 The
LaPerm is a recognized breed of cat. A LaPerm's fur is curly (hence
the name "perm"), with the tightest curls being on the belly, throat
and base of the ears. La Perms come in many colors and patterns. La
Perms generally have a very affectionate personality
The LaPerm
Society of America, or LPSA as we are known, was the brain child of
A.D. (Andy) Lawrence after getting her first LaPerm from breed
founder Linda Koehl. The purposes for founding The LaPerm Society of
America were that we wanted to not only better the breed, but also
have a core group of people willing to work together with respect to
thoughts and policies in raising kittens. LPSA is dedicated to the
betterment of the LaPerm breed and to getting the breed recognized
by CFA and other feline registries.
As Secretary/Treasurer of The LaPerm Society of America, Andy
worked closely with Linda Koehl, breed founder. They were the two
founding members of this club. LPSA is the original organization
promoting the LaPerm as a breed.
Anyone interested in the LaPerm is welcome to join our club as an
associate member and we welcome inquiries for people interested in
helping to promote the breed by showing and/or breeding. Breeders
promoting the breed at shows are eligible to become voting members
of the club after one year.
We produce a quarterly newsletter; and in it we strive very hard to
provide information for the health of the cats as well as
informative articles on the breed itself. We have been very
fortunate in that approximately half of our members have not joined
because they have LaPerms, but rather because the newsletter is so
informative that it is beneficial to any breed of cat. This gives us
a wonderful means of meeting new people and sharing our information.
Hostory
The Columbia River Gorge is one of the most beautiful areas in
the world. The area was home for many Indian tribes and is rich in
culture and history. Ten thousand years ago as the Salmon, “Noo-sok”,
made their trek up the “Big River” to spawn, the Indian people lived
with and around the most powerful and beautiful River Gorge in North
America. Many Indian names are still identifiable today such as Mah-no
ma, which interprets to Multnomah Falls, the areas tallest and one
of the most gorgeous falls in North America. Many legends abound in
the area as well such as the legend of Fire Mountain, that of
Multnomah Falls and of course the legend of the woman chief of the
Wishram Indians, She Who Watches or “Tsagaglalal”. This is an area
covered with ancient Indian hunting and fishing grounds. In the
midst of these hunting grounds, near The Dalles, Oregon and under
the watchful eye of Tsagaglalal, the LaPerm came into existence in
the spring of 1982.
The original mutation, which was the first LaPerm, sprang from
strong, healthy, domestic “barn-cat” stock. The original cat was
unique in a number of ways, other than just the lack of hair at
birth. We have found that the body type and
temperament are as much a part of the breed as is the “Rex” gene.
A barn cat gave birth to a litter of six, one of which was born
completely bald, looking nothing like her mother or littermates. The
kitten was, without a doubt, the ugliest kitten in the world having
no hair, large wide-spaced ears and a blueprint pattern on her skin
that mimicked a classic tabby pattern.
Within eight weeks the kitten began to grow very soft, curly hair.
By about three to four months of age, the kitten now known as
“Curly” had a full coat of curly hair. Not being very knowledgeable
about cats, owner Linda Koehl accepted the "mutant" as unique and
thought nothing more of the matter.
As Curly grew, her soft fur felt so inviting to the touch that Linda
found herself constantly picking her up. Curly's temperament was
different too; she was affectionate but not demanding, patiently
waiting quietly for her turn. She was gentle and trusting with her
affection.
As a working barn cat Curly had a brush with death that could have
prevented the creation of the breed. One morning she climbed into
the fan housing of a pickup to get warm. When the truck was started
Curly was pinned between the blade and the housing. Her yowl alerted
Linda to the fact that she was under the hood. As the fan blade was
manually reversed, Curly fell to the ground giving the appearance
that she was beyond help. When an attempt was made to pick her up
she revived and quickly scurried from the scene as fast as she
could. Once away from the truck she calmed down enough to allow
inspection of her injuries and was taken to a veterinarian. Curly
had sustained serious gashes on 2 legs and across her nose. She
fortunately had no broken bones or internal injuries.
During her recovery, Curly was the perfect patient displaying many
of the qualities we have come to expect from this unique breed. She
was very patient, made no attempt to disturb her dressings and
seemed to thrive on the extra attention she was receiving. Removing
the tape and taking hair with it seemed to be no problem for Curly
either. She handled the situation like a trooper, making no attempt
to escape, bite or scratch. Having strong work ethics this
convalescence period was about the longest period of time Curly ever
cared to spend in the house. After the ordeal was over she would
come in and visit on a regular basis but was essentially an outdoor
cat. Curly’s first litter was occasion for her second brush with
death. However, fate and Linda intervened.
Apparently taken by surprise by the onset of labor and instead of
seeking shelter in a barn, Curly gave birth to her five kittens
under a tree in the orchard during a rainstorm. The frantic barking
of dogs awakened Linda causing her enough concern that she put on
coat and boots, grabbed a flashlight and went outside to
investigate. Following the sound of the dogs, Linda found Curly
straddling her newborn babies and holding the dogs off. Linda chased
the dogs away, picked up the kittens putting them in her coat
pockets and then tucked Curly under her coat and took the entire
brood into the barn making a nest in a bale of hay. The next morning
Linda discovered that there were 5 kittens, all male and all bald as
Curly had been at birth. This intrigued Linda and she began to do
research on cats thereby deciding she had had some sort of “Rex”
mutation. Linda found this a “novel” situation but beyond that,
never gave it another thought. Curly’s future litters provided only
occasional hairless kittens of both sexes. Curly’s insistence at
being an outdoor cat eventually led to her disappearance. Linda
never found out what had become of her as she just stopped showing
up for her morning visits. Curly left behind a number of kittens who
had all inherited her soft, curly coat and marvelous disposition.
During the next 10 years no attempt was made to breed selectively
but as the frequency of bald kittens increased Linda began to seek
additional information about unusual cats. Linda had no knowledge of
genetics or breeding and thus she allowed them to roam free through
the barns and orchard for several years. They were excellent mousers
and kept the property rodent free as a result.
As she became aware of how truly unique these cats were, Linda
started to confine and control the breeding. It appeared that the
curly gene was dominant and carried by both males and females. An
occasional “boo-boo” led to enlarging the gene pool but at the same
time maintained the same physical and personality characteristics."
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