So you’re curious about American Curl cats? These kitties have a pretty cool backstory. It all started back in 1981 in Lakewood, California. This couple, Joe and Grace Ruga, found a stray kitten on their doorstep. They took her in and named her Shulamith.
The weird thing was, this cat had these uniquely curled-back ears. Looked kinda like a lynx. At first, they thought it might be some kind of defect. But nope, turns out it was a natural genetic mutation.
Shulamith had kittens, and some of them inherited those funky ears too. Cat fancy folks got wind of this and were like, “Whoa, we gotta make this a thing!” So they started selectively breeding cats with that ear curl.
Fast forward a few years, and bam – the American Curl became an official breed. The Cat Fanciers Association recognized them in 1993. Since then, they’ve gotten pretty popular.
What’s cool is that all American Curls today can trace their lineage back to Shulamith. Talk about leaving a legacy, right? Just one street cat ended up spawning a whole new breed. Pretty wild how nature throws curveballs like that sometimes.