News!

What's happening in the world of the Aristocats!

Check back often to see what's going on with FIFE, FB, Aristocats and all its members - and if you have any great news you want to share (big show brags, special happenings, etc), please drop me a note and I'll put it in!  

Although they have not been fully published on the FB site yet, the winners have been told and where they are Aristocats cats we have pleasure in publishing them on our FB Points Awards page!

We don't have the overall cat of the year this year, unfortunately - but congratulations to the Tiganlea NFO neuter who won that! - but we do have two of the Overall Winners - "Overall Best Adult of the Year 2008" was Pas de Chat Margot Fonteyn, a ragdoll owned and bred by Tracey Rigler, and "Overall Best Junior of the Year" was Wattswoodkats Black Magic, a black and white Maine Coon owned and bred by Eric and Margaret Ross (also our profiled breeders of the month this month!).  They were, of course, also, respectively, Category II Best Adult and Category II Best Junior.

Margot's (well, Tracey's) awards were presented to them both at the Aristocats show in Market Harborough (above right - pic taken by me, Beryl McMillan) since they were unable to attend the Awards dinner to receive them.

Yes, at the first UK FIFe show since the new titles became active, the Viking Cat Club's show at Stantonbury, Milton Keynes on 25 January 2009, we found the very first "Supreme Champion" and "Supreme Premier" - and they both belong to Aristocats members!

Many, many congratulations to our show manager John Cunningham and his partner John Johnston, proud owners of

Supreme Premier SI*Traum Von FF Sutekh, JW, DSM

(left) who also got BIS Neuter at the show, making him a DSM on the same day - and to Tracey-Anne Rigler, owner and breeder of (right)

Supreme Champion Pas de Chat Primrose.

Keep up the good work, everyone - this is the sort of news we love to be able to announce!

(Jan09) On a less happy note, we are very sad to hear that the winner of 'FB Cat of the Year 2007',

EC Taurus Goloubchik, DSM

passed away at the end of January 2009, from cancer.  Our condolences go to his owner, Lynne Geary of Lyndongraey Maine Coons and Siberians.

He was a wonderful cat, a great example of his breed, an excellent showman and an affectionate, loving pet who will be sorely missed by everyone who had the privilege of meeting him or seeing him in action in the show hall.

Invitation to 2008 Awards Dinner (Jan09)

Click here to read the invitation to the 2008 Awards Dinner, in PDF format - if you want to book a place do let them know ASAP as it'll be on a first come first served basis!
  

New Top Title (Dec08)

Well, this announcement is slightly different - I know it's happening, and have known for some time, but I can't for the life of me find the confirmation on the FIFe website!  If anyone out there can, please drop me a note with a link to say where so I can post it!

However, as of January 1st 2009, the top title that a cat can reach at FIFe will no longer be "European Champion/ Premier", but instead will become:

Supreme Champion/Premier 

All CACEs and CAPEs gained before that date will still be valid towards the new title, but after that date class 3 and 4 certificates will be renamed (CACSs and CAPSs?!) and on the gaining of the 10th of either type the cat will qualify for the new title.

Good luck all those who are currently working towards these titles, and I look forward to hearing of the first Aristocats members' cats to reach it!

Co-optees to the EC and Commission (Nov08)

The following new appointments to the Executive C an Commission were ratified in early November, after being provisionally made at the Open Meeting on 12th October:

For the EC:
Deputy General Secretary Debbie Davies

For the Show Commission:
Associate member Pat de Courcy Rolls
Assocate member Sandie Taberer

DCO:
Mal Bernard

For the Rules Commission:
Full member Stephanie Scullard
Full member Graham Taberer

FB Publicity Officer
Graham Scullard

?:
Vice President Sarah Errington
(temporarily, while a new VP is found)

For the BH&W:
Acting Chair Louise Mitchell

Changes to Qualifying for the Winners Show (Oct08)

You may have received your invites for the cats that have qualified for the show already (I got mine this morning, 30Sep08 - on very smart invite cards, too - see left), and perhaps have wondered why one cat qualified that you didn't think had, or another wasn't mentioned that you thought should be?  Well, this is why - at the AGA this year the qualifications were changed to be as follows:

Adults/Neuters: Any cat gaining a BIV or NOM during qualifying period or any cat with the title GIC/GIP* or higher
Kittens 6-10months: BIV, NOM or 3 x EX 1 during qualifying period (to be confirmed - not sure about this one).
Kittens 3-6months: BIV, NOM or 1 x EX 1 during qualifying period.
Housecats/New Varieties/New Breed: BIV or NOM during qualifying period.

First qualifying show was the Winners Show 2007 and last will be Edenbridge on 5 October 2008.

*The major change is that gaining an IC or IP during the qualifying period no longer qualifies a cat, but on the other hand gaining a GIC/GIP not only qualifies said cat for that year, but gets it the right to go to the Winners Show every year for life, even if it is never shown elsewhere again!  So if you've a GIC/GIP or EC/EP at home, from now on s/he can go to the Winners Show any time s/he wants to (or you want him/her to!).

Wonderful News!  The FB Overall Best Cat of the Year 2007 - belongs to one of us! (Apr08)

While we are still waiting (like everybody else) to hear the full results of the 2007 Annual Points Awards, we do know that the overall winner, "2007 FB Overall Best Cat of the Year" is:

EC Taurus Goloubchik

He is a gorgeous and very, very friendly blue golden Siberian belonging to Aristocats member Lynne Geary, of Lyndongraey Maine Coons & Siberians (also Field Spaniels, but that's beside the point here!).  Many congratulations, Lynne, and lots of hugs to your gorgeous boy!

We will of course be including any further winners from the club as and when we hear about them, so if you're the proud owner of a winner, please do let us know as soon as possible!
   

Update (May08)

We still don't have the complete list of 2007 winners as it isn't on the FB site yet (as of 1 May), but the top winners were as follows (Lynne Geary and .  However, at least the top few in each category/group (eg Category I Adults, Category IV Neuters, etc) must know they won since they were, I believe, given their awards at the dinner - so if you're one of those and an Aristocats member, do let us know so we can add you to our FB Winners page!

Overall Winner and Adult of the Year 2007
Taurus Goloubchik
(Siberian) owned by Lynne Geary

Kitten of the Year 2007
Mycoon Anacoon Skywalker
(Maine Coon) owned by Julie Beatson

Junior of the Year 2007
Tiganlea Tsarina Odile
(Norwegian Forest) owned by Corinne Boyle

Neuter of the Year 2007
Tangaloor Zuki Firetip
(Maine Coon) owned by Caro Hewitt

Breeder of the Year 2007
John & Caroline Tipper
 of Tiganlea Norwegian Forest Cats

Best Household Pet 2007
Willow
owned by Jordan Hackles

Cash Prizes Galore - up to £600 in total! (Jan08)

Yes, you read right - there are cash prizes on offer for a selection of side classes at the next Aristocats shows, at Market Harborough on 26/27 April 2008 and at Newbury on 6/7 June 2008!  There are 12 classes, each class costs £2.50 per cat to enter (apart from the Litter class, at £10 per litter), and there will be a class for each on both days.  The classes are as follows:

Stud (entire adult males)
Queen (entire adult females)
Neuter (neutered adults, male and female)
Kitten (includes Juniors, ie 3-10mths)

Adolescent (10mths - 2yrs)
Veteran (over 7yrs)

Debutante (not shown at FIFe before this show)
Novice (not won 1st at a FIFe show before this show)

Litter (min three kittens)

~~~~~~~~

Breeder (exhibitor bred the cat)
Exhibitor (exhibitor didn't!)
Member (exhibitor is an Aristocats member)

And those prizes?  Well, for every one of the above classes that attracts 10 entries or more (three for the litter class) there will be a prize of £25 for the winner - and with twelve classes on each of two days, that's £600 available over the weekend!  So get your show entries in now - and don't forget to include lots of sideclasses!

FB Gala Awards Dinner (Dec07)

All email-able members will have received this invite via Eddie a couple of days ago - if you want to go, get your request in quick, I expect places will be limited!

New Newsletter! (Oct07)

Check out the list of newsletters at the bottom of this page for the new one - email-able members will have seen the info last week, but here's a permanent reminder!

The Winners List is out! (Oct07)

Yup, every member who has given Eddie their email contact address will have received a message from him in the last week or so with an attachment containing the list of members' cats the show commision tells us have qualified for the Winners' Show this year (so far).  It's not entirely complete (and the Show Commission is only human after all!) so if you believe a cat should be on the list that isn't, do let Eddie know.  If you can't find the message, you can read the list here.

If you don't know, the requirements to have qualified are:

- Adults/Neuters - a BIV, a Nomination or a title of International Ch/Pr or above *during this show year* (ie since the last Winners Show)

- Kittens under six months who will still be under six months on the day of the Winners Show need one Ex1 - those who will be over six months by that date need three Ex1s.

And congratulations to all those cats and their owners - see you in Stratford, hopefully!

GREAT NEWS - A NEW FIFe TITLE! (Jun07)
DVM - Distinguished Variety Merit

Yes, it's true - as of 1 January 2008, all BIV awards will count towards the new title of DVM.  This works in exactly the same way that DSM does, in that your cat needs to win 10 BIVs with the minimum period between the first and 10th qualifying awards being 2 years and one day.

However, as with the DSM, you don't need to worry if your exeptional cat gets 10 in less than 2 years and a day - FIFe merely considers only the first nine qualify and waits for the first one to be awarded after the minimum period has elapsed - and that one is then considered to be the 10th.

We can therefore expect the very first DVMs to begin being awarded at shows on or after 2 January 2010!

Roll on January 2010!

General Assembly 2007
(Jun07)

At the General Assembly meeting on 26/27 May 2007, a number of proposals were accepted, and two of the major changes are detailed below.  There are a number of other changes and you can see them all on the FIFe website (www.fifeweb.org > Events > General Assembly > Voting Results 2007).

Category II Standards - Scoring on Coat Colour/Pattern introduced

As from January 2008 the following adjustments will be made to the scoring of Category II cats, to include 5 points for coat colour and pattern:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New divisions for the Hairless Cats
Including Sphynx, Don Sphynx and Peterbald

From June 2007, the Sphynx will be judged under five classes, as below.

Titles (certificates) already gained in present classes remain valid in the new groups.

This will be put in practice for the first time at the Aristocats Show on 16/17 June at Thornbury, Bristol, so make sure you're there to see history in action!

Australian Mists in a UK Cat Fancy Magazine! (May07)

Not only are these lovely cats now in the UK, but there is going to be a big article about them published in Cat World's July issue, which will be available from early June.  Mary Stuart, who contributed the article, and Bob Fox, who did the pictures, believe they will be on the centrefold of the magazine, and may even get the front page, too.  Definitely one to look out for!

There are currently two adult females in the UK, both with litters of kittens, Jane Lord's Champion Nintu Jellywave and Mary Stuart's Champion Thera Linaria, and two more adults are expected to be coming over later this year.

Australian Mists in the UK!
(Feb07)

Mary Stuart (Rumtumtugger) and Jane Lord (Jamcusa) - both Aristocats members - are very proud to announce the arrival of the first Australian Mist cats in the UK!  Champion Nintu Jellywave and Champion Thera Linaria arrived safely several weeks ago and are expecting kittens soon, and Onyx and Prunella will be arriving in the summer.  Between these four cats Mary and Jane will have the opportunity to produce both patterns and all six colour combinations available in the breed.  For more information on this beautiful new breed, please check out the breeder's website, the breed's website, Jane's page and Mary's page.  Good luck with the long path ahead, getting them accepted for Championship status over here, you two!

PS (5Mar07)

Both girls gave birth today; Linaria had five kittens, followed by Jellywave with four, mums and babies all doing very well.

Congratulations, Mary, Jane and all felines concerned (including the Dads, back in Australia!).

Shows 2007

Aristocats currently has two shows planned this year - Manchester in March and Thornbury in June - check out the Show Info page for details!

We also now have 'Winners Galleries' for most of our shows - see Show Gallery page.  If you have a Bob Fox picture of one of the winners that doesn't currently have a picture up, please do send it in - it doesn't have to be from that show, just of that cat!  Come to that, it doesn't even have to be a Bob Fox pic if there isn't one available - your favourite snap is definitely better than no pic at all!

Newsletters

These are released on an occasional basis and each time there is one it will be made available here: