LaPerm

LaPerm
Standard No.
Shoulder height
length
Weight	Male: 3 to 5 kg. Cat: 2.5 to 4 kg
allowed colors
colors not allowed
permitted coat drawing
not allowed coat drawing
List of cat breeds

The LaPerm is a relatively young breed of cats from Oregon , USA .

Emergence

The LaPerm was created due to a spontaneous mutation near The Dalles , Oregon. In 1982 a normal house cat gave birth to a litter of six kittens. One animal from this litter was initially completely bald, but began to develop very soft, curly hair after eight weeks. The owner, Linda Koehl , called her "Curly". Curly is the ancestor of all LaPerm cats.

Curly's temperament was different from that of the other farm cats: she was very affectionate. Her first litter consisted of five males, all as bald as Curly when she was born. In later litters, Curly only had bald kittens of both sexes now and then. Linda had no knowledge of genetics or breeding, her cats reproduced naturally and lived freely on the farm. Gradually, however, she began to keep the animals inside the house and to breed them directionally. She found that the gene for curly hair is dominant and can be passed on by both cats and females. From time to time she mated the curly cats with 'normal' cats. This increased the gene pool - but the physical characteristics and gentle nature of the cats were retained.

On the advice of a friend, Linda decided to show her cats at an exhibition to hear the opinion of 'experts'. To do this, Linda had to 'invent' a name for her genetically unique cats. She came to the name 'LaPerm', which the American term for ' perm ' ( permanent wave , short perm ) back.

CFA Breeding Judge Kim Everett was one of the first to see Linda's cats and encouraged her to keep going. It was thanks to the support of Mrs. Everett and others that Linda started thinking about getting her cats recognized as a breed.

Breed characteristics

The wavy or curly coat is one of the most important distinguishing features from other cat breeds. The coat can vary from wavy to curled curls, short and long. It is relatively soft in texture, but every coat is different.

Some kittens are born bald, most have short, wavy hair at the time of birth. Sometimes the kittens go completely bald after they are two weeks old and some change fur with temporary baldness within the first four months of life.

LaPerm can therefore be born with three different types of hair. The most desired is the wavy or curly coat, for which the abbreviation BC ( Born Curled ) is used. If the hair is not curly, but straight, the abbreviation BS ( Born Straight ) is used. As a last resort, the kitten can also be born bald, and a fur will develop within the first few weeks. These kittens get the addition BB ( Born Bald ).

The breed needs little grooming, is not prone to matting, and has little shedding.

The coat of both the long-haired and short-haired varieties can vary in length and density, depending on the time of year and the age of the cat. Both male and long-haired females can get full collars when they grow up.

The snout and head of the LaPerm are relatively triangular with wide ears, full whisker pads and large eyes. She has whiskers that are completely curled.

Males usually weigh between 3 and 5 kg, the females between 2.5 and 4 kg.

character

LaPerms are very affectionate and trusting and seek human contact. They are well suited for home keeping.

breed

There are not many breeders of the breed in the world yet, some in the USA, some in the UK , the Netherlands , Germany and Russia . As the breed still has a very small gene pool , it is currently still allowed to cross other breeds.

In contrast to most other Rex cats (with the exception of the Selkirk Rex , but there it is a different gene), the gene for the curly fur is inherited dominantly in LaPerm. Even in the first generation with a so-called outcross (a house cat or a representative of another cat breed) there is a 50% chance of attracting offspring. Since a lot is currently being crossed out, relatively many smooth-haired LaPerms are born (as mentioned above). Permitted breeding partners are (depending on the breeding association in which the breeder is a member) other than the European Shorthair (domestic cat), the Ocicat , Somali Cat , Abyssinian , Thai Cat , Tonkinese , Burmese and their halblangharige variants. In addition, all other races of a slightly eastern type are allowed.

Web links

Commons : LaPerm  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Breed portrait at smeraldas.de , longest standing German-speaking breeder