reed History

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.

            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 that 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.

            Upon the advice of a friend, Linda then decided to enter her cats for exhibition at a show to get "the experts" opinion of what she had.  But she was totally unprepared for the interest and excitement generated by the cats she brought to these shows.  In order to show her cats Linda had to come up with a name for her genetically unique felines.  She came up with the name "LaPerm", which means wavy or rippled in several languages.  One of the first to see the cats and encourage Linda to work with this breed was noted CFA judge, Kim Everett.  It was through the encouragement of Mrs. Everett and others that Linda decided to approach the idea of having the breed recognized.  And thus a new breed was born.

LaPerm History

As told by Linda Koehl, Breed Founder

The Dalles, Oregon is an area rich in Indian lore and legends one of which is of the woman Chief of the Wishram Indians, Tsagaglalal or She Who Watches. It was the spring of 1982 and working barn cats giving birth was nothing new to Linda and Dick Koehl; however, Linda had never actually witnessed the kittens being born so this time when one of her gray tabbies gave birth she watched.  Nothing could have prepared Linda for what she was about to witness, for under the watchful eye of Tsagaglalal a kitten was born that would forever change Linda's life as well as that of the cat fancy. In a litter of six born that eventful day one was completely bald, nothing like her littermates or her mother. Linda said she was the ugliest kitten she had ever seen with no hair, a tabby pattern marked on her skin and large, wide-spaced ears. Linda had doubts about this kitten’s survival.

        Survive she did, however, and within several weeks this ugly duckling began to transform into a swan, growing a soft, curly coat of fur. By the time it was three or four months old it had a full coat of curly hair and Linda found herself drawn to the feel of it; she couldn't help petting it and stroking it at every opportunity. Curly, as Linda named her, loved the attention. Curly's temperament was different from the other cats Linda and Dick had experienced; she was affectionate, gentle and trusting, enjoying the love and attention lavished on her but willing to wait her turn to receive it. Her personality seemed to be tied to the gene for her curly coat as Curly later gave birth to five male kittens, each of them bald at birth. As they grew their temperament was the same as Curly's, affectionate but not demanding. Unfortunately, Curly's insistence at remaining an outside cat resulted in her failing to show up one morning and she was never seen again. Equally unfortunate, there are no known pictures of Curly.

        Over the next ten years as more and more bald kittens were born Linda began to seek additional information about unusual cats. At the urging of her friends she entered some of the curly coated cats as an exhibition in a CFA show to get the opinions of breeders more experienced than she. The master clerk at the show, Dennis Ganoe, happened by and stopped to stare at this new breed of cat, asking many questions. He made an announcement over the PA system that everyone should come see these unusual cats and before long a crowd had gathered clamoring excitedly about the LaPerm, the name given the breed by Linda in order to be able to enter the show and which means wavy or curly in several languages. It was at the urging of many of her friends and fellow breeders that Linda decided to begin the journey of having the LaPerm formally recognized as a new breed. Tsagaglalal is smiling.

Timeline