American Wirehair Cats

American wirehair cat with a yellow collar sitting on a patiof

American wirehair cat with striking amber eyes

Alert american wirehair cat with a blue and red collar outside

American wirehair cat lying on a tilled roof

American wirehair cat with a red collar sitting neatly on a wall

History

The first American Wirehair appeared in the 1960s, at a small farm in Verona, New York. A red and white male from a litter of six was born with a springy wire coat and whiskers. His parents were American Shorthairs with normal coats, and the wiry male kitten was unique. He was later bred with a cat from the same farm, and the Mom gave birth to a litter of wiry coated kittens, which demonstrated that the wire-haired gene must be a dominant one.

The dominant gene shone through in the next generation when one of the cats was paired with an completely unrelated cat with a normal coat. The result was yet more wiry coated kittens.

Behaviour

American Wirehairs are a popular family cat, being tolerant even of the most boisterous children, and being generally very chilled out. As kittens they are bundles of fun, as old cats they exude wisdom and peace - a great mixture of the calm and the playful throughout their nine lives.

Like many breeds, American Wirehairs have a strong independent streak too, and are good hunters, given half a chance.