The American Wirehair is a type of house cat that comes from upstate New York. The American Wirehair’s unique wiry coat sets this breed apart in the feline world. The name “Wirehair” was inspired by the kinked and wiry texture of the coat. The American Wirehair also has other distinctive physical characteristics than other cat breeds. This breed is medium to large and has an American Shorthair-type build. The head is round, and the eyes are large and round. They are affectionate cats that like the company of their human family, but they are a demanding and overly possessive breed.
They are playful and friendly cats known to be good with children and other animals, including dogs. American Wirehairs have been registered with the Cat Fanciers Association since 1967 and are a recognized breed by this organization as of 1978. The International Cat Association and other cat fancier organizations use this breed, but the American Wirehair is still relatively rare. It is common in the United States.
Origin of the American Wirehair breed
The American Wirehair cat has spread across the United States, Germany, and Russia. However, the gene pool is still small, and the cat is still relatively complex to find compared to other breeds, partly due to the need for breeders and the strict breeding guidelines. These and other breeders have taken great care to provide outcrossings to produce healthy cats. There are so few American Wirehair cats that the breed has had to cross with other breeds to ensure healthy offspring.
Includes crossing the American Wirehair cat with the American Shorthair, a close relation to the breed, imported from England during the first half of the 20th century as the settler’s cat, and using the Cornish Rex, about 1930-40, a breed that is also known for its unusual fur. Crossbreeding with the American Shorthair takes advantage of the fact that many genetic traits are not outwardly expressed within each breed but are still carried on in the gene and can be passed to offspring.
Therefore, the offspring of an American Shorthair and an American Wirehair cat would have an expressed phenotype of the American Shorthair and still carry the wiry coat gene. It allows for better reproductive success since crossbreeding two American Wirehair cats results in high kitten mortality due to genetic mutations. Crossbreeding with the Cornish Rex invokes the same principle. A few attempts have also been made to create the Lykoi cat, a new breed that naturally has a partially wiry coat, and the hairless Sphynx.
The American Wirehair cat originated on a farm in Verona, New York 1966. It began as a spontaneous mutation, common in domestic cats, even breeds ones. A litter of six kittens was born to a typical barn cat, and one of the kittens, a male, was born with an unusual wiry coat. Mrs. Joan O’Shea, the owner of the cats, along with her friend Mrs. Elizabeth Berlin, a respected cat breeder and geneticist, realized the potential of the new breed.
Unique physical characteristics
The single and most unique characteristic of the breed is its coat. All American Wirehairs have a springy, dense, and resilient jacket with a texture similar to steel wool. The wirehaired gene is a simple autosomal dominant. In cats, unlike humans, this gene does not affect the hair follicle itself; instead, it causes the hair shaft to be oval rather than round, creating both the wiry texture and the curl. The breed is not a rex breed; it has a top coat and an undercoat.
The hair can grow up to 2 inches in winter and is significantly shorter in summer. The overall coat thickness often causes the breed to appear larger than it is. The coat is one of the more maintenance-free coats. Although cats may grow thin in summer due to shedding, they rarely require grooming. The breed comes in all colors and designs in old and new styles. However, defining pattern and color on a fully coated cat may be challenging. Pattern and color are usually more clearly seen on a cat with less hair.
First, the Wirehair coat is coarse and springy in texture and medium length. It is crimped or curled, and the whiskers are crinkled—the breed is a spontaneous mutation. The American Wirehair is medium to large, with males ranging from 11-15 pounds and females 8-12 pounds. The breed is slow to mature, taking up to 2 years to fully develop. The Wirehair is a well-muscled breed with a distinct look. The head is broad with high cheekbones. The eyes are almost perfectly round and often give the cat a surprised expression combined with the unique crinkled whiskers, suggesting integrity and overall health in the breed. The ears, like all American breeds, are enormous. Those cats must be athletic and playful. It is unfair to judge kittens’ maturity; however, cats over two years should be well-muscled and agile.
Popularity and recognition
Aside from some pensive commentary by breeders who felt that the breed deserved more attention, the popularity of the American Wirehair never did really ‘take off.’ It may be that Wirehair needs to capture the interest of the general public. The theory that the Wirehair does not possess a winning look may be true. Or maybe it is because breeders have focused so much of their attention on Western and even Oriental breeds that the poor Wirehair has. Whatever the case, it would seem fitting that no matter how much people try to divert their attention to ‘fancier’ breeds, the American Wirehair shall always persevere in mediocrity. Cats are still relatively rare, but they can scattered across the United States and even in some parts of Europe.
The Wirehair has earned itself the title of ‘exotic’ in the cat fancy because of its unusual coat. Ann Baker and the American Wirehair pioneer breeders hoped they would fully recognize the cat in the Cat Fanciers’ Association. With their tireless efforts, they finally succeeded—the Wirehair breed by the CFA in 1967—unfortunately, the breed in the United States. Only a few associations in the U.S. and one in Europe accept Wirehairs in their regular shows. Despite the grand hopes of its breeders and the push to make the Wirehair a popular contender in cat shows, the cats, like their popularity, will forever remain relatively obscure. But to the many cat fanciers who have had the good fortune of knowing and loving American Wirehairs, they are indeed a treasure to behold.
