American Wirehair

The story of the American Wirehair cats began in 1966 on a farm in Verona, New York. There an American Shorthair cat gave birth to an extraordinary kitten. The little red and white tomcat had a strange, wiry coat. The farmer consulted veteran cat expert Joan O'Shea, who purchased the animal for $50 and gave it the descriptive name "Adam." Together with a sibling from the same litter, the cat lover began to work on breeding a new cat breed. A whole series of wirehaired cats then saw the light of day. In 1969 the breed had already established itself. Crossbreeding with American Shorthair is still allowed today to avoid excessive inbreeding. The American Wirehair has been officially recognized as a breed since 1977, but has remained rare in its entirety. While the cat is very popular in the USA and Canada, there are only a few breeders in Germany and Japan. In the rest of the world, the breed is completely unknown.

At first glance, an American Wirehair looks like a Rex cat. She is of medium height, lithe and elegant. The legs are strong and muscular, and the paws are strong and oval in shape. The thorax is round and well developed. Characteristic are a round head, a slightly inwardly curved nose, an angular, massive snout and high cheekbones, especially in the tomcat. The large, expressive eyes are set wide apart and slightly slanted. The ears are medium-sized and slightly rounded, hair brushes are often found. The tail is of medium length and broad with a rounded tip. The American Wirehair's coat is resilient, dense, rough, and curly. It feels like a young lamb. The top hair is also curved like a hook at the tips.

American Wirehairs are intelligent, trusting, and good-natured animals. The character is just as positive as with the American Shorthair. They are very sociable, friendly and affectionate, getting along with children and other animals with ease. They are quite robust and are also called "punk among cats". What the active, playful animals claim for themselves is the opportunity to live out their urge for exercise and new discoveries. An American Wirehair must be able to exert itself. If you respect this need, you are dealing with a solid, quiet animal, which is a lot of fun.

The body of the American Wirehair should appear rounded with equal width at the hips and shoulders. Each hair of the coat should be curved and curled and snapped at the ends. There should be whorls so that the fur is sticking up from the body. Great importance is attached to the general vertebral impression. The profile should be clearly curved with a modified stop. As for the eyes, attention is paid to the harmony with the color of the fur. Silver cats can only have green eyes, while brown tabby cats can only have gold eyes. The colors chocolate, lilac and colourpoint are not recognized.

The greatest feature of this breed is undoubtedly the fur. Created by a spontaneous mutation of the rough hair gene "Wh", which is dominant to normal hair. The wiry fur with its coarse texture is more pronounced in tomcats than in female animals. Some animals also have curled whiskers, similar to Rex cats. The cubs can already be recognized by their curled facial hair and whiskers. With light variants of the American Wirehair you should pay attention to appropriate sun protection when outdoors in summer.