American Curl

The story begins with an everyday scene. In June 1981, in Lakewood, California, two long-haired stray kittens with oddly back-turned ears appeared outside the home of Joe and Grace Ruga. One, a female called Panda, disappeared after a fortnight. The second stayed and was named Shulamith — a black long-haired cat from whom, in the CFA’s own wording, every American Curl without exception descends. The breed has, quite literally, a single founding point.

In December 1981 Shulamith produced her first litter: two of the four kittens inherited the curled ears. That alone was enough to suggest dominant inheritance — the trait passed from a single carrier parent and was not “lost” in the generation. The first public showing took place on 23 October 1983 at a CFA show in Palm Springs, California. In January 1984 the first Curl × Curl mating was made, and the kittens were born in March of the same year.

What follows is the least typical part of the story for a young breed: before building up stock, the breeders went to geneticists. The mutation was studied by Solveig Pflueger and the British felinologist Roy Robinson. Robinson’s result appeared in the December 1989 Journal of Heredity — a two-page note that still stands as the sole reference for this trait in the curated database of inherited traits, OMIA. By the figures the CFA and TICA cite from it, Robinson analysed 81 litters — 383 kittens — and found no defects in any cross combination examined.

Recognition came quickly. The CFA accepted Curls for registration in 1986, granted provisional status in 1991 and admitted them to the championship class in 1993. The breed also entered the association’s history on a line of its own: it is the first breed admitted to the CFA championship class as a single breed with two coat lengths — shorthairs and longhairs were not split apart. FIFe recognised the American Curl Longhair and Shorthair in 2003. The Canadian CCA, by contrast, judges them as two distinct breeds — a useful reminder that “recognised” does not mean “organised the same way everywhere”.

One clarification that heads off a common confusion: cats are not registered by the FCI. The Fédération Cynologique Internationale deals with dogs, and FCI standards for feline breeds simply do not exist. For the Curl the authorities are CFA, TICA, FIFe, WCF and national bodies such as the Canadian CCA. If someone shows you an “FCI standard for the American Curl”, the source is mistaken.

A great deal is written about the Curl’s ears, and mostly the same thing. Let us separate the layers — established fact, and what remains unknown.

What is established. In that 1989 paper Robinson described the trait as monogenic autosomal dominant and named the mutant gene curl, symbol Cu. “Monogenic” means one locus governs ear shape, not the sum of many. “Autosomal” means it does not sit on the sex chromosomes, so males and females inherit it alike. “Dominant” means one copy is enough: mate a curled-eared Curl to a straight-eared cat and, statistically, about half the kittens will have the curl. That is precisely the figure TICA gives when describing the introduction of straight-eared cats.

What is still unknown. The international database of inherited animal traits, OMIA, maintained by the University of Sydney, holds the record Curl in the cat (OMIA:000244-9685) with three entries: single-gene trait — yes, mode of inheritance — autosomal dominant, key variant known — no. In other words, the DNA sequence whose alteration turns the ear back has still not been published after nearly forty years. The practical consequence is direct: there is no DNA test “for the curl”, and a kitten’s phenotype can be predicted only from pedigree and observation. If you are offered such a test, ask which variant exactly it detects.

One more OMIA entry, and it matters most: the same record carries the field “disease-related” with the value “no”. That is a cautious curatorial wording and should be read literally — it applies to one locus, not to the whole breed. The database does not link the curl gene itself to a disease. That is not the same as the claim “this breed has no problems”, and the second should not be substituted for the first.

Why the comparison with the folded ear keeps coming up. Because there the situation is the opposite and has been worked out down to the molecule. In the Scottish Fold the ear fold is caused by the substitution c.1024G>T (p.V342F) in the TRPV4 gene; inheritance is autosomal incompletely dominant, and in OMIA the trait is explicitly flagged as disease-related — osteochondrodysplasia, affecting the distal limbs, the tail and the joints. Homozygotes are severely affected, heterozygotes more mildly, but radiographic changes are found in them too. In other words: in the Scottish, ear and skeleton belong to the same gene; in the Curl, science does not tie those two threads together. These are two mutations, two genes, two stories.

And here is the most recent and most useful finding. In 2026 the journal Animal Genetics published work by a Japanese team (Ukawa and colleagues) that looked for the TRPV4 variant c.1024G>T beyond Scottish Folds alone: 8610 cats of fourteen breeds were tested. Among the 115 cats registered as American Curls, two (1.7 %) proved to be heterozygous carriers of the folded-ear variant; there were no homozygotes. Carriers were also found in Norwegian Forest Cats, Munchkins and Minuets. The authors attribute this to historical crosses with Scottish Folds and draw a conclusion worth remembering for any buyer: the curl phenotypically masks the fold, so a carrier cannot be spotted by eye. A separate paper from the same group showed that in some TRPV4 heterozygotes the ear folded in kittenhood straightens by adulthood — the so-called “hidden folds”.

One reservation, which the authors declare under competing interests: the study was carried out by employees of a commercial laboratory that sells the test for this variant. That does not invalidate the data, but it explains why the paper concludes by urging screening in other breeds. For an owner the practical sense is unambiguous all the same: the carrier proportion is small but not zero, and the TRPV4 test — unlike the non-existent test “for the curl” — exists and works. Asking a breeder about it is reasonable, especially if the pedigree contains matings outside the breed.

A standard is not poetry but a list of measurable requirements, and for the Curl it is unusually detailed precisely about the ears. With TICA the ears are worth 20 points out of 100; with the Canadian CCA, 30 out of 100, against 60 points for the head as a whole. No other detail carries such weight.

1. The arc. TICA puts it this way: an arc of curl of at least 90 degrees, not exceeding 180. Below 90 is insufficient; above 180 is already excessive.
2. The cartilage. Firm cartilage must run from the base over at least one third of the ear’s height. The standard adds that it should feel smooth and be barely thicker than in an uncurled ear. A thick or calcified ear is grounds for withholding awards (the CCA’s wording).
3. The tips. Rounded and flexible. A rigid tip is a disqualification with TICA.
4. Set and direction. Ears wide at the base and open, curving back in a smooth arc along a circular line, set equally on top of and to the sides of the head. TICA adds a remark of its own: in an alert Curl with its ears turned forward, the lines continuing the curve of the ears must converge at the centre of the base of the skull.
5. What is penalised. An abrupt change of direction instead of a smooth curve, dents and ripples in the curled part, a low set, and the “crimp” — a horizontal or vertical creased fold. On the vertical crimp TICA states plainly that the outer edge of the ear near the cheekbone appears folded forward, “as if closing the entrance to the ear canal”, creating an extra rigid line of cartilage that interferes with the curve.
6. What is disqualified. Straight or markedly asymmetrical ears; absence of firm cartilage at the base; extreme curl in an adult, where the ear tip touches the back of the head or the ear itself; inflexible tips. And as a separate clause — ears whose lower part is abnormally flattened, shows compressed ridges of cartilage and lacks a normal, visible ear cavity.

That last clause deserves a second reading. It means the feline organisations do not merely describe a pretty arc — they explicitly bar from the ring any ear in which cartilage deformity has closed off the normal ear cavity. A “normal, visible ear cavity” is therefore written into the standard as the norm, its absence as a fault. The converse follows: in a correctly built Curl the ear cavity is normal. The widespread claim that “Curls have a narrowed ear canal” contradicts the standards, and we do not repeat it.

The standard yields a second, purely practical conclusion. Firm cartilage at the base and a flexible tip make a structure with a limit to what it will take. TICA warns directly: the cartilage should be neither rigid nor floppy, and the ears must be handled so as not to break it. A Curl’s ear must not be unfolded to “look deeper”, nor pulled during cleaning, and children must not grab the cat by the ears.

And third: kittens are born straight-eared. The curl appears in the first days of life, and the final degree, per TICA and the CFA, settles at about four months (16 weeks). The CFA uses a three-step grading: first degree — pet quality, second — breeder quality, third, the full “crescent” — show quality. A simple rule follows: a kitten’s show potential cannot be assessed before four months — not by the breeder, the buyer, or a photograph. Any promise of “show class” at eight weeks is a promise on trust.

Take away the ears and what remains is a pointedly moderate cat. The TICA standard sets a semi-foreign type: slender, elegant, balanced, of medium bone — neither fine nor heavy. It is written with the smaller cat in mind, while males are allowed some latitude for cheeks. Excessive size is penalised.

1. Head. A modified wedge without flat planes, about one and a half times longer than wide. Profile: straight nose, a slight rise from the lower line of the eyes to the brow, a gentle curve from forehead to the top of the skull flowing into the neck without a break. A deep stop at the bridge is penalised.
2. Eyes. TICA calls the shape “walnut”; the CCA is more precise: oval on top, round below. Moderately large, set at a slight angle between ear base and nose tip, one eye’s width apart. Colour clear and brilliant, unrelated to coat colour; the one exception is colourpoints, whose eyes must be blue.
3. Body. Rectangular, its length about one and a half times the height at the withers. Chest and flanks of medium depth, neck medium. A tubular or, conversely, cobby body is a fault.
4. Limbs. Of medium length, in proportion to the body, set straight when viewed from front and rear. Paws medium and rounded.
5. Tail. Flexible, wide at the base, tapering, equal to body length. The CCA offers a handy check: laid along the body it reaches the shoulder. In longhairs it is full, a plume. Any tail fault is a disqualification.
6. Coat. The shorthair is soft, silky, flat-lying, resilient, without plush density; the semi-longhair fine, silky, also flat-lying. In both the undercoat is minimal, written into the standard as a requirement: heavy undercoat, a thick ruff, cottony or plush texture are penalised.
7. Colour. All categories, all divisions, all colours — that is how TICA words it; the CCA says “any colour or combination of colours and patterns”. The reason lies in the origin: the breed was developed from non-pedigree domestic cats, and there was no point in restricting the palette.

Descriptions of the Curl’s temperament rarely diverge between sources, which is telling in itself. The TICA standard characterises the breed as intelligent, alert and active, of even, gentle temperament and strongly bonded to its people. The CCA words it almost identically: “alert, with a gentle, even disposition”. TICA’s breed profile adds the traits that usually settle the choice: inquisitive, exuberant and affectionate, extremely people-oriented, with a quiet voice.

Hence the nickname — “the Peter Pan of cats”. It refers not to size or immaturity but to a kitten’s way of playing persisting into adulthood: interest in anything that moves, the habit of touching whatever is interesting with a paw, following a person from room to room. Many owners describe a “dog-like” sociability — greeting at the door, settling beside you rather than in a corner of its own.

That even temperament is written into show rules. With TICA, the temperament of an exhibited Curl must be “unchallenging”: the cat may be frightened, try to leave or complain loudly, but it has no right to threaten, and any clear challenge to the judge is a disqualification. That is not a description of a house cat, but it is a fair guide: aggression is not selected for.

The practical consequence of that people-orientation is also the breed’s chief drawback: a cat built around contact copes poorly with a long empty day. If nobody is regularly at home for ten to twelve hours, the Curl needs either a second pet or an honest reconsideration in favour of a more self-sufficient breed. With children and other animals Curls get on well — provided the children have been taught not to grab the cat by the ears.

The internet writes about the Curl’s health mostly in superlatives. We do not use such formulas: they convey nothing. Let us set out what here rests on a document.

About the gene itself. The OMIA database marks the trait “Curl” as not disease-related. Robinson, in 1989, found no defects in the crosses analysed, as the CFA and TICA report it. These are two independent statements about one locus, and they are stable. What they do not contain is any statement about the breed as a whole, about disease frequency, or about longevity. A statement about one locus and one about an entire population are not of equal reach, and the first must not stand in for the second. Whenever you read a percentage about Curls, check what sample it rests on.

The ears — a real point, not an invented one. The vet-reviewed guide PetMD (updated July 2024, reviewed by Barri J. Morrison, DVM) lists ear infections first among the breed’s problems and explains the cause: the unusual shape of the ear promotes the accumulation of wax. Note the wording — this is an accumulation of secretion inside the ear flap, not a narrowing of the ear canal. The standards, as we saw, require a normal ear cavity instead. The practical consequence is simple: a Curl’s ears must be inspected regularly and cleaned properly when needed, with more attention than in a straight-eared cat.

Carrying the TRPV4 variant. The only breed-specific point with recent quantitative work behind it, set out above: 2 carriers among 115 Curls tested in the Japanese sample of 2026. The proportion is small, but in a given line it can be checked only by testing, since the curl masks the carrier’s phenotype. If the pedigree contains matings outside the breed, the question to the breeder is fair.

The heart. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the commonest heart disease in cats generally, pedigree and non-pedigree alike; familial forms are described in several breeds, among them the Maine Coon and American Shorthair. We give no separate figure for HCM frequency in Curls: a number we would be prepared to put our name to, we do not have. Echocardiographic screening of breeding animals remains standard practice in responsible catteries whatever the breed, and asking about it is sensible.

Teeth and weight. The same PetMD guide names dental disease and obesity — both concern the cat as a species, not the Curl as a breed. That does not make them less important: dental disease is among the most underestimated causes of chronic discomfort in cats, and excess weight makes practically everything else worse. Home dental hygiene and condition control are exactly the part of care that lies entirely with the owner.

The gene pool. Here it is important not to confuse the document with the impression. What is documented is this: TICA still permits as an outcross a domestic shorthair or longhair belonging to no recognised breed. The Canadian CCA permits the same — with an end date explicitly written in as 1 May 2035 and the proviso that the non-pedigree cat must not resemble any breed. The CFA, by contrast, has closed its stud book: outcrosses were allowed only for litters born before 1 January 2015. One and the same breed therefore has a different degree of openness in different registries. TICA also explains the motive: straight-eared cats are introduced “to ensure the health and genetic diversity of the breed”. That is a documented breeding policy. Measured indices of genetic diversity — of the kind published for a number of other breeds — we do not give for this one: a number we would be prepared to put our name to, we do not have.

Lifespan. PetMD gives 12–16 years. That is a guidebook estimate, not the result of a cohort study; we cite it with its source and do not blend it with the other ranges circulating online.

This is the only procedure in which the Curl genuinely differs from an ordinary cat, and the only one in which carelessness causes injury.

1. Look first, touch second. A healthy ear is pink inside, odourless, with very little secretion. If it looks clean, it is not cleaned: cleaning “just in case” irritates the skin and provokes exactly what you are trying to avoid.
2. The direction of the movement. The CFA describes the technique precisely: work up and away from the entrance to the ear canal with a cotton bud moistened with ear lotion, without pulling on the delicate cartilage. The key word is “away”: nothing is pushed inward. Everything beyond the visible part of the flap belongs to the vet, not the owner.
3. Do not unfold the cartilage. TICA warns specifically that the ears must be handled so as not to break the cartilage. Do not straighten the ear to look deeper, do not hold the cat by the ear, and do not let children or groomers do so. Flag this breed feature to the veterinary practice at the first visit.
4. Products for cats only, and as directed. Ear lotions for other species, and alcohol-based or homemade solutions, can irritate and damage ear tissue. Choosing the product is a question for the vet, especially if the ear is already inflamed.
5. Tell the normal from the alarming. TICA writes that dark ear wax is normal for the breed and that the ears should be cleaned periodically. Keep one qualification in mind: a dry, dark deposit resembling coffee grounds, with an odour, is the classic picture of ear mites, not a “breed feature”, and the two cannot be told apart by eye. Reasons to see a vet: the cat scratches its ear often or shakes its head, the ear is reddened, there is an odour, discharge is copious, the deposit returns quickly after cleaning.
6. Accustom from kittenhood. Inspecting an ear takes a few seconds and should be associated with a treat, not a struggle. A kitten used to the procedure by four months does not turn it into a problem as an adult.

Everything that does not concern the ears is undemanding, and the reason is written into the standard: minimal undercoat. It is the undercoat that supplies the bulk of shed hair and the tendency to mat, and here it is sparse by requirement, in both varieties. TICA notes that a silky, flat-lying coat with little undercoat also means little shedding.

The CFA gives a specific frequency: comb or brush two to three times a month. The semi-longhair may deserve a little more during the seasonal moult; the shorthair does well on the basic routine. A comb beats a slicker: the aim is not to tear out a scarce undercoat but to distribute skin oils and remove dead hair.

The rest is standard: trim claws as they grow, put scratching posts where the cat actually spends its time, brush the teeth, wipe the eyes as needed. Curls take to the litter tray easily. Many accept a harness and enjoy going out, but habituation must be gradual and start at home.

A word on allergy, because “sheds little” and “hypoallergenic” are not synonyms. The main feline allergen Fel d 1 is produced by the salivary and sebaceous glands and reaches the coat during grooming; less shed hair slightly reduces how far it spreads around the home, but does not remove it. Hypoallergenic cats do not exist, and the Curl is no exception.

There is no special “Curl diet” — no feature of the breed calls for a formula of its own. The general feline rules apply here exactly as they do to a non-pedigree cat.

The cat is an obligate carnivore: it needs animal protein and taurine, which it does not synthesise in sufficient quantity. A complete commercial food solves that by definition; a home ration put together by eye does not, so it must be calculated by a veterinary nutritionist or deficiencies are inevitable.

Second, water. Cats evolved to drink little and take moisture from prey. Wet food, several bowls in different rooms and, for many cats, a drinking fountain are simple ways to raise fluid intake, which matters for the urinary tract.

Third and chief, weight control. The Curl is active, but activity does not cancel arithmetic: free access to the bowl plus neutering plus a flat produce weight gain very reliably. Go by condition rather than the scales: ribs palpable under a thin layer of fat, waist visible from above, abdomen tucked up. An adult is fed measured portions twice a day; kittens eat more often, on the breeder’s schedule, and food is changed gradually over a week to a week and a half.

What is not needed: milk for adult cats (most do not digest lactose), raw fish as a habit, bones, onion and garlic in any form, chocolate, and table scraps as a system.

The Curl is the case in which “training a cat” stops sounding ironic. The standard describes the breed as intelligent, alert and active, and play motivation that persists into adulthood gives a convenient lever: a cat that wants to play will readily work for play and for food.

Only positive reinforcement works. Cats do not link punishment to the act — they link it to the person, and the result is not training but mistrust. The scheme is simple: desired behaviour earns an immediate treat or game; undesired behaviour is not reinforced and the opportunity is removed. That is how you build a response to the name, a paw on request, walking into the carrier, and calm acceptance of nail clippers and ear inspection. One detail repays itself: if the carrier stands open in the room as an ordinary sleeping place rather than appearing once a year before a trip to the vet, half the stress of visits disappears.

Environment decides as much as training. Verticality is needed — shelves, cat trees, a windowsill with a view; scratching surfaces of various kinds; toys rotated rather than all left out. Two short wand-hunting sessions a day, each ending in an actual “catch”, meet the predatory need better than a basket of toys. Puzzle feeders make the cat work for its food and slow down the too-fast eaters.

Everything above yields entirely concrete questions. They are what distinguishes a cattery that understands its breed from a seller who merely recites it.

• With which registry is the litter recorded, and to which standard does the cattery work? CFA, TICA, FIFe and the national organisations differ in their outcross rules and even on whether shorthairs and longhairs count as one breed. What is written in your pedigree depends on the answer.
• Does the pedigree contain matings outside the breed, and were the breeding animals tested for the TRPV4 variant? Remember: the curl masks the folded ear, and “hidden folds” exist — visual inspection does not close the question.
• How old is the kitten and what exactly is promised about the curl? Before four months the degree has not settled. An honest breeder says so; promising “third degree” for a two-month-old kitten is a promise, not an assessment.
• Are there straight-eared kittens in the litter, and what is done with them? The right answer is that they are a normal part of the breed: TICA and the CFA explicitly call straight-eared Curls valuable for planned breeding in the interests of genetic diversity. A straight ear disqualifies in the ring, but does not make the cat “faulty”.
• What do the parents’ ears look like and how are they maintained? Ask to be shown how ears are cleaned at the cattery. A breeder who pulls the ear and pushes a bud into it has already answered.
• Were the breeding animals examined, and what documents will you receive? Echocardiography and a general veterinary examination are the reasonable minimum for a serious cattery; the documents must exist, not merely be described in words.
• How has the kitten been socialised? The breed is built around contact with people. A kitten raised in a room with people, a vacuum cleaner and visitors starts from a fundamentally different place than one raised in an isolated pen.

Strengths. An appearance impossible to confuse with anything else, on a build entirely moderate in every other respect. An even, gentle temperament, anchored in the standard and in show rules. Play motivation that persists into adulthood, and genuine orientation towards people. Minimal undercoat and, as a result, simple coat care and modest shedding. All colours without restriction. And a curl gene that the curated database of inherited traits does not link to a disease.

Limits and constraints. The ears demand care and regular attention, and the cartilage can be damaged by rough handling. Ear infections are named by the veterinary guide as the breed’s most characteristic problem. Prolonged solitude is poorly tolerated — not a breed for a home where nobody is in all day. Show potential cannot be read before four months. Since the causal DNA variant is unidentified, there is no test “for the curl”. And the registries run the breed differently: in one the inflow of non-pedigree cats stays open, in another the stud book is closed — worth establishing before the purchase, not after.

• Every American Curl in the world descends from one cat — Shulamith, found in 1981. Her sister Panda disappeared a fortnight after they appeared and left no descendants.
• The Curl is the first breed admitted to the CFA championship class as one breed with two coat lengths at once. The Canadian CCA, meanwhile, judges them as two different breeds.
• The ears weigh more in the scoring than any other feature: 20 points out of 100 with TICA and 30 out of 100 with the CCA.
• TICA sets a requirement that resembles a geometry problem: in an alert Curl, the lines continuing the curve of the ears must converge at the centre of the base of the skull.
• The paper to which the curated OMIA database still refers for this trait runs to two pages: Journal of Heredity, volume 80, pages 474–475, 1989.
• The TICA standard is written with a preference for the smaller cat, while males are expressly allowed developed “cheeks”.
• A straight-eared Curl is not a mistake of nature but a breeding tool: about half the kittens from a mating with a straight-eared cat receive the curl, and the rest add to the breed’s genetic diversity.
• Another American breed that owes its existence to a spontaneous mutation is the American Wirehair, in which the change affected not the shape of the ear but the texture of the coat.
• If unusual feline silhouettes appeal to you, there are two other trails: the Pixiebob and the Kurilian Bobtail Longhair, known for their short tails and wildcat look.

Why does the American Curl have curled ears? Because of a spontaneous mutation that arose in the non-pedigree cat population of the United States, first noticed in 1981. The trait is monogenic and autosomal dominant: one locus is responsible, the gene carries the symbol Cu, and one copy is enough for the ear to turn back.

Are all kittens born with the curl? No — all are born straight-eared. The curl appears in the first days of life and the final degree settles at about four months. Straight-eared kittens in a litter are normal and provided for in the breed.

Does the shape of the ears hurt the Curl? The shape is set by cartilage: firm at the base, flexible towards the tip, and the standard requires it to be smooth and barely thicker than usual. The problem comes not from the shape but from handling: the cartilage can be broken by pulling or unfolding the ear. That is why the cat is never picked up by the ears, and the ears are not straightened for examination.

Is it true that the Curl’s ear canal is narrowed? The standards say the opposite: TICA disqualifies an ear whose lower part is abnormally flattened, whose cartilage is compressed into ridges and which lacks a normal, visible ear cavity. A normal ear cavity is a requirement of the standard. Wax accumulating inside the flap, on the other hand, is indeed linked by the veterinary guide to the unusual ear shape — hence the advice to inspect and clean regularly.

How often should the ears be cleaned? By condition, not by calendar: inspect regularly, clean when accumulation is visible. The CFA describes the technique — with a cotton bud and ear lotion, work up and away from the entrance to the canal, without pulling on the cartilage. Nothing is pushed inward.

Is dark ear wax normal? TICA describes dark ear wax as normal for the breed and advises periodic cleaning. But ordinary secretion cannot be told from traces of ear mites by eye. A dry deposit resembling coffee grounds, an odour, scratching or head-shaking — that is a matter for the vet.

Are the Curl and the Scottish Fold related? No — two mutations in two different genes. In the Fold the crease is caused by the substitution c.1024G>T in the TRPV4 gene and is associated with osteochondrodysplasia, a disorder of bones and joints. The Curl’s gene is not flagged as disease-related in OMIA, and its causal variant is still unpublished.

Is there a DNA test for the curl? No. In OMIA the trait “Curl” carries the note “key variant known — no”: the specific DNA change has not been identified. The test for the TRPV4 variant, by contrast, exists and makes sense: in the Japanese study of 2026, 2 out of 115 Curls tested proved to be carriers, and the curl masks exactly that carrier status.

Do Curls shed much? Moderately. The standard requires minimal undercoat in both varieties, and it is the undercoat that supplies the bulk of shed hair. The CFA recommends combing two to three times a month.

Are they hypoallergenic? No. The main allergen Fel d 1 is produced by the salivary and sebaceous glands and reaches the coat during grooming, so reduced shedding limits how far the allergen spreads around the home without eliminating it.

Are they suited to a flat, and can they be left alone? To a flat, yes — given vertical routes, scratching posts and daily play. Long absences are best avoided: the breed is built around the relationship with people and copes poorly with an empty day. A second pet solves part of the problem.

The American Curl is a rare example of a breed whose most visible trait is also the best described. Of the ears we know how they are inherited, in what degrees they are measured, what is penalised and what disqualified, how to care for them and what must never be done to them. The limit of that knowledge is known too: the causal DNA variant is unpublished, and the paper to which OMIA still refers appeared in 1989. Anything beyond that limit is worth asking a source for.

Everything else about this cat — an even character, a moderate build, a simple coat, a full palette of colours — makes it easy to live with. The Curl suits a family that is at home, ready to give it attention every day and to treat its ears not as an ornament but as part of its care. If that is you, few questions about the breed will remain.