The CFA International Cat Show is a cat show hosted by the Cat Fanciers' Association. The Cat Fanciers' Association was founded in 1906 after it separated from the American Cat Association.
The CFA International Cat Show has been held on an annual basis since 1994 with the exceptions of 2007, 2010, and 2020. Considered the Rolls-Royce of international cat shows, it is the largest show of its type in the US. Atlanta, Georgia and Houston, Texas have each hosted the event a record four times. Males or neutered males have won "Best in Show" sixteen of the twenty-five times the show has been held. The Persian cat breed has won "Best in Show" sixteen of the past twenty-five shows. The show was renamed the CFA-Royal Canin World Championship in 2012. Dr. Elsey's Precious Cat Litter became lead sponsor in 2013. In 2015 it returned to using the "CFA International Show" name.
In 2019, the show was held on October 12–13 in Cleveland, Ohio. The show was traditionally held the weekend before Thanksgiving in November in the United States.[1] At each show, there are twelve to sixteen specialty judging rings, which are for both long-haired and shorthaired cat breeds, including kittens,[2] Championship cat (non-spayed or neutered pedigree cats over eight months old), and Premiership cat (spayed or neutered pedigreed cats over eight months old). Day one of the show is preliminaries for best in breed such as Persian, Maine Coon, and Tonkinese. The second and final day of the competition shows the best in each cat breed in all three categories mentioned then compete for the best in each category overall, then for "Best in Show", which the overall winner of the competition. Top five winners in each category and overall are presented.
Proceeds from the show go to the Winn Feline Foundation. Since 1968, the foundation has raised over $2 million with the entire amount going to cat health research.
CFA Foundation was created on June 22, 1990, the original idea to having a foundation was to educate people on cat history, but has since turned into a museum, Feline Historical Museum, with a complete library full of more than 1,400 books about all things cat related
| Year | Location | Name of cat | Breed of cat | Gender of cat | Owner(s) – location | Breeder(s) – location | Number of cats and kittens in competition | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994[3] | Atlanta | El-Dia Blue Danube | Blue Mackerel Tabby Oriental Shorthair | Male | Barbara L. Phelps | Not listed. | Not listed. | |
| 1995[4] | Chicago, Illinois | Sol-Mer Sharif | Brown Tabby American Shorthair | Male | Mary Jo Mersol-Barg | Not listed. | Over 1300 | |
| 1996[5] | Anaheim, California | Agonistes Commotion of Scrimshaw | Black Persian | Male | Not listed | Not listed | 1144 | |
| 1997[6] | Atlanta | Tinbat Morgan's Passing | Ruddy Abyssinian | Male | Not listed | Not listed | 1245 | |
| 1998[7] | Kansas City, Missouri | Pajean's Bougalie | Cream/ White Bi-Color Persian | Male | Pamela and Jean Bassett Baton Rouge, Louisiana | Not listed | 1244 | |
| 1999[8] | Kansas City | Noblessa's Peace Maker of Stunning | Red Persian | Male (Neutered) | Kris Vanderbeck – Charlevoix, Michigan | Not listed | Over 1300 | |
| 2000[9] | Kansas City | Wishes Lyric | Copper-eyed White Persian | Female | Connie StewartTemple City, California | Same | 1300 | |
| 2001[10] | Houston | CO-MC Candy Kisses of Caliente | Black/ White Manx | Spay | Richard and Terry Brown – Grand Prairie, Texas, and Jeanne McPhee – Houston | Not listed | 1000 | |
| 2002[11] | Houston | Catsafrats Shine On of Agonistes | Black Persian | Male | John Ramirez, Ken White, and Donna & Bruce Isenberg – all Culver City, California | Not listed | Over 1000 | |
| 2003[12] | Houston | Ruemerz Walk This Way of Teahs | Seal Point Himalayan Persian | Male | Donna Debelius and Tim Steiner – Linthicum, Maryland | Not listed | Over 900 | |
| 2004[13] | Houston | Buphar's Beyonce of Inthewind | Dilute Calico Persian | Female | Maurice Ruble, Jr, and Linda Fisher – Parkville, Missouri | Not listed | Over 700 | |
| 2005[14] | San Mateo, California | One-O-One Mascalzone Latino | Black Exotic Shorthair | Male | Marcela Marenco – Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy | Not listed | 823 | |
| 2006[15] | San Mateo | Jadon Comefly With Me of Kenkat | Blue Persian | Spay | Donna Cook, Susan Cook Henry, and Leah Fowler – all from Warrenton, Virginia | Not listed | 721 | |
| 2007 | Not held. | |||||||
| 2008[16] | Atlanta | Kuorii Santos of Cuzzoe | Black Persian | Male | Eric Valencia and Justin Pelletier – Raleigh, North Carolina, and Linda Accomb – Fallbrook, California | Paolo Carnevaletti – Italy | 729 | |
| 2009[17] | Atlanta | Kuorii Gorilla of Cuzzoe | Black Persian | Male | Eric Valencia and Justin Pelletier – Raleigh, North Carolina | Paolo Carnevaletti – Italy | 630 | |
| 2010 | Cancelled. | |||||||
| 2011 | Indianapolis | Rhamjoge Better Believe It | Calico Persian | Spay | Matthew and DeLinda Pearson | Not listed | ||
| 2012 | Columbus OH | Wild Rain Let's Dance of Dotdotdot | Chocolate spotted Ocicat | Male | Roger and Nancy Brown and David and Carol Freels | Not listed | ||
| 2013 | Novi MI | Belamy Desiderata of Wishes | Calico Persian | Female | Connie Stewart, B. Mayes, D. Adler | Not listed | ||
| 2014 | Oaks PA | Velvetkist Pack'N Heat of Krimpurrs | Cream and White Persian | Neuter | Beth Holly and Noralyn Heisig | Noralyn Heisig- Maryland | ||
| 2015 | Oaks PA | Briar-Mar's Good to Be Me | Red and White Classic Tabby with White Manx | Male | Omar Gonzalez and Gary Veach | Omar Gonzalez, Gary Veach, and Suki Lee | ||
| 2016 | Novi MI | Cinema's Liberace of Calcat | White Persian | Neuter | Deutsch, Hardeman, Ury, Lewis, Wardlaw | Blake Myers and Dennis Adler | ||
| 2017 | Portland OR | Velvetkist Don't Touch My Tutu | Dilute Calico Persian | Female kitten | Noralyn Heisig | Noralyn Heisig | ||
| 2018 | Cleveland OH | Briar-Mar's Mockingjay of Deydream | Brown patched tabby and White van Manx | Female | Erin and Joy Yoders-Day | |||
| 2019 | Cleveland OH | Pinkpawpal Cassiopeia | Brown patched tabby and White Persian | Female | Pattama Weeranon and Chate Ruengruglikit | Pattama Weeranon and Chate Ruengruglikit | ||
| 2020 | Not held. | |||||||
| 2021 | Not held. | |||||||
| 2022 | Not held. | |||||||
| 2023 | Cleveland OH | Omnia Mea Kot Da Vinci of AbyCastle | Ruddy Abyssinian | Male | Lauren Castle Flynn and Natalya Timashkova | Olga Beresneva | ||
CFA International Show website CFA Facebook page