The Traditional Cat Association, Inc.©¹⁹⁸⁷®^TM Official Website
Founded 1987, by Diana L. Fineran 

Opinions - "a subjective statement and may be the result of an emotion or an interpretation of facts".

• TCA is the only registry I use now, for all our kittens - you guys are the best! You have so much more to offer than other registration companies, there is just no reason to use any of the other registration companies.
   
• Thank you so much for your help.  I was just ready to give up.  There are so many mean people out there.  I was almost about to not email you.  Now I'm glad I did. thank you for being so nice to take the time to help. It was so hard losing everything, yet some people can be so crude when you ask them for help. 
   

ABOUT TCA, INC. (Diana Fineran)

As all of you know, I founded TCA, INC. to oppose everything all of the other cat associations are, what they do and what their purposes and practices are. The changes to every breed they touch, their damage done to ancient breeds, and onward to their lack of desire to preserve any breed, provided the impetus to me to make a safe haven for all cat breeds and their owners who love them.  To my surprise I found a breeder with another association who stated, “We have a new threat to the old look Siamese in the U.S. It comes from the unlikely source of a “Siamese preservation club”. They are actively campaigning breeders to surrender their hundred year old Siamese pedigrees and have their cats registered with a new breed name (Thai cat) solely for the purpose of showing at cat shows.” Tom

Further more these so called “Thai cats” are not Siamese at all, but they are being touted as purebred Siamese. In truth they are Colorpoint Shorthairs, which is a breed that came about by crossing a Siamese with a common street cat, American Shorthairs or strays, which began in England. This resulted in the expected colors of Red Point (from the solid red cat), Lynx Point (Tabby bars in the points), Tortie Point (patches of different colors in the points from the Calico and Tortoiseshell) and the Torbie Point (both bars and patches in the points. Of course, the Purebred Traditional and Classic Siamese only come in four colors which are: Seal Point, Chocolate Point, Blue Point and Lilac Point. The points are solid colored with no other color within them. The Colorpoint Siamese (as they are called in TCA, INC.) is a wonderful breed but is a separate breed from all other breeds. Pushing them as purebred Siamese, instead of a separate breed, pollutes the purebred bloodlines, misrepresents the breed to the public and causes confusion as well. To say nothing about the new owner who discovers he didn’t get what he paid for either.

TCA, INC. is a safe haven for breeders of the Traditional and Classic Cats. It is unfortunate that others have created an attempt to bridge the reality of the Traditional and Classic cat, with the fantasy of something that attempts to present a culmination of several breeds as one. Their attempt to achieve the same level of acceptance of the Traditional and Classic Siamese is a failure, because what their Standard reflects is NOT a PUREBRED Siamese. Instead it is the Classic Colorpoint Shorthair.

Recently I read, with great hilarity, a statement on a poor misguided person’s web site. That person was attempting to make a case that registrations and pedigrees from their cat association was more valid than others. Basically the postulation was, “A cat with a registered pedigree from their association was a purebred cat.” Where do they get this stuff! No one should believe such babble! What is inside the cat’s genetic make up is what proves purity, not a piece of paper. After years of research, in my opinion, none of the pedigrees in any other association are any more valid than any others. Pedigrees are a group of names on a piece of paper that do NOT prove purity at all. They represent what one or more persons believe to be the parentage of a specific animal. The reason I say this is due in part to articles, letters, documentation of actual pedigrees, and conversations that reflect that many breeders have used conflicting registrations for decades so there is no guarantee of the purity of their cats. Whether this was done on purpose or in error does not change their accuracy. What they present on paper is only a reflection of what the breeder turned in to the respective registry – accurate or not! I have addressed this issue in my book: The Traditional Siamese and the Classic Siamese Cat - A complete History of the Breed . (www.book.traditionalcats.com). TCA, INC. cats must PROVE their purity through the breeding process over generations. This was NEVER done by any other cat registry from their beginnings.

In some cases, cats were taken off the street or from a street market in their native lands, imported to other countries and registered as “purebreds” there. No documentation was provided, or proving of those cats were done to substantiate their pedigrees. So the value of registrations or pedigrees in other associations is of no higher value than anyone elses!

A VIEW FROM TCA, INC. BREEDERS

“I took the time last night to read as much as I could on your site, and through the Registry Rules in the manual you sent…so much of what I read, I was sitting there nodding going, yes, yes, yes. It reminded me so much of what we went through with the AKC and the dog show world before we said, “Forget it!” and walked away. We used to have Champion Golden Retrievers and English Mastiffs.

Oh! The stuff that went on, and the things we were witness to. I came away from it all knowing that the AKC didn’t care what your dog looked like, or acted like, or it if had green fur and two heads; as along as it had those precious numbers, it was fine in their eyes. Please just send us your check. I was sort of surprised, and then not surprised, after calling and talking to (or attempting to talk to) perhaps 40, 50 Siamese cat breeders, that it sort of left me with the same feelings I had over the AKC. Mostly, HUH? I read nearly 100 websites, with so many ridiculous claims as to what these cats did, and did not do, and should look like, and beware of the other clubs. Blah! Blah! It left my head spinning. I told my husband, “These people are even more messed up than the AKC people were!”

I was told, “Don’t’ expect them to be overly energetic.” “Don’t expect them to have any hunting instinct, Siamese just don’t….” “Should have a long, tubular body, very sleek, elongated ears…” Don’t think I am terrible, but privately I think of the overly elongated, skinny Siamese with the big ears, as Bat Cats. I feel so sorry for the poor creatures, and no, I bet they don’t have a hunting instinct. How could they with jaws so narrow, they probably couldn’t catch a beetle, let alone a mouse. I encountered rude people, abrupt people; also some very nice people, but inevitably it was, ohhh, you want one of THOSE type of cats...with the big head, yes, well you see, the TRUE Siamese don’t look like that, yadda yadda. I looked forever. When you did find a litter, they wanted me to basically sign my life away to them with all sorts of dire contracts, threats of prosecution, if I dared do anything they deemed immoral for the cat, you CAN’T breed them, I don’t care who you are or what efforts you are trying to make...we must preserve this creature! As if any of those poor, skinny Siamese females could even safely carry kittens, I was thinking...no thanks, you keep the bat-kitten…I’ll keep on looking for something normal.

I found a normal looking Siamese (not a Bat Cat) from a local ad...drove out to her place and saw a lovely Siamese mommy-cfa registered. I saw the papers. From everything I can read on your site, and pictures I have looked up, I guess she’d be classified as a Classic Siamese? Not the rounder head, but just a nice, slightly tapered face..definitely not a BatCat..very elegant, very sweet cat, and she had beautiful babies. The father was purebred, but I do not think he had papers. I can’t actually recall...or was it he had a rounder head and the cfa didn’t think he should breed? My cat is my much beloved, oldest Siamese lady, but cfa said they would not recognize her, not even if I sent them a copy of her Mom’s papers, pictures of the Dad, anything. Basically the attitude was, she isn’t “pure” and therefore, unworthy. My cat is a beautiful, calm, intelligent, extremely devoted Siamese cat. She is not a BatCat. She resembles her mother in build and temperament. I think these things worthy to pass on and I certainly do not dismiss her as “not pure”. What ever happened to common sense in dealing with animals? I read these websites and it’s like these aren’t exotic creatures from one of Jupiter’s moons, people…they’re CATS…please let them be cats? Please don’t mess them up anymore than they already seem to be messed up? And don’t try to convince me that a BatCat is healthy, or is the “Golden Standard?” I stand by my Siamese, and if folks are leaving the cfa in droves, well. They must have good reason. They sure weren’t looking to help me in my quest for recognition of a beautiful purebred cat, as I get going here I certainly intend to spread the word about TCA.”  Cyn.

More about the other associations. “I think our economic and social systems have served only to weed out common sense and morality. When irresponsible people make poor decisions that affect so many, some sort of restitution should be made to those who have suffered.” Drew

“When, if ever, will there be accountability?” Larry

POSITIVE TCA, INC.

People are sick of the constant negative attitude and behaviors of the members of the other cat associations. They want to be able to enjoy what they have, love their cat(s), and learn about how to be the best Cat Fanciers they can be and have a pleasant atmosphere to do it in. TCA, INC. is THAT peaceful association, which some consider the best in the whole cat world. It is that place of respite.

People are leaving the other cat associations and coming to TCA, INC. We are growing by leaps and bounds. I am a person for whom passion, persistence, and commitment to the TCA, INC. cause are a way of life. I want all of you to share my optimism. As a doer, with experience, I am eagerly looking forward to the times that lie ahead. We all share the TCA, INC. purpose, which adds meaning in life,