The first cat registry was the National Cat Club, set up in 1887 in
England. Until the formation of the
Governing Council of the Cat Fancy in 1910, the National Cat Club was also the governing body of the
cat fancy. A rival registry called the Cat Club was set up in 1898 by
Lady Marcus Beresford, but foundered in 1903 and was replaced by the [British] Cat Fanciers' Association. Cats could only be registered with one or the other registry. These two fancies merged in 1910 and became the
GCCF. In the United States, the 1899 Chicago cat show resulted in the formation of the Chicago Cat Club, followed by the better-organised Beresford Cat Club (named after noted British breeder Lady Marcus Beresford). In 1906, the Beresford Cat Club renamed itself the
American Cat Association (ACA) and rapidly became the dominant North American registry for a short time. In 1908, the [US, and extant]
Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) split off, and both organisations continue to the present, with competition from
The International Cat Association (TICA), also US-based, as well as more regional associations. ACA today accepts Canadian and Mexican as well as US registrations but remains primarily active in the northeastern United States. Both TICA and CFA are international, though the bulk of their pedigrees are issued to US breeders. In the intervening years, many cat registries have been formed worldwide. These range from international organisations or federations to national registries in one particular country. In many countries, independent registries have also been formed which may or may not be recognised by the main registries. The internationally broadest organisation is the
Fédération Internationale Féline (FIFe, founded 1949 in Paris, and presently based in Belgium), which is a worldwide federation of member cat registries, with a large European and South American presence. The
World Cat Federation (WCF, founded 1988 in Rio de Janeiro, presently based in Germany), has a strong presence in Latin America, throughout Western Europe, and in countries of the former
USSR. It is organised on a similar basis to FIFe but has a much more permissive approach to new breed acceptance. Like CFA, WCF provides a cattery registration service (to "reserve" cattery names and prevent others from using conflicting ones). While some cat registries forbid the practice, it is now common to allow a cat to be registered by more than one registry. The
World Cat Congress (WCC) is an international coordinating organisation of the largest and most reputable cat registries. WCC operates an "open-door" policy by which cats registered with one WCC registry can be shown under the rules of another WCC registry. Going further, WCC-member
WCF accepts half again as many breeds as it publishes standards for, because it accepting the standards of TICA, FIFe, and several other WCC-affiliated federations, though it has also produced some nomenclatural conflicts with some of them. Some independent cat registries specialise in particular types of cats that are ineligible for registration with a major registry due to breed restrictions or certain genetic traits. For example, The Dwarf Cat Association recognises breeds derived from the short-legged Munchkin (a
cat body type genetic mutation), which are banned by FIFe and some other registries. The Rare and Exotic Feline Registry specialises in cats derived from (or alleged to derive from)
hybridisation with wildcat species. ==Breed registration==