Hello, and welcome to the wonderful world of LaPerms! The LaPerm is a natural breed of cat, with one twist - the coat! Little did I know what would happen on one fateful day at a local cat show in 1999… I wasn’t showing a cat of my own, but I was helping another Turkish Van exhibitor show some kittens, and I went over to see what the cats on exhibition were. I try not to judge new breeds until I see them, so keeping an open mind I went over to find out what a LaPerm was. Thanks to Andy Lawrence, in May of 2000, I had my first LaPerm, Uluru BC Siouxsie Sioux of Vankkadia, a shorthaired female. I was hooked. That same month, the LaPerm was granted Miscellaneous status in CFA, and that meant we could start the long run for championship status. Siouxsie went everywhere with me and got quite a lot of attention. I had a lot of fun showing a new breed, and I still have fun showing the LaPerms, even though we aren’t so new anymore! 

The first LaPerm was born in 1981, to a litter of barn cats, on a cherry farm owned by Linda Kohl in The Dalles, Oregon. The remarkable thing about this kitten is that it was born completely bald! By the time the kitten, aptly named Curly, reached four months old, the baldness was taken over by a thick, curly coat. Ten years later, the whole farm was full of curly coated cats! After some research, Linda took some of the cats to a local cat show to get some input from the judges. It was determined that these cats had a very unique rex gene, and it appeared to be dominant. From then on, Linda kept track of the breedings on the farm to start gathering the pedigrees and history of these cats. Thus, the LaPerm breed was brought to life! To read more about the history and development of the breed, go to my links page and visit the website for the LaPerm Society of America. Andy Lawrence, the developer of the breed, has written a complete history of the LaPerm.

While not all kittens are born bald anymore, most of them are born curly. You can tell at birth if they are bald, curly, or straight haired. Yes, we do get what we call straight-haired variants of the LaPerm, but they still retain the loving personality and temperament of the curly LaPerms. You’ll notice in the names of all our cats, we code them as BB (Born Bald), BC (Born Curly), or BS (Born Straight), in order to keep track of who was born with which coat type. We have had some instances of where a kitten that was born straight-haired, will loose all coat, and then have it come back in curly. (It doesn’t happen very often, but there have been documented cases!) In some cases, the kitten coat will molt and leave you with a bald kitten. This is not unusual, and it is natural to the breed! You can see pictures of this phenomena on the LPSA website. 

The coat itself will vary between both the longhair and the shorthair variety. The longhair’s coat should be light-weight, springy to the touch, and soft. As the cat gets older, the coat comes in longer and fuller. (You can see and example on the females page of one of my girls as a four month old and then again as a four year old.) Even though they are longhair, it is still a single coat, so while there will be some shedding, it won’t be as much as your typical longhaired cat. The shorthair’s coat should also be light-weight and springy to the touch, but will actually have more texture to the coat then the longhair. While you don’t see as much curl, you feel every kink and curl in the coat. It too is a single coat, but will shed some as well. We recommend a weekly combing using a comb that has rolling or rotating teeth. This allows the comb to move through the curls, pulling out the dead hair, but not stripping the curls out of the coat. When petting a LaPerm, you do the ultimate no-no to a cat, you pet it’s fur backwards! While most cats do not like this, the LaPerm loves it because that is actually the way the fur grows in!

We do work with both longhairs and shorthairs. If you have a preference to coat length, please let me know. If possible, I do prefer each kitten buyer to spend time with each coat variety to see what will appeal to them, since they are so distinct. Did someone say, “Road trip?”

The LaPerm can come in any color and pattern. Because they were born of domestic (unknown) stock, anything goes! I prefer the pointed colors, silvers, and vibrant reds and bi-colors. (I guess I’m used to my Turkish Vans always having color with white, I prefer that all cats should have white on them!) But since we do work with an unknown gene pool, any and all colors are possible so we will get a variety within each litter.

The personality of the LaPerm is unlike any other cat I’ve known. They actually *need* people! While most cats can be friendly when they want to be and aloof the rest of the time, I don’t think a LaPerm knows the meaning of the word! They want to be around you all the time, cuddling, on your shoulders, and just being near you. They are active cats, yet very laid back. They are the kind of cat that you can pick up while they are in the middle of playing, and they instantly say, “ok, time to love me!” They are laid back enough to get along with all other animals, as well as kids that understand how to be around animals. Most of them also know no strangers, but some are more reserved and want all the attention from just you. The LaPerm is definitely a cat that will want to be a part of your daily life and your household. They are not a cat that will want to be alone for long periods of time. Keep this in mind if you travel a lot, you may want to look into ways to take the cat with you.

The LaPerm is not a large cat. Males weigh anywhere from 8-12 pounds (the max!), while females are usually 6-9 pounds. They are medium to fine boned, so should be graceful when they move and jump. They also have very long legs, especially the hind legs, and are well muscled. They are quite good at jumping and climbing. Cat trees are great for LaPerms, as they can scratch on the sisal posts, and climb up to the top to survey their home.

Most of us that are working with the LaPerm are using allowable outcrosses to broaden our gene pool. CFA has allowed breeders to have the most diverse gene pool of all, domestic longhairs and shorthairs. (Other organizations, such as the GCCF and Fife, have allowed other breeds of purebred cats to be used in the LaPerm gene pool, and that decision is strictly made by the registering body.) I have incorporated domestics into my breeding program in order to have the most diverse gene pool I can without sacrificing coat or conformation. But, by breeding a LaPerm to a domestic, not all the kittens will necessarily be curly, but as I stated above, the straight haired variants are equally as lovable as their curly counterparts.

Because of the diverse gene pool, the LaPerm is a healthy breed of cat. There are no known genetic defects known within the breed, and their life span is that of the average cat. 

The LaPerm was accepted in CFA’s Miscellaneous Class in 2000, which is the first stage in moving towards becoming a championship breed. In 2005, the LaPerm advanced to the Provisional Class, which is where we are currently. This is the last stage before moving on to championship, where the best of the best need to be out in force at shows and in front of the judges and members of the Board of Directors. Now that the judges have had seven years to evaluate and learn about the breed, we are hoping to soon become a championship breed. The LaPerm has achieved championship status in CFA as of May 1, 2008.

Please take the time to look at some of the different LaPerms that been part of our breeding program, and still are. Don’t forget to stop at the Kittens page to see our new kittens and some of our retired adults. Because of their long life span, older companions can be just as rewarding as owning a kitten!