Meaning of Cat Show Ribbons and Awards
Last Updated on May 29, 2021 by Holly Anne Dustin
If you‘ve ever wondered about the meaning of all the ribbons the judges hang on the cages at a cat show, I understand. Many judges don’t explain the process and they can work really fast. Hopefully I can help make it easier.
Think of each ring as a mini show of its own. The judge evaluates the cats in each class against their particular breed standards. In his or her professional opinion, the judge awards ribbons and points in each color class and division to the cats who best meet those standards. He or she calls the 10-15 best of those winners back for a final. The cats that make the finals earn additional points for their titles and their regional and national placements.
Scoring is one of the most confusing parts of showing a cat. The awards in the Household Pet class are fairly easy to understand. It is much more complicated in the pedigree classes. That the two major associations score differently makes it even more confusing.
To learn more about how cat shows work, read our FAQ here.
Contents
Cat Fanciers’ Association Show Award Ribbons
Cats compete in 4 classes in CFA cat shows: Kittens, Champions, Premiers and Household Pets.
- Pedigreed Kittens between 4-8 months old compete in kitten class. Kittens do not earn titles but they can earn regional and national awards.
- Intact (not spayed or neutered) purebred cats over 8 months old compete for titles in the Championship class
- Your spayed or neutered pedigreed cat would show in the Premiership class.
- Random bred, faulted pedigree cats, and apparent pedigreed cats without papers make up the Household Pet (HHP) class. The cats have to be over 4 months old, not declawed and must be spayed or neutered once they are 8 months old.
Scoring in Championship and Premiership Classes
Pedigreed cats begin their adult career in the Open class in either Championship or Premiership. Once they have earned a winners ribbon in 6 rings they become a Champion or Premier. They earn their Grand Champion or Grand Premier title when they get enough points in their breed classes and finals.
In each class the judges handle the open and champions of each breed by color group and awards a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place (blue, red, and yellow ribbons) to a male and a female in each color. The judge evaluates the cats with their Grand titles and awards the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd ribbons in each color and gender.
The judge gives a black award ribbon to the best and a white ribbon to the second best in their color class overall. He or she awards a best of breed/division brown ribbon, and second best of breed/division orange ribbon in each breed/division, and a purple ribbon to the best open/champion for each breed/division.
Each Judge then selects the top 10 cats for the final. He or she ranks the cats in order and awards ribbons to each cat. Points earned in the finals count toward regional and national awards. There are two types of finals: Specialty rings judge long-haired cats and short-haired cats in separate finals, where an All-breed ring final combines both long- and short-hairs.
Scoring Example
Would an example help? Let‘s use Persians because they almost always have the biggest range of color classes but you can apply the theory to any other breed. Persians come in solid, silver/golden, bi-color, shaded, smoke, tabby, calico, and Himalayan (pointed) divisions each of which may of have several colors. I have written more about colors and patterns which is a complicated subject in itself.
I have a black Persian so let’s use that as the example. A judge would look over all the male solid black Persians in Open/Champion class and award the blue, red, and yellow ribbons. Then he would compare the female Persian Open/Champion solid blacks and award the ribbons. The process gets repeated with the Grand Champion Persians.
The black ribbon would go to the best of the solid black winners and the white ribbons to the second. That process would repeat with all the other solid colors. The judge would award the brown best of division ribbons and orange second best of division ribbon to the top two solid color Persians. All the other divisions are judged and awarded. The best Champion Persian in each division also receives the purple best of breed or division ribbon.
Premiership class and Kitten classes are judged the same way except the purple ribbon would not be hung in Kitten class as they do not earn titles.
Household Pets
All HHP rings are “all-breed” but the judges assess them without regard to coat/color/gender. Since the class has no breed standard other than health, appearance, and personality the judges have complete discretion to choose the cats in their final.
For more about showing your cat in household pets, I have a getting started guide for newbies including a printable supply list.
Each cat receives a merit award ribbon. The ribbon doesn‘t earn the cat points. Depending on the size of the class, the top 10 or 15 make the ring final and earn points toward their Grand Household Pet title.
Cat Show Award Ribbons in The International Cat Association
The same idea holds true in TICA but they hang a different set of ribbons. They award a Color Class ribbon to 1st to 5th place (blue, red, yellow, green and white ribbons.) The judges award a 1st to 3rd in Division (black, purple, and orange ribbons.) and announce a best, second, and third best of breed (no ribbons.) Then the judges call and hang a final for the selected eligible cats in each class: Cats (the CFA equivalent is Championship), Kittens, Alters (what CFA calls Premiers), and the provisional classes.
TICA Example
In our Persian example, they would rank our black Persians 1-5 in the color class, unlike in CFA they do not separate the male and females first. All the other solid Persian color classes compete for their color class ribbons. The top three solid Persians earn points and ribbons. After judging the other Persian division, the judge will announce first, second, and third best of all the Persians. The best of the longhair cats are called to a specialty final – hopefully our Persian would make it. An all-breed judges all longhair and shorthair breeds before selecting their top cats for the final.
TICA Household Pet Cat Show Awards
Just as in the pedigreed class, HHPs have longhair kittens, shorthair kittens class and longhaired cats and shorthaired adults. All the cats receive a best of color class award as the merit ribbon no matter how many cats of a particular color are in class. The judge awards the division ribbons the same way as they do for purebred cats. Then they hold a specialty or all-breed final for up to the top ten. HHP merit awards count for points in TICA and score as a best of color class.
Earning Cat Show Titles
So what do all these points and ribbons earn you and your cat? Titles. Again, each association has different variants on the titles they award.
In CFA, a cat needs 200 points to earn their Grand title. There is no time limit on earning the points to get that title. The other title, Grand of Distinction, is a three-year title. A cat must achieve 250 points and 30 finals in each of three years to earn that title. My Plush should complete his Grand Household Pet of Distinction this season.
TICA cats that have earned their Champion/Alter/Master (for household pets) title with 300 points continue to earn points for their ring ribbons and earn Grand (1000 points), and Double (2000 points), Triple (3000 points), and Quadruple Grand (4000 points) titles. A Quadruple Grand has to earn 2000 additional points and get a Best Cat in a final to make the top title of Supreme Grand Champion/Alter/Master.
Regional and National Winners:
Both organizations have Regional and National Winner titles. Regional winner recognizes the top 25 cats in the region in each class. National Winner titles are given to the top 25 cats worldwide.
Hopefully this has helped you understand what the different cat show award ribbons mean. Go to a local show and see if your opinions agree with the judges. The more you learn about awards and the cats the more enjoyable visiting a show will be.
For other tips on having a great cat show visit, check out my post here.
Do you have any questions about cat shows that you’d like me to answer? Let me know in the comments!
