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​American Cat Association

The Cat Fancy in America had its formal beginning in 1897 with the forming of the Beresford Cat Club in Chicago. Named after Lady Marcus Beresford, founder of the Cat Club of England, the Beresford Club sponsored one of the first cat shows to be held in the United States in 1899. 

Also in 1899, the Beresford Club started the first American Stud Book on Cats, and established the first American Cat Show Rules. In 1904 some of the members of the Beresford founded the American Cat Association, so that other cat clubs throughout the United States and Canada could share the common ties of an association and of a Stud Book Registry.

Since our original incorporation in the State of Illinois in1904,  the American Cat Association has proudly served the Canadian and American Cat Fancy, and the Beresford Cat Club is still among the list of distinguished clubs that belong to the American Cat Association, Inc.