American Curl Longhair

The American Curl Longhair is one to the breed of domestic cats.

Their most distinctive feature are their backward-curved ears, which are the result of a mutation. Because the cartilage of the auricle is exceptionally soft, it curls up.

In 1981, a Californian couple discovered an American Curl Longhair pup with these odd ears. This animal shortly afterwards gave birth to four young, two of whom had inherited the curved ears.

The breed, which originated from the American Shorthair, was further developed through targeted breeding.
Both long-haired and short-haired animals can be found here.

The American Curl Longhair is credited with good nature, friendliness, and gentleness, as well as being intelligent, curious, and playful.
She is said to be very shy towards strangers. All known markings and colors can be found in their fur.

After the first four to seven days, all American Curl Longhair kittens will curl their hair, but their ears will only curl halfway through the litter.

At the age of 4 months, the final shape of the ears becomes apparent, with the curvature of the auricle showing differences from animal to animal (in extreme cases the angle is up to 180°).

The cat can turn its extremely flexible ears in all directions.
Adult animals that have normal ears provide one of their own variety called American Curl Straight Ear.
The curled ears do not affect the cats` hearing - they have just as good hearing as any other cat.