Understanding the Affectionate LaPerm Cat Breed

The LaPerm cat is the result of a fairly recent spontaneous mutation. In 1980, on a farm in Oregon in the USA, owned by Linda and Richard Kohel, a common brown cat gave birth to six kittens.

Among them was an almost completely hairless kitten with large ears. The kitten, who was named Curly, grew up and, as the months passed, developed a curly coat that covered her entire body. Following an accident, the kitten was taken home for treatment and her extremely affectionate and intelligent character was noticed.

When she recovered, she gave birth to five kittens, all hairless at birth and, after a few months, covered themselves with the same curly coat as their mother. There were several cats on the farm, unneutered, which were mainly used to keep rodents at bay, and on the farm they multiplied, giving rise to a breed of strong, beautiful cats with unusual coats, which when brought to an exhibition aroused increasing curiosity.

In 1995, a proper breeding programme was started for the breed, which unfortunately to this day is almost unknown in Europe and there are very few breeders worldwide.

Character of the LaPerm Cat

Due to its wonderful character, this cat is suitable for everyone, the elderly, single people, large families, children and other cats and even dogs. He is very curious and playful, prefers high places where he loves to jump (including his human's shoulders), from where he can observe undisturbed everything that goes on around him. Intelligent, he can learn easy games, to open drawers and doors, he likes to play with water and if accustomed also to go around on a leash.

He is an active cat, so he likes to be outside, perhaps to climb some trees, but he does not disdain long sleeps on the sofa or on his human's lap. In fact, he always seeks contact and is very affectionate with his favourite human, but also with all other family members.

He does not meow much, but when he does, it sounds more like a bird's trill than a meow. It is usually to attract attention and ask for cuddles, as he can never get enough of them. With strangers he has no problems whatsoever, if he is used to them from an early age. It is said that he does not deny his friendship even to the vet.

Appearance of the LaPerm Cat

The LaPerm is a medium-sized cat, the male reaching 5 kilograms, the female usually 3.5 kilograms. Its body is compact and muscular, but it is a very elegant and well-proportioned animal. The legs are slender and give it an athletic appearance, the tail is fine and long, well furred.

The head is wedge-shaped, with curled eyebrows and whiskers, with rounded contours and a prominent muzzle. The ears also have curled fur on the inside, and are not very large but well spaced and wide at the base. The eyes are large and very expressive, yellow, copper, green or blue in colour.

The texture of the coat is very soft and can be short, wavy, very thick, or semi-long but always very soft and curly. Its peculiarity, however, is that it is always fluffy. As for the colour, this can be very varied, black, white, chocolate, cinnamon and all shades of grey/blue, lilac, cream, deer. As for the pattern, it can be plain, tabby, two-tone, striped and spotted.

Health and care of the LaPerm cat

It is a very long-lived cat, easily reaching 20 years of age, of rustic origin generally enjoys good health, and there are currently no health problems or genetic disorders associated with it.

It needs enough exercise otherwise it risks gaining weight, so it is good to control the daily amount of food provided, recommended by your vet.

LaPerm's coat is fairly easy to care for: just brush it once a week to remove dead hair and prevent knots from forming. Apart from during the moulting period, it does not lose much hair. During this, however, it may sometimes be left with a rather sparse coat, but it grows back quickly, just as beautiful as before.