A curly lamb is a thought that arises when you first see this miracle of nature. Moreover, a miracle of nature in the truest sense of the word, since the appearance of this breed of cats belongs more to the category of accidents than patterns, and the birth of its first representative in the litter of an ordinary, unremarkable domestic cat was the result of a certain genetic mutation, as it turned out only a decade later, very rare in the world of cats.
The history of the origin of the LaPerm breed
It happened in 1982, when a tabby cat named Speedy, who lived with her "breeders" on the farm of Linda and Richard Cowell (Koehl) from Dulles in Oregon (not to be confused with Dallas in Texas!), USA, brought six kittens in a litter, one of which was completely hairless, but all covered with wrinkles and was, moreover, noticeably weaker than the rest of his brothers and sisters. All over, it turned out that he was not a tenant.
However, after just a couple of months, everything fell into place - the extraordinary kitty somehow imperceptibly got stronger and acquired curled vibrates, and she also had a ball of wool that none of her relatives had before, which had a tendency to curl up, very pleasant to the touch.
As a result, Curly or Curly, as her owners called her, grew up and also began to bring kittens, some of which had the same external signs as their own mother - a dashingly curled mustache and curly hair, as well as large, wide-set ears.
After a whole decade of "spontaneous" formation of a curly, and sometimes not very, feline pride on a private Cowell farm, in 1992, Linda Cowell put several of her tailed charges on public display at a multi-level industry competition of domestic cats in Portland, which instantly attracted them to them. first the attention of the judges of these competitions (one of which was a certain Dennis Ganu, now aka Dannigan LaPerm, a sincere fan and enthusiast of this breed), and then the local mass media, thereby ensuring the unprecedented success of this breed among the inhabitants there.
And sometime later, professional felinologists, having examined the descendants of Kudryashka, who had all the same external signs as she herself, found that all this is a consequence of a rather rare genetic mutation, and the gene responsible for these very external signs is dominant and that It would be nice, they say, for the Cowell couple to start breeding a new breed of domestic cats themselves, and, moreover, purposefully, and not to let this business go by itself, as it was before.
The new breed of curly domestic cats was named in a mixed French-English manner - LaPerm (LaPerm in English), meaning the permanent, "permanent" perm of women's hair with the addition of the prefix in the form of the French female definite article La to this name, in what outside there can be no doubt about the Chinook tradition of borrowing French definite articles with the addition of distorted French or English nouns.
And in 1997, yesterday's farmer Linda Cowell compiled the first standard of LaPerm's with her own hand, describing in detail all its external features, after which their breeding reached a qualitatively new, higher professional level, and Siamese and Manx cat breeds were involved in the selection of a new breed.
But the official international recognition of Lapermov was somewhat delayed - TICA recognized them as a new breed of domestic cats only at the beginning of the XXI century, in 2002. In 2008 and 2011, the Lapermov was recognized by several other international teleological organizations with the establishment of a single international standard for this breed.
Currently, felinologists are carrying out painstaking work on the further formation and preservation of the phenotype of LaPerm.
Features of the breed
Lapermov is considered to be very attached to a person, dependent on him, requiring his constant attention. But at the same time, they can by no means be called intrusive, although it is quite common for them to show affection, consciously reach directly to the person's face, touch his paws and lick him. It is clear that the same, gentle and affectionate touches and hugs, they look forward to from a person.
Description of the cat lair breed
As with most breeds of domestic and wild cats, dimorphism is characteristic of LaPerm, in which males are slightly larger than females, the average weight of a male is 4-5 kg, and females are 3-4 kg.
Views
Lapras are of two types, and their whole difference comes down to the length of the coat:
- long-haired and
- short-haired.
Breed standard
The standard of the LaPerm breed is described in detail on specialized resources on the World Wide Web, and therefore we will touch on only some of the distinctive features of these cats.
First of all, it is, of course, their wonderful wool of a very different color, length, and degree of curliness, especially curled at the ears, on the belly, and on the neck.
The eyes are medium and large, slightly slanted, almond-shaped, any color is allowed by the standards.
Other features include prominent mustache pads, full and rounded, as well as large ears.
Color
According to the international official standards of this breed established at the beginning of this century, the color of its representatives can be any, even the color of the thigh of a frightened nymph, even a frog in a swoon, or, say, a Moscow fire or Parisian mud.
But seriously, the following standards are allowed, the most common currently colors of cats of the LaPerm breed:
- White,
- black,
- Ivory,
- chocolate,
- cinnamon.
And in total, these standards assume up to three dozen different colors of cats of the LaPerm breed, and only two are considered inherited - these are tabby or tabby colors and tortie.
Behavior and character
Lapras are excellent hunters, and here the past of their first ancestors from the Cowell family's own farm in Oregon is clearly manifested. At the same time, they feel quite comfortable within four walls, be it a city apartment or a private house somewhere outside the city.
Cats of this breed are extremely unusual: they know how to "listen" and "console" anyone. They are smart, gentle, loyal, benevolent, and curious. They easily get along with other pets and absolutely do not tolerate loneliness.
Health and care
It goes without saying that LaPerm's require comprehensive self-care, compliance with basic hygiene standards throughout their life.
How and what to feed
In food, LaPerm's are rather unpretentious, and this again affects their genetics - after all, their ancestors from the farm of Linda and Richard Cowell lived for a long time in a wooden barn and ate, as Linda herself once said, mainly on mice.
Nevertheless, as for any domestic cat, for representatives of this breed, it is imperative to provide a diet in which lean meat would make up 80% of the total amount of food, and the remaining 20% would be vegetables, cereals, and dairy products.
Alternatively, consider eating well-known manufacturers of ready-to-eat pet foods.
Moreover, kittens are fed up to four to six times a day, gradually, with their maturation and transition into adulthood, reducing this rate to two times a day.
Haircare
It is customary to pay special attention to Laperm wool, and the main reason for this is its obvious uniqueness. It is combed with a special brush once or twice every one and a half two weeks, and more often during the molting period.
And the lairmovs are regularly bathed, at least three to four times a year, with the use of special zoo shampoos, after which they are thoroughly dried with a terry towel, in order to avoid all sorts of colds.
Care of teeth and ears
It is imperative to daily check the teeth, ears, nose, and eyes to identify possible "anomalies" in the form of tartar formation on the teeth, which can eventually lead to gingivitis, acute inflammation of the cat's gums; and the ears and eyes are examined in order to prevent ear and eye diseases, the corners of the eyes, if necessary, gently, barely touching, wipe with a paper towel or cotton swab soaked in warm boiled water.
Nail care
Claws are trimmed as needed, at least once every two weeks, moreover, this should be done from an early age, from the very young age of a child, so that in the future such simple operations do not cause him questions and do not cause stress.
Diseases
Hereditary diseases are absent in the Laperm's as a class, as they would say at the time of it. Some experts on this breed argue that the main problem of these cats is their possible infestation with fleas and therefore advise them to regularly treat them from any parasites in general.
It is clear that during their life all cats can carry various infectious diseases, and therefore regular visits to the veterinary clinic and consultations with felinogol specialists are hereby only welcomed.
Reproduction and life expectancy
Do you think that lapermas reproduce by spores? Far from it! They reproduce like everyone else, reaching puberty relatively late, by 12-15 months. Healthy offspring in cats is guaranteed if mating does not begin earlier than the second or third year from her birth.
And the average life expectancy of cats of this breed is 12 - 15 years.
The cost of kittens of the LaPerm breed, price
In Europe, cats of this breed appeared only at the beginning of this century, and at the present time, there is no need to talk about any prevalence of Lapermov. The number of European catteries or clubs specializing in breeding these cats can be counted on one hand, including ours, domestic ones. There is one and only one for the whole country in Moscow, and its address can be found on the Internet.
The cost of kittens of the LaPerm breed is more or less the same all over the world, starting from the $ 500 mark and going up to $ 1,500 and even higher for individual specimens.
Sometimes kittens with straight hair appear in the litter of LaPerm cats, that is, without the slightest hint of future waviness, remaining, nevertheless, quite thoroughbred, fully possessing all the advantages of the wonderful breed to which they belong.
The only disadvantage of straight-haired LaPerm cats is their exclusion from competitions and contests. Accordingly, the cost of such individuals is significantly lower. Nevertheless, the offspring of such cats and cats give the most that neither is "branded" - as befits all kinds of modern standards, with wavy and curly hair.
Where and how to buy a LaPerm cat
Laperma kittens are weaned from their mother at 13 weeks of age. The choice is made for simple reasons - pet-class kittens will be good companions, just pets, and representatives of the breed and show classes, respectively, by manufacturers and regular participants in industry exhibitions and competitions. Hence, their price is formed; Moreover, it is clear that the last two categories automatically mean the most careful selection - from time-tested breeders.
The same directly applies to the health of the future family member - this implies an equally thorough examination of the entire appearance of the applicant for this role. It is highly desirable with the participation of a limnologist.
Pros and cons of the LaPerm breed, table
Like any breed of domestic cats, Lapermies are full of original advantages of very different properties, but there are also enough disadvantages, mostly technical. Here are just some of their pros and cons.
Owner reviews
It is clear that the reviews of the owners of the LaPerm's are all entirely positive - their high intelligence, cute "talkativeness", inherited from their Siamese ancestors, and so on and so forth, are noted.
Interesting Facts
Some cats of this breed tend to go through the stage of total molting, losing their hair, balding almost completely, and then regrowing even thicker, wavy, and thick guard hair - in contrast to us bipeds. By the way, cats of this breed are considered hypoallergenic - the “fault” is the lack of any undercoat. But the unusual to the touch wavy wool gave the LaPerm from Dulles a second unofficial name - an alpaca cat, named after an alpaca, a meek and rather cute conventionally domestic animal from the camel family from South America, highly valued by the local aborigines for its beautiful fur and wool, used for the production of warm and soft blankets, blankets, clothes and the like.
Many LaPerm cats do not shy away from water at all and splash with pleasure in the bathroom.
Currently, enthusiastic breeders of the breed maintain an international registry The LaPerm Database, numbering tens, if not hundreds of thousands of records of feline pedigrees, originating directly from the aforementioned Curly or Curly. The duties of the club members, among many others, include the provision of reliable shelter and new owners to individuals of the LaPerm, for some reason left without a roof over their heads, and so on.