Quendi Elf Cattery
Breed History



The Elf cat was founded by three women.  Two of which  working together for a common
goal.  Kristen Leedom and Patti Soule created the first elf cat in 2006.   Without Kristen
Leedom and Patti Soule the Elf would not be where it is today.

The third woman, Karen Nelson decided that she had a different goal in her breeding
program and has started her own group claiming to be breeding what they call “Elf Cats.”  

The only true Elf Cats are bred using only Sphynx American Curl, and Domestic ancestry.  
This newly formed group of breeders is using a breed called a Highlander as well as
Highland Lynx in their foundation for the Elf Cats and are not "True Elf cats".

We have felt the need to add something here about this unacceptable cross of cats because
we do not want people who are unsuspecting to be taken advantage of.  

The original Elf standard was based on two breeds alone and was written to reflect that.  
The two breeds were Sphynx and American Curl.  The goal was to produce a hairless cat
with a curled ear, of medium to large size, with an impeccable personality.  This goal has
been achieved with the efforts of many supporting members of our group.

We chose the American Curl for our curled ear cat for very specific reasons.  The first
reason is that they are a very hearty, healthy, breed of cat and there are no abnormalities
associated with their curled ear mutation.  The second reason is because we only wanted to
use the curled ear mutation along with the hairless mutation as adding more than that could
later on cause issues with the health of the breed.

The Highlander and Highland Lynx cats that some people are using in their breeding
programs have more genetic mutations including a bobtail which could come from either
the bobtail gene or the Manx gene but no one is quite sure which one or if it is both as both
mutations were used in the creation of the Highland Lynx.  Many also have polydactyl
which is the addition of extra toes.  We do not support the use of these cats in any breeding
program because they do not meet the ideal of the standard that was created for the Elf
Cats.  The Highlander and Highland Lynx are very different cats structurally to the
American Curl as well and they will not produce the desired type that we are trying to
achieve.
We are just placing this warning to all those interested in the breed for pets or even
breeding purposes that the only true elf cats have only ancestry relating back to Sphynx,
Domestics (an unrecognized breed registered or otherwise), and American Curls.  

Please do your research before purchasing a cat that may not be what it was intended.  Sure
these cats will be hairless and they will have curled ears but, they are not true Elf Cats.