• Home
    • General Description
  • Head
    • Head/ Shape & Size
    • Head/ Profile
    • Head/ Muzzle and Chin
  • Ears
    • Ears/ Degree of Curl
    • Ears/ Shape & Size
    • Ears/ Placement
    • Ear Furnishings
  • Eyes
    • Eyes/ Shape & Size
    • Eye Placement
    • Eyes/ Color
  • Body
    • Body/ Torso & Neck
    • Body/ Size & Boning
    • Body/ Legs & Feet
    • Body/ Tail Length
  • Coat & Color
    • Coat/ Silky Texture/Undercoat
    • Coat/ Body & Tail Length
    • Coat/ Color & Pattern
  • Penalties & Disqualify
    • Ears
    • Penalty/Horizontal Crimp
    • Penalty/Vertical Crimp
    • Penalty/Interior Surface Corrugated
    • Penalty/Thick Cartilage
    • Body/Coat/Nose
    • Disqualify
  • Breeding with Outcrosses
  • Evaluating a Curl
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Points for each


CFA          TICA          ACFA          FIFE
​10 points      20 points*        10 points          10 points**

​* Note:  TICA combines all ear points together into one category even though the different features are described separately.

​**Note: FIFE includes furnishings in points for shape and size while CFA and ACFA both attribute a separate 2 points for furnishings.

Ears - Shape and Size

CFA Description: Shape: wide at base and open, curving back in smooth arc when viewed from front and rear.  Tips rounded and flexible.  Size: moderately large.

​TICA Description:  Wide at base and open; curving back in an arc when viewed from the front, side or rear.  The surface of the curved portion of the ear should be smooth.  Tips rounded and flexible.  Moderately large in proportion to head. 

​ACFA & FIFE Description: Same as CFA
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Note width at base of ear and open curvature in the photo to the left.  Below are several more examples of wide base with nice curvature.
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Comparing amount of Curvature

Shape also refers to the comparison of the amount of curl in each ear.  Identically curved ears a WONDERFUL! ... although difficult to attain.  The closer matched the better.  The best way to compare the shape of the two ears is from the back of the head.  This is demonstrated in the video at the bottom of the General Description page where Grace is demonstrating how an AC should be evaluated.

​Notice particularly how she turns the ears at the base so the tips are pointing toward each other.
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​Ear Curvature from Outcross Breeding

Below is a video of a 4 month old kitten from and outcross breeding of a curled ear cat to a straight eared cat.  The photo to the right is the same cat as an adult.
Below is the same cat as an adult.  This cat earned his title as Supreme Grand Champion in TICA.  He them sired a kitten who was Best LH internationally in CFA.  His grandson from that offspring is following in the footsteps of both dad and granddad.
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Let's Talk Ear Thickness

This is probably a good place to discuss the thickness of the cartilage of the ear.

The description under degree of curl says the ear is "FIRM" from ear base to at least 1/3 height of the ear.  With continued curl-to-curl breeding for better curvature can come thicker cartilage.  A disqualifying features is "ears that are straight, severely mismatched, THICK, or having inflexible tips".  Thick cartilage is discussed in detail on the DQ page.

Good Ear Size on 9 Week Old Kitten

​Ear Size Good ear size on 9-wk old kitten
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Below are 2 pages from the2016 CFA Breed Presentation page regarding Ear Shape & Size.​
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© 2017 Michael and Linda Bull All Rights Reserved
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