The American Curl is medium in size, the body is elongated and slender. The legs are slender and medium high. The bone structure is not very heavy.
The head is medium long with soft transitions. The nose is medium long, straight and shows a gentle concave curve in the upper third.
The eyes are slightly oval and can have any colour.
The ears are medium in size, open and wide at their base, they are set rather erect on the skull. The ears are curled backwards, the arch shall not exceed 180° and must be symmetrical in both ears. When drawing a line along the outer edge of each ear, through the ear tips, those 2 lines will meet in the centre of the skull. The lower part of the edges of the ears is rather rigid, the curled tips are flexible, and it must be possible to erect them so that the ears become straight. The furnishing, out of the ears and on the rounded ear tips is very characteristic for this breed.
The coat is extremely fine, not very long - similar in length to that of the Balinese, and shows very little undercoat, the coat is very silky.
The tail is long, and furnished with flowing longer hairs.
In principle American Curls are domestic cats, nothing is extreme, nothing is very short or very long.

History

American Curls originate from South California and exist since 1981 because of a spontaneous mutation, a freak of nature. The founders of this amazing breed are Grace & Joe Ruga (Curlniques cattery). The first American Curl, named Shulamith, was a black longhair cat, which had been found in front of their parking lot by Grace and Joe Ruga, and on which the family based its breeding program. Thus all American Curls can trace back their pedigrees to Shulamith. The first American Curl was shown 1983 in a show in Palm Springs. In 1987 the American Curl Longhair was recognized by TICA. Family Ruga had been also the first breeders to breed American Curl Shorthair, using domestic cats in their breeding program. American Curls originate from domestic cats, thus being an extremely healthy breed, domestic cats are still used in the breeding program for American Curls. It is not recommended to make outcrosses to other breeds, because American Curls are different from other breeds and are unique because of their unique curled ears. In 1991 American Curl Longhair and Shorthair were recognized by CFA, in 2002 both were recognized in FIFe.

Temperament

American Curls have an extremely gentle and friendly temperament, they are not interested in any quarrel and go very well with other cats. American Curls are good mothers who educate their kittens very tenderly. They are affectionate and enjoy to cuddle. They are very intelligent and fast learning. They climb and jump very well, they are agile and always find something to play.

Breeding and genetics

The gene Cu (Curled ears) is dominant inherited, but dominance is incomplete. The degree of arching may vary between the cats.

In general American Curls can be bred without any problems. Quite often the queens are very fertile and may have quite large litters. There are no problems giving birth.

But it has to be taken into account to have the cats tested for PKD - even the disease is still rare in the breed. Probably the appearance of PKD might be caused by the fact that still outcrossing is permitted.
I had one PKD-positive cat in my American lines, which had been spayed, of course.

Grooming

Grooming is easy and does not require much time, because they do not have so much coat. When changing coat they do not shed hairs so much. Regular brushing will enhance their silky and glistening coat.