Section 1 – Breed
Breed is defined as a population of cats which have certain physical characteristics in common. These characteristics are outlined in the written breed profile for each breed.
Section 2 – Breed Group
Breed Groupis defined as two or more breeds which have certain traits in common but have one or more differing characteristics. Recessive genetic traits such as color or pattern which may be produced by breeding two breeds withing the group together must be recognized by at least one breed within the breed group. Dominant genetic traits which are easily recognizable may be allowed by one or more breeds within the breed group.
Section 3 – Stud Book Cat
A Stud Book Catis defined as a cat whose sire and dam appear in the stud book registry of REFR or of another registry. A stud book cat may have one parent in the stud book registry (SB) of REFR and one parent in the third generation foundation book registry (FB3) of REFR. Refer to Section 4 for an explanation of Foundation Book and Section 7 for a sample registration number.
Section 4 – Foundation Book Cat
A Foundation Book Cat is defined as a cat which is phenotypically similar to a recognized breed and may have registered parents in its ancestry. Refer to Section 7 below for an explanation of registration numbers assigned to each cat.Foundation Book codes are as follows:(FB1) – At least one parent is unregistered or of a different breed not allowed for breeding in this particular breed.(FB2) – At least one parent has a designation of FB1. The other parent has a designation of FB2, FB3, or SB.(FB3) – At least one parent has a designation of FB2. The other parent has a designation of FB3 or
SB.Section 5 – Experimental Breed
A breed in development may, with approval from the registrar, be registered as an Experimental breed (EXP) until such time as the gene pool is large enough to support the breed.
Section 6 – BreederB
Breeder is defined as the owner of the dam at the time of breeding.
Section 7 – REFR
REFR, as used in these rules, refers to the Rare and Exotic Feline Registry, and may otherwise be referred to as the Registry
.Section 8 – Registration Numbers
Registration numbers are divided into five sections as indicated below in various text colors:HLXSB02032013012SH ST PDThe first three letters are the breed code. In this case the cat above is a Highland Lynx.These letters refer to whether the cat is in the stud book registry (SB) or if the cat is in the foundation book registry (FB) (FB1) (FB2).The next eight digits refer to the month, day, and year of birth. In this example, the cat was born on Feb. 3, 2013.The next three digits refer to the number of cats registered with this same birthdate. In the example above, eleven cats with the birthday of Feb. 3, 2012 have been previously registered.The last two-letter sequences are optional and refer to special breed characteristics of individual breeds. In the example above, the cat is a shorthair (SH) with a naturally short tail (ST) and polydactyl feet (PD).