LaPerm Cats

History

The Laperm cat’s history begins in a barn, in the Cherry Orchard of Linda Koehl on 1st March 1982. A brown tabby cat named Speedy gave birth to a litter of six kittens which contained one female kitten with a new rex type mutation.

A long, skinny, hairless kitten with large, wide ears and a tabby pattern on the skin was born. When the kitten was six weeks old she developed a sparse, curly, short haired coat with a brown tabby pattern. Linda named the kitten Curly because of her interesting coat that had developed into soft waves.

Curly produced litters of her own on the farm and more curly coated cats began to appear. Linda started to think she had something special so entered six cats in a cat show to see what people thought. The judges confirmed she had something unique that needed conserving. She decided to start a breeding program to establish her curly coated cats as the Laperm breed.

It was common for 90% of kittens to be born bald and then develop a curly coat at 3-4 months whereas a kitten born with a straight coat would always stay straight. That was until a straight haired, red pointed male kitten called Snow Fire was born. Snow Fire began to shed his straight hair as his bald littermates grew into their curly coats. Snow Fire’s coat became very sparse and patchy until it began to grow back curly. Since then some straight haired Laperms bred to domestics have occasionally produced curly coated kittens. TICA granted the LaPerm Championship status in February 2003.

Behaviour

Laperms are intelligent and inquisitive cats that get on with everyone. They adapt well to houses that have other cats, dogs and children which makes them a good choice for a family. They are always up for a game of chase and love to join you on the sofa when you are watching tv.