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La Perm Breed Profile Contact Australian La Perm Breeders David Richardson August 2005
History of the La Perm Cat
The La Perm breed originated in 1982 when Linda Koehl found an odd bald kitten in a litter born on her orchard in Oregon USA. Over the next 10 years these cats were bred sporadically to other cats in the neighbourhood and it was determined that the curly coats which developed were the result of a dominant gene. This was in contrast to the Cornish Rex and Devon Rex genes which are recessive.
Description of the La Perm Cat
The La Perm is an extremely intelligent and sociable curly coated breed of cat. It has a semi foreign body type, a long neck and a rather small head with a somewhat tri angular face with high cheekbones and medium muzzle with whisker pinch. The almond shaped eyes are set slightly on the slant, and widely spaced. In profile the broad nose has a slight indentation, then straight to the tip. The chin is extremely strong. The ears and are broad based medium in size with a rounded tip and may have lynx points. The ears are set as much on the top as the side and separated by a flat plane. The ears should be fully furnished. The legs are moderately long tapering to rounded paws. The hind legs tend to to be somewhat longer than the front legs.
La Perms maybe born bald or born curly. In either case the kittens appear gangly and odd looking. It is rather the case of the ugly duckling La Perm kitten with almost no coat going up to be the tall and elegant full Curly coated graceful La Perm adult cat. So in young kittens the coat may not be fully developed.
Because of its rather small head, long neck and curly coat there may be a resemblance to an alpaca and the La Perm has been known as the alpaca cat.
La Perm cats come in both longhair and shorthair varieties, and all colours and patterns are acceptable. The coat especially of the longhair varieties may have a somewhat unkempt appearance. This is described as the Gypsies Shag look. The longhair La Perm is characterized by a magnificent full brush of a tale.
What I am looking for when judging a La Perm cat.
I am looking for a cat of semi foreign and build with a curly almost woolly looking coat. My La Perm should have a long elegant neck, a fairly small head, and curly whiskers and eyebrows. I'm looking for high cheeks, almond shaped eyes set on the slant below medium-size widely spaced, fully furnished ears. The Gypsy Shag curls should cover the whole of the body of the cat. In longhair La Perms the coat may tend to part down the spine, over which the coat may feel somewhat coarser but never wiry
Scoring for the La Perm cat
40 points are given from the head and neck knows ears and eyes, 25 points the body legs paws & tail and 30 points of the coat
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