Curly Hair Kitty: The LaPerm

Like a snowflake, each curl on each curly girl’s head is completely unique. Even with the wide spectrum of different ways to classify our hair, including all sorts of letter and number combinations, it is still hard to truly capture the essence of our hair’s individuality.

Sometimes a gal just needs someone who can truly understand her frustrations with curly hair. For the pet lovers out there, it may just be your lucky day!

Believe it or not, the poodle isn’t the only one of our furry friends to boast curly locks. The curly-coated LaPerm is a fluffy, full-bodied feline with coiled fur that falls within the Rex breed. The Rex breed is a domestic breed of cat that is identified by his or her wavy or curly fur, as a result of a genetic mutation.

LaPerm Origins

Although the LaPerm was not officially recognized as a breed until 1996, the plush feline has been around since the 1980s. When an ordinary brown tabby owned by Linda and Richard Koehl had kittens in 1982 on a farm in The Dalles, Oregon, they had no idea one of the kittens would be so different from all the others.

The first LaPerm, appropriately named Curly, was originally born relatively bald compared to her full-coated siblings. However, after a short time, she began to develop a soft coat of ringlets.

As Curly grew and had her own kittens, the Koehls noticed that all of them had a similar appearance to their mother, and before long, they began to grow their own coiled coats.

As the cats reproduced again and again with similar results, Linda Koehl showed the unique breed to cat fanciers in the United States who offered their support, and the accidentally created cat breed soon became an official breed of their own.

LaPerm Facts

This curl-friendly pet comes in both long and shorthaired breeds. Their loose and bouncy coats can feel like mohair and be just a little different from cat to cat depending on the size and shape of their curls. Sound familiar?

Today LaPerms can be found throughout the world. They’re typically known to be both incredibly gentle and friendly creatures that really enjoy human interaction and attention. One account claims LaPerms will even rub against you or stroke your face with their paws if you ignore them!

Plus, studies have shown that being the proud owner of a pet has proven to reduce stress, lower blood pressure and help people tackle other lofty emotional obstacles like anxiety and depression.

So, not only is this cat cute and curly, like us, but it can also help keep stress away, too. Seriously, what more could we want?