American Wirehair Cat

The American Wirehair is a good example of spontaneous mutation that happened in Verona, New York State in 1966. It happened to Adam who was a red and white American Shorthair but instead of the usual coat associated with that particular breed he was born with a curly and wiry coat more that resembled a lambs fleece than anything else. Adam was taken to a breeder and mated to one of his littermates and of their four kittes two of them were red and white wirehairs and one of them, called Amy herself gave birth to other wirehair kittens and amongst those was Barberry Ellen, the first true American Wirehair.

Though Adam and Amy were too long and slim for the Shorthair standard breeders attempted to improve the body while at the same time keeping and thickening the wire coat. Because the wirehair gene was dominant it was possible to outcross for those improvements without losing the coat trait and the use of longhaired breeds was avoided to maintain the distinctive appearance. The ideal coat must not be patchy although the underparts it should be less wiry and it should be of medium length, tightly curled, thick, coarse, resilient and springy. Faults in this breed are long or soft coats and colours that might induce hibridization.

American Wirehair cats have been bred in a variety of colours and in 1977 were given championship status by the CFA. The name American Wirehair comes from the canine Wirehaired terier because of the similarity of the coats.

The American Wirehair resembles the Shorthair in build and temprement, is afectionate and makes a good pet.