The ears and the head together make up for HALF the total points available in the CFA Standard for the Curl… that’s huge!  The majority of the points for the head are on shape & size and profile.  The points for the ears are divided into four categories for evaluation:

• Degree of Curl           total 10 points
• Shape and Size          total10 points
• Placement                 total 8 points
• Furnishings               total 2 points

We’ll take them one at a time by

• Provide CFA description
• Show comparison to other breeds for a point of reference when appropriate
• Describe and show references of both good and poor examples to demonstrate

Every portion of the CFA Standard describes BALANCE.  The TICA Standard is more specific in the wording to emphasize overall balance.  But if you read and compare the two, they say a lot of the same things.  The just say them differently.  What they both say without question is that every feature on a Curl must look balanced from every angle. 

In the Curl, if there is anything to keep in mind when evaluating any single feature of this breed, it is BALANCE.  So what does that mean?  The simpliest way to describe it is to ask yourself “does everything fit?  Is there anything about the overall appearance of the cat that looks like it should be larger, smaller, deeper, or placed in a slightly difference location?  Throughout every characteristic of this cat, the common denominator is “medium”.  “Medium” can be an arbitrary terms.  It sits between large and small.  You will never know what “medium” is if you don’t know what it’s not.  The writers for the Curl standard realized this fact and put specific measurable limits on key characteristics to limit the “personal-opinion factor” in evaluating this breed.