Size: Medium.
Coat Length(s): Short hair, long hair.
Body Type: Semi-foreign.
Grooming Requirement: Every few weeks (shorthairs); Once a week (longhairs).
Talkativeness: Quiet.
Activity Level: Average.
Affection: Affectionate.
Usually Good With: Adults, seniors, and children (6+).
Time Alone: 4 to 8 hours per day.
Attention: Needs average attention.
Handling: Easy to handle.

In summer 1982, on a 10-acre cherry orchard in The Dalles, Oregon, a gray tabby barn cat named Speedy gave birth to a litter of six kittens. The owners, Linda and Richard Koehl, noticed that one of the kittens looked very different from her littermates. Instead of the fine down that covered the bodies of her siblings, she was completely bald. She weighed less than her littermates but had a longer body and larger ears. Linda Koehl thought she was the ugliest kitten in the world and would soon die.

The kitten thrived, however, and at about eight weeks of age, soft, curly hair began sprouting from her body. She was appropriately named Curly. As Curly grew, Linda Koehl found that Curly not only had a unique coat but also had such a charming personality that she found herself becoming a bonafide cat person—quite a step for someone who had previously owned cats only for their mouse-catching abilities.

Curly, a tabby like her dam, soon produced her own litter of five male tabby kittens, all of whom were bald at birth. Like their mother, all soon grew coats of curly hair. Although the Koehls didn’t know it at the time, the curly coat is governed by a dominant gene, so only one parent needs the gene to produce curly offspring.

As soon as they were able, the five toms enthusiastically set about to increase the curly crowd. One of the males hiked across the street to mate with a neighbor’s black shorthaired female. The result was five more curly kittens, all of whom the Koehls obtained and added to their rapidly increasing clowder of curly-haired cats. Over the next five years, the Koehls made no effort to curb Curly and her offspring—they just let nature take its course. And since nature dictates that domestic cats reproduce at an amazingly fast pace, the Koehls soon had a large and diverse colony of curlies with both long and short hair in a plethora of colors and patterns. Unfortunately, Curly disappeared one night and never returned, but her legacy continued.

After reading up about cat breeds, Linda Koehl realized how unique her cats were and decided to introduce them to the cat fancy. She named the breed LaPerm, which she says implies "wavy" in several languages. In 1992, she took four LaPerms to a CFA show in Portland, Oregon. Her cage of curly cats was soon surrounded by a crowd of curious and captivated cat fanciers.

Motivated by the cat fanciers’ enthusiasm at the show, Koehl started attending shows regularly. With the help of geneticists and other breeders who were also enthralled and helped her out, she established her Kloshe Cattery, began a breeding program, and started the long and involved process of gaining recognition for the LaPerm. Not all associations recognize the breed, but it’s likely only a matter of time since the largest, CFA, and the second largest, TICA, recognize the breed for championship.

One thing puts LaPerms curls and whiskers above others—their great personalities. LaPerms are affectionate by nature but blossom with the right human interaction; they attain their best personality with consistent, loving human contact. Then they become loving face kissers who want nothing more than to cuddle with their chosen humans. Always present when their human families are around, they want to be involved in whatever their family is doing. Curious and inquisitive—after all, they are cats—some hitch rides on shoulders so they can watch the action and still be at eye level with their preferred people. They thrive on attention and adapt well to apartment living as long as they get the requisite amount of love and pampering. And although this depends a good deal on early upbringing, most enjoy being held or even cradled on their backs.

Ordinarily quiet, LaPerms will nevertheless speak up when they have something really important to say. Usually this involves not enough attention or empty food dishes. However, they do enjoy an occasional quiet chat with their favorite people, particularly if their human companions are doing most of the talking.

This breed arose spontaneously from the domestic cat gene pool—no human tinkering involved—and Mother Nature must have been feeling whimsical the day she created the LaPerm. LaPerm kittens can be born bald, or with curly or straight hair. The coat changes so much in the first six months that it’s virtually impossible to tell what the kitten will look like as an adult, so if you plan to show it’s wise not to agree to buy a LaPerm until the coat settles down. Some of the straighthaired kittens grow up to become unshowable straighthaired cats, but some sprout curls as they mature. In addition, many LaPerms go through an ugly duckling period before their first birthday during which they lose all or almost all of their fur. The fur usually grows back curlier and thicker than before.

Rumor has it that Rex breeds are hypoallergenic and therefore better tolerated by people who are allergic to cats. Some of our uniquely coated breeds do shed less than other cat breeds, but cat hair itself does not cause allergic symptoms. The culprit is an allergenic protein called Fel d1, which is secreted in the cat’s saliva and via the sebaceous glands. When cats groom, they spread this protein onto their fur, whether it’s straight, curly, wavy or absent altogether. Some breeders report that the LaPerm is better tolerated by people with cat allergies, but do proceed with caution. If you are even mildly allergic to cats, make sure you spend ample time at a LaPerm cattery before you buy.

When you first glimpse the LaPerm, you might think you’re seeing a kitty just back from the hairdresser. However, only Mother Nature has styled this breed’s curly locks. The breed's whiskers and eyebrows are curly, too. This breed is moderate in size with medium to medium fine boning, and seems to walk tall on its feet. When lifted, you’ll notice the breed has surprising weight for its size. The hips are slightly higher than the shoulders.

The head is a modified wedge with rounded contours. Whisker pads appear full and rounded, with long, flexible whiskers. The neck is erect and medium long in proportion to the body. The ears are slightly flared and cupped, medium to large in size, and placed to continue the wedge lines of the head. They are rounded at the tips with full furnishings and earmuffs (with lynx tipping on longhairs.)

The medium-large eyes are moderately far apart, slightly slanted to the outside base of the ear and appear almond-shaped when relaxed, rounder when alert. Eye color has no relation to coat color; all eye colors are accepted.

The legs are medium-fine boned and medium long to match the body length. The hind legs may be slightly longer than the forelegs. The tail is in proportion to the body, tapering in shape, with the longhair's tail generally curly and plumed and the shorthair's wavy and more like a bottle brush. Adult males weigh between 7 and 10 pounds; females weigh between 5 and 8 pounds. The breed matures in two to three years; females tend to mature sooner than males.

The adult’s curly coat is moderately soft and not wiry. In general, the coat is springy, light and airy, and stands away from the body in waves or ringlet curls. Curls are preferred over waves. The perfect cat will have a moderately soft but textured coat that will be loose and bouncy, standing away from the body. The longhair adult has a medium to long coat with an almost unkempt appearance and a full neck ruff. The shorthair adult coat is short to medium in length, may be harder in texture and need not have a ruff, ringlets or earmuffs. Both lengths can come in any genetically possible color or pattern, including the pointed pattern.

In both CFA and TICA, outcrossing with domestic longhairs and domestic shorthairs is allowed to expand the gene pool and keep the breed healthy. In CFA, however, a cutoff date has been established. LaPerm kittens born on or after January 1, 2015, can have only LaPerm parents.