The first American Wirehair kitten was discovered on a farm in upstate New York in 1966.
The kitten was born in a litter of domestic cats and had an unusual wiry coat caused by a spontaneous genetic mutation. A local breeder recognized that the texture was distinctive and began a breeding program to preserve it. The resulting breed became known as the American Wirehair.
Its coat is springy and resilient, with individual hairs that can be crimped, hooked, or bent. The texture may appear in the guard hairs, the undercoat, or the whiskers. Although the coat is its defining feature, the breed otherwise resembles a sturdy American domestic cat.
The American Wirehair is sometimes mistaken for the British or German Rex breeds because all can have unusual coats. The American Wirehair’s characteristic texture comes from a different mutation and is not the same as a Rex curl.