throughout the world, with 544 new cities.

The Companion Cat World program is seeing growth in several areas. We are advertising, our Facebook page adds new members each week, we have been featured several times during the Meowy Hour which is a Zoom meeting in addition to being on Facebook live, and viewed via YouTube.

We are happy to announce the long-awaited ability for those cats already registered through the Household Pet or CCW program to order a card or other products. Check out https://cfa.org/product-category/companion-cat-world/ to place your order. 

The registration and card items are also now available on Amazon. We are looking to expand our program to areas across the globe to advance CFA and our programs.

CCW is for all people who own or love cats. It is a bridge to close the gap between the general cat owner and CFA and our pedigree cats.

California may have been the first to enact a statewide retail pet store sales ban in 2017, but the legislatively created floodgates are a trickling and California needs fixing. So does Chicago as the recent June What's Hot reported. As of this writing, Chicago's proposed legislative fix is on hold. One of its problems included breeder licensing for local residents: a policy that seems counterproductive when these bans are supposed to stop animal abuse in the wholesale-to-retail supply chain. This issue has been the rationale for these laws going back to the 1992 founding of the single-issue advocacy national organization, the Massachusetts based Companion Animal Protection Society ("CAPS"). The CAPS mission statement is: "For the love of animals stand together against pet shops and puppy mills."

Many national and local animal protection organizations list this mission among their many issues. However, the persistent, laser focus of CAPS has given it an inside track and perspective to develop legislative opportunities. One of those occurred in the spring of 2013 in the City of San Diego. Then Joan Miller, now retired, CFA Legislative Group founder and Legislative Coordinator testified in opposition to a proposed ordinance before the City Council. Leading up to this effort and beyond, activists had been picketing and harassing personnel and customers of the small store, San Diego Puppy, including its owner David Salinas. The ordinance was enacted in the general form of the later California statute, no pet store sales "unless the dog, cat or rabbit was obtained from a city or county animal shelter or animal control agency, a humane society or a nonprofit rescue organization.'' (City Council Makes Tentative Vote To Ban Retail Pet Shops, KBPS, July 9, 2013, https://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/jul/09/sd-pet-shops/ )

What’s Hot…………Texas Sunset Commission Finds the Licensed Breeder Program Fails to Meaningfully Protect the Public

Please report legislation happening in your area to the Legislative Group – legislation@cfa.org  Visit the CFALegislativeNews Facebook page and the CFA Legislative Group Blog to see the current legislative news.

Some people donate their time and efforts to help charitable organizations. In general you can not deduct the value of your time or services donated to a charity. Since the donated time is not taxable income there is no tax deduction. However, some of your out of pocket expenses incurred in donating your services to a qualified charitable organization may be deductible. For example, you may be able to deduct the cost of using your vehicle for charity. You may be able to claim the standard mileage rate or actual costs. In addition to either your actual costs or the standard mileage rate, you may also deduct your parking and tolls. For 2020 the standard mileage rate for operating your personal motor vehicle in service of a charity will be 14 cents per mile driven. The mileage must be incurred giving services to a qualified organization, unreimbursed, and directly connected to the services you gave to the qualified organization. The Winn Feline Foundation is a fully qualified public charity. Your donation(s) to Winn are deductible as charitable contributions to the fullest extent permitted by law.

The big news for this month is that New England Meow Outfit, Inc (“NEMO”) will shortly be opening the region’s first virtual cat competition for entries. This show is the testing ground for the new CFA hosting platform for online virtual competitions. The event will feature four traditional pedigreed judging classes (kittens, championship, premiership, and household pets) as well as four “fun” classes where the top 10 entries will be determined by Spectator’s Choice online voting. The fun classes include “Best Buddies” (pictures of cats with their animal buddies, feline or otherwise), “Tiny Tots” (for kittens 2-3 months old), “Rainbow Bridge” (for pedigreed or HHP companions who have left us) and NEMO’s famous (or infamous) Cat-and-Owner Costume contest (entries for this are FREE!) Prizes for the highest scoring entry in each category will include Amazon gift cards, rosettes, and other prizes donated by our vendor sponsors. The show is expected to open for entries on or about August 18th and to close on Labor Day (Monday, Sept. 7). Finals are scheduled for the following weekend. For the most current information and a copy of the show flyer, visit the club’s Facebook page

Region 2 hopes all of you are safe and staying well. This is certainly an experience that we had never thought would happen to us. And, it is going on and on beyond our wildest expectations.

The December Lewis & Clark Longhair Specialty Cat show scheduled for December 5 & 6, 2020 is still on the calendar. We don’t know as yet whether or not it will take place. I have received many emails about the status of the show. We are crossing our fingers...

I asked a couple of our exhibitors who are working from home to send me pictures of their little cat helpers. Vicki Jensen, Piratehearts Silver & Golden Persians, and Ariel Bartelmes, Sereshka Russian Blues and Panei’s Barbarella, an Exotic. I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I did.

Two-thirds of the way through the summer and still trying our best to stay safe!

A team of five helpers got together on 8/2/2020 to put together all the Regional Awards. While there are many that will need to be shipped, each one of the group took back many for distribution. I know that some have received their awards, but if you haven’t received yours yet please be patient, they’re coming.

I’m sure the entire Region would like to join me in thanking Kathy Black and her team for all t

The MWR is planning a two-part awards ceremony in August: distribution will take place in three to four locations around the region, based on results of the survey conducted in July. In September, the second part will be a virtual gathering on Zoom for the ceremony itself, with a regional meeting following.

In other news, the MWR is asking its membership to donate to the Breeder Assistance Program: because of the Covid-19 pandemic, fundraising has been limited, and their coffers need donations to offset recent large-scale rescues and helping those fanciers in need during the pandemic.

We are proud of our region's winners and look forward to presenting much-earned awards for last season.

Stay tuned for MWR plans and safe activities.

Yukiko Hayata, Regional Director

No report received

The German Catwalk Club hosted an outstanding virtual event and attracted photo entries from all over the globe. Categories consisted of Kittens, Adults, Premiers (Alters), Household Pets, Rainbow Bridge “Angels”, and a special competition for Black Cats. Six CFA Judges - 5 from the US and 1 from Europe, presented their top 10 cats in each category. The top 3 from each “ring” in each category advanced to Best of the Best, judged by CFA Allbreed Judge Mary Auth. GRC, NW Boberan Alanzo of Khardashia, a Red Persian Male, comfortably residing in Spain and loved by Antonio Crespo Moreno and Manuel Ordonez, was named Best of the Best. Doerte Haendel and her team worked very hard and pulled out all the proverbial stops to ensure this was a class act production. We look forward to several more of these CFA Virtual Cat Competitions, even after our “in the fur” shows have started again. 

Just because we all cannot currently get together at shows and other fun events, does not mean we are not connected in Region 9 Europe. We conducted our first Zoom Region 9 Europe meeting 12 August to go through the items from the 11 August CFA Executive Board Meeting, discuss the regional treasury and make our plans for the future. All countries with CFA clubs were represented at the meeting (except 1 - it still is vacation time in Europe. We will plan to have these Zoom meetings throughout the show year, especially after the board meetings. Until we can all be together to raise a glass of our favorite beverages, we remain: REGION 9 - One Love, One Hobby, One Region. 

Feel free to contact me at  tkeiger@cfa.org