Fédération Internationale Féline


The Fédération Internationale Féline is a federation of cat registries. There are currently forty-three member organizations in forty one countries. Membership spans Europe, South America, and Asia. FIFe is one of the nine members of the World Cat Congress.

History

Founded by Marguerite Ravel, the federation was unofficially started in 1949 in Paris, France, at a meeting between the Fédération Féline Française, the Royal Cat Society of Flanders and the Società Felina Italiana. At the organisation's first general assembly, in Ghent, Belgium, the federation was officially founded. The original name was Fédération Internationale Féline d'Europe or FIFE. In 1972 the Brazilian Cat Club joined, making it necessary to change the Euro-centric name of the federation. The "d'Europe" was dropped, and the abbreviation was changed to FIFe.

Organisation

FIFe is organized into national sub-federations which handle pedigree registrations, cat shows and awards in each country. FIFe's Executive Board and General Assembly are supported by five commissions:
Currently the FIFe recognizes 48 official breeds of cats for championship competitions. All breeds are divided into 4 categories and identified with a three-letter code, according to the Easy Mind System. The EMS is a system used by FIFe, and all its members, to easily identify cats by alphanumeric codes.