A Tail of Two Kitties: Part I (TICA) OR Understanding Titles and Awards in TICA versus FIFe

by: Ro Flynn

How confusing it must be if you have sold a nice kitten to someone in the US and they report to you that your little one, Finaled as 5th best in an All Breed ring, 2nd Best in a Specialty ring, was Best of Breed in three others and got a TICA championship that day." So, what does that mean? Is it good? Really good? Just OK? How big is your smile? And what do you brag on your website?

Perhaps this article will help you to know just how happy you should be about TICA good news! It's worth a try.

Well, let’s first compare what is similar between TICA and FIFe:

Let’s explore what the 10 to 14 TICA judges do at a 2-day TICA show. Half of the judges work on Saturday and half work on Sunday. All of the cats work both days.

Unlike a FIFe show, every judging ring is a complete cat show in the sense that every cat is judged by every judge at the show. There are no nominations to a panel or awards made by panel votes. Every TICA judge presides over his or her own awards for the top ten cats in each Group in his or her ring.

The Groups at a TICA show are: Longhair Kittens, Shorthair Kittens, Adult Whole Longhairs, Adult Whole Shorthairs, Alter Longhairs, Alter Shorthairs, Household Pet Longhairs, Household Pet Shorthairs, New Breed & Color.

At a TICA show, there are usually 200 to 250 cats. Yes, this could be a real circus if six rings start calling numbers for the same cats at the same time. This does happen, but oddly, not to the point of total chaos.

There are two types of rings: Some judges will be judging All Breed and others will be judging Specialty. 'Specialty' is defined as Longhair OR Shorthair. 'All Breed' is defined as Longhair AND Shorthair. Those judging All Breed are more experienced and have earned more credentials to be allowed to do so.

The TICA 'Longhair' breeds are: American Curl Longhair, Balinese, Birman, Cymric, Himalayan, Japanese Bobtail Longhair, Maine Coon, Nebelung, Norwegian Forest Cat, Oriental Longhair, Persian, Pixiebob Longhair, Ragdoll, Scottish Fold Longhair, Selkirk Rex Longhair, Siberian, Snowshoe, Somali, Turkish Angora, Turkish Van. These breeds are judged in competition with each other for the Best Top Ten Longhair Specialty in each Group (as defined above).

The TICA 'Shorthair' breeds are: Abyssinian, American Curl Shorthair, American Shorthair, American Wirehair, , Bengal, Bombay, British Shorthair, Burmese, Chartreux, Cornish Rex, Devon Rex, Egyptian Mau, Exotic Shorthair, Havana, Japanese Bobtail Shorthair, Manx, Ocicat, Oriental Shorthair, Pixiebob Shorthair, Russian Blue, Scottish Fold Shorthair, Selkirk Rex Shorthair, Siamese, Singapura, Sphynx, Tonkinese. These breeds are judged in competition with each other for the Best Top Ten Shorthair Specialty in each Group (as defined above).

In an All Breed ring, it’s about twice as hard to win a Finals ribbon, because the Longhair and Shorthair entrants of each category are competing for the same awards. Each All Breed ring gives Top Ten BIS Kittens, BIS Cats, BIS Alters, etc. These awards also carry more points than their respective Specialty awards. In a Specialty ring, awards are worth from 60 points for 10th Best to 150 points for Best. In an All Breed ring, awards are worth from 110 points for 10th Best to 200 points for Best. These points count towards titles and regional or international placements.

Let’s put ourselves at 9:00am on Saturday morning in Kitty City, USA. There are 225kk cats entered and present. The four All Breed judges and two Specialty judges have been introduced to the crowd and the games begin.

The clerk from ring 2 , a Specialty ring, calls for Longhair Kittens, numbers 1 through 13 to be brought to the ring. Owners, not stewards, bring the cats to the rings. Stewards at TICA shows are the young people who keep the cages cleaned and plenty of paper towels ready for the judges to clean their hands and counters before handling each cat.

Back to the show: Immediately thereafter, the clerk from ring 4, an All Breed ring, calls for Shorthair Cats, numbers 201 through 210. Even though exhibitors carry their cats to the rings, the protocol is for judges to not know which cat belongs to which person. Most exhibitors are discrete and manage to get their cats into the ring cages unnoticed. Others are very flamboyant in order to get noticed at this moment, but usually to no avail.

Incidentally, breeds are called to a ring in alphabetic order within each Group. For example, in the Longhair categories, the Maine Coon always precedes the Nebelung, which precedes the Norwegian Forest Cat, which is followed by the Persians, and so on. This call for cats to rings continues throughout the day, and every cat will eventually make its way to every ring. As an exhibitor, sometimes you sit for a long time waiting to be called to a ring. All of a sudden, you are called to bring #120, your adult NF, to Ring 6 and #13, your NF kitten to Ring 1. Oh, and by the way, as you are hopping back and forth trying to watch the events of two rings, the clerk in Ring 3 announces "Finals for All Breed Alters." You just know you have a good chance to be in it, because your alter got Best of Breed from that judge earlier in the day. Run, Run, Run. Given the normal crush of spectators, all of us have perfected how to block, dodge and tackle, if need be, with cat in hand and smiling all the while.

But let’s go back and see what’s happening in Ring 2. They have progressed through the alphabet to the Maine Coons, numbers 15 through 25. There are 10 handsome MC kittens lined up in the judging cages now.

When they were registered for this show, each of them was assigned a number according to their respective color Division and color Class within that Division. A Division is a grouping that includes cats of the same pattern but across all possible colors in that pattern. A Class within a Division is that pattern, but in one particular color.

Numbers 15 and 16 are in the Traditional Solid Division -- one is in the white Class and one is in the black Class. Numbers 17 through 21 are in the Tradition Tabby Division -- today they represent the following Classes: Brown (Black) Mackerel Tabby, Brown Classic Tabby, Blue Mackerel Tabby, and Torbie (Patched Tabby). Number 22 is in the Traditional Silver/Smoke Division -- a Black Smoke, and numbers 23 through 25 are in the PartiColor Division - - a Black and White and a Brown Tabby with white.

The Categories of color in TICA are Traditional, Sepia, Mink and Pointed. The standard written for a breed will specify what color Categories it allows. For example, the Maine Coon and Norwegian Forest Cats are allowed in all Divisions and all Colors of the Traditional Category only. The Divisions in the Traditional Category are Solid, Tortie (tortoiseshell), Tabby, Silver/ Smoke, and Particolor --any colors from these Divisions with white.

Let’s see what is about to happen in this ring: The judge will evaluate the kittens in each color Class separately and will award 1C, 2C, 3C accordingly. These awards carry 25, 20 and 15 points respectively. We’ll get back to how points affect titles. Once she has judged all the color Classes , she then judges the kittens together that are in the same color Division. Markers go up on three cages for 1D,2D,3D. These also carry 25, 20 and 15 points respectively. Finally, she goes back over her top placed kittens in the color Classes and Divisions and selects top 1BOB, 2BOB, 3BOB -- her top three best of breed. There are no points for these placements, but they position these kittens for their rank in the up-coming Final. That is, if two Maine Coon kittens are selected for this judge’s Top Ten Best Longhair Specialty awards later in the day, the Best of breed Maine Coon kitten must be placed higher than 2nd Best of Breed Maine Coon kitten.

After the breed is judged in Ring 2, these kittens are then sent back to their benching cages for snacks and naps and the NF are called up. They go through the very same process, and then the Persians and so on until the last Longhair Kitten has been judged in this manner.

If there are very few kittens in a breed or color Class or Division, it is relatively easy to get Color, Division or Breed awards. So, you don’t really learn a lot if the breed representation is small but the suspense is not yet over.

The judge in ring 2 has completed her judging of all the Longhair Kittens at the show. There were 40 altogether. The clerk goes to the speaker and announces that "LONGHAIR KITTEN FINALS are Posted in Ring 2!!" A marginally civilized mad dash ensues. All the hopeful breeders and owners of these babies trot to the ring and stare as ten numbers are placed on ten cages in the ring. If they see their kitten’s number, they strut quickly back to their benching area, whisk kitty from a nap, fluff, brush, check and coo. The Finals cages are soon filled with the 10 kittens of merit, chosen by that one judge as her top kittens for that show. She has ten lovely ribbons on her judging table and proceeds with some ceremony to place the 10th, then 9th, then 8th, then 2nd, the 1st Best Kitten ribbons on one cage after the other. These kittens will have defeated anywhere from 30 to 39 other kittens of all the Longhair breeds in order to win that ribbon that day.

In Ring 4, a similar drama unfolds, but this time it is for All Breed Cats. That judge started his day with the Shorthair Cats, judged all of them, by color Class, Division, and Breed. He then, at some point, judged all of the Longhair Cats in the same fashion. The difference is this -- when his clerk went to the speaker to announce "ALL BREED CAT FINALS in Ring 4!!", the mass of hopefuls that trotted to that ring represented ALL of the adult/ champion cats at that show. That judge selected 10 cats from among 50 Shorthair plus 45 Longhair cats, so the winning cats defeated anywhere from 84 to 94 cats to be in that Finals ring. This is a very big deal, even for the cat who won 10th Best Cat in that ring, from that judge, that day.

So, now you understand how 'Finals' work and the difference in value between a Specialty and an All Breed Final award, a Best and a 10th Best, a Best in Color, Best in Division, Best in Breed.

Let’s now see how finals and points add up to titles and placements in TICA:

As Kittens, there are no individual titles awarded. Kittens compete to earn regional and international placements, e.g., Best NF, Mid-Atlantic Region or 15th Best Longhair Kitten overall in TICA. These placements are based solely on points that accumulate from Finals awarded, plus a point for each kitten defeated in up to 30 finals during the time that that kitten is 4-8 months old. A kitten would need 7500 to 8500 points or more to place among the top ten TICA Kittens. Awards for Top Twenty are given.

Cats, Alters, and Household Pets compete for regional and international placements in the same way that Kittens do. They accumulate points from Finals awarded and a point for each cat or alter defeated in up to 50 finals during one show season (May 1 to April 30 of the following year). Based on past years, a cat would need at least 12500 to 13500 points to place among the Top Ten TICA Cats . Top Ten TICA Alters have required 11000 to 12000 points in recent years. Awards for Top Twenty are given in each Group. It is highly competitive, expensive and difficult to obtain.

Cats, Alters and Household Pets also compete, in their respective Groups, for titles. These are as follows:

Champion/Champion Alter/ Master: This title requires a minimum of 300 points from at least four different judges and one Final.


Grand Champion/ Grand Champion Alter/ Grand Master: This title requires at least 1000 points and 6 finals from at least 4 different judges. Three of these finals must be All Breed Final awards or at least 5th Best Cat/ Alter or better in a Specialty Finals.


Double, Triple and Quadruple Grand Champion/ Alter/ Master: Each of these subsequent titles requires an additional 1000 points plus one more Final award to progress from one to the next.

Supreme Grand Champion/ Alter/ Master: The ultimate title in TICA requires a total of at least 2000 additional points (total of at least 6000) plus one BEST CAT or BEST ALTER after qualifying for Quadruple Grand Champion.

Once a cat has achieved the noteworthy level of Grand Champion , Grand Champion Alter, or Grand Master, it takes only a bit of tenacity and time to achieve Quadruple Champion/ Alter/ Master status. The next real test is 'Supreme'. To receive a Best Cat in any ring is a feat. To receive Best Cat in an All Breed ring is very special. A Best Cat award won before a cat has achieved its Quadruple level award cannot be applied for the Supreme title. It’s not easy.

That’s it! You now know how awards and titles are achieved in TICA. You now know how impressed you should be when you get the next bit of good news!

On the other hand, it is not easy for outsiders to understand what is happening at a FIFe show or appreciate the merits of IC, GIC, SW, WW, etc. It is grand that a member of a FIFe club has now written an article for us explaining the FIFe judging, awards and titles system to those of us in TICA who are always impressed by the FIFe titled cats, but sometimes just as confused. See the article under "FIFe Cat Show.