American Curl

The American Curl is a domestic cat breed with ears that curl back, descended from a stray kitten found in Lakewood, California, in 1981.

Joe and Grace Ruga took in a long-haired black female with unusual ears and named her Shulamith; all American Curls trace back to her. The British geneticist Roy Robinson studied 81 litters with 383 kittens and reported in 1989 that the curl comes from a dominant gene, so one parent with curled ears is enough, and he found no defects linked to it. The International Cat Association was the first registry to accept the breed for championship. In 1993 the Cat Fanciers' Association moved it to its Championship class as the first breed shown there in both long and short coats, and the Fédération Internationale Féline recognises it as well.

The Curl is a medium-sized, semi-foreign cat with a moderately long, rectangular body and medium bone. Females weigh about 2.3-3.6 kg (5-8 lb) and males 3.2-4.5 kg (7-10 lb). Kittens are born with straight ears, which start to curl within a few days and set at about four months. In show cats the ears turn back in an arc of 90 to 180 degrees, with firm cartilage at the base and rounded tips. The coat, short or semi-long, is silky with little undercoat and comes in all colours. The standards describe a gentle, playful cat that keeps a kitten's manner into adulthood.

Weekly brushing keeps the coat in order. The ears are cleaned gently and never bent against the curl, since the cartilage can be damaged. Because the breed was built from many outcrosses to ordinary domestic cats, no inherited disease is known to be typical of it.