Introduction

Some Examples:

NFO n
Black Norwegian
Forest Cat

TUA ay 09 11
Blue golden shaded with white Turkish Angora

OSH xam 23
Blue-based caramel mackerel tabby Oriental Shorthair

MCO as 22 09
Blue silver classic tabby and white Maine Coon

The EMS codes were introduced because FIFe needed an easy-to-remember way to denote the visual description of a cat that could be used for every colour, pattern, etc in existence without using too many characters (letters or numbers) to do so - hence the Easy Mind System, or EMS. With this system, many cats can be completely described with just four characters; the majority use only six or seven, and even the longest description uses only a dozen or so characters - pretty economical, wouldn't you say?!

Explanation of the EMS Code

This is a summary of what constitutes an EMS code - a complete listing of the applicable codes in each part is given overleaf, under a (fake!) demonstration code.

Breed

The first part of an EMS code will always be an indicator of the cat's breed, and will consist of three upppercase (capital) letters. In our boxed examples, NFO is Norwegian Forest Cat, TUA is Turkish Angora, OSH is Oriental Shorthair, MCO is Maine Coon, CRX is Cornish Rex, etc. This code will always begin with the same letter as the breed name and, if the breed comes in short- and long-hair varieties, the last letter will often be S or L to denote which this is.

Base colour and modifier

A single lower case letter is used to indicate the base colour of the cat, eg a is blue; sometimes other lower case letters are added to indicate silver, golden, dilute modifier and amber.[1] Also x may be used to indicate an unrecognised variety.

Numerical codes

These are used to add more information of the sort that is not necessarily on every cat, unlike breed and colour. They are grouped together according to the first digit, as follows:

0# With white

1# Tabby Tipping, eg shell or chinchilla

2# Tabby Pattern

3# Colour restriction, eg points

5# Tail length[2]

6# Eye colour[3]

7# Ear shape[4]

Others

The code 'var' may be written at the end of a shorthaired cat's description where it does, or may, carry the longhaired gene, eg an Abyssinian with Somalis in its background.

The code 'non' is used after a breed code and before the rest of the code where the breed only has preliminary status as yet.

January 2008

[1] 'Caramel' and 'apricot' are for registration purposes only. The code "m", when added to EMS-codes for diluted colour varieties, indicates that the cat has been registered by another registration body as caramel (blue, lilac, fawn + "m") or apricot (cream, blue-tortie, lilac-tortie or fawn-tortie + "m").

[2] Only used with the Manx and Cymric breeds.

[3] Only included in the EMS code for a cat where this makes a difference to its class; for instance, white cats always have the eye code included, and some breeds such as the Persian have different classes for different eye colours.

[4] Only used with Scottish Fold and American Curl.

Introduction
Explanation of the EMS Codes

The Codes

Introduction

Explanation of the EMS Code

Breed

Base colour and modifier

Numerical codes

Others

The Codes

Breeds

Colours

Patterns

Eye colours

Breed specifics

Introduction Explanation of the EMS Codes

The Codes

Introduction

Explanation of the EMS Code

Breed

Base colour and modifier

Numerical codes

Others

The Codes

Breeds

Colours

Patterns

Eye colours

Breed specifics

Introduction
Explanation of the EMS Codes