Cornish Rex

Some cat breeds are very ancient, and can trace their origins back centuries, but the Cornish Rex can be traced definitively to the mid 20th century. The very first Cornish Rex kitten appeared in a litter of non-pedigree kittens, born on a farm in a small village on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall on 21st July 1950. A Tortie & White shorthair female, called Serena, belonging to Mrs Nina Ennismore and Miss Winifred Macalister gave birth to a litter of five kittens, four of the kittens were typical, normal coated, short-haired farm kittens, but the fifth, a cream male, had an unusual fine, curled and wavy coat. As he developed and grew he was obviously very different from his littermates in shape, with a slender body and long legs, a narrow head, large ears and a long, whippy tail. He was named Kallibunker and is the original Cornish Rex. The sire of Kallibunker and his siblings is unknown, but is likely to have been Serena’s litter brother ‘Ginger’ a short-haired red tabby. The Cornish Rex is the result of a spontaneous natural mutation, and the gene is inherited recessively, and so it was most likely to appear when two closely related cats bred together.

By a quirk of fate, Mrs Ennismore had bred and exhibited Rex Rabbits, and when Kallibunker was taken to be neutered, Mrs Ennismore’s Vet realised that Kallibunker was a significant cat, and advised her to contact the geneticist, A.C. Jude. At Dr Jude’s suggestion, Kallibunker was bred back to his mother who produced two further curly coated kittens and one straight-coated kitten, including a male named Poldhu (a fertile Blue Tortie), who in turn sired a blue female called Lamorna Cove who went to the United States to establish the breed there. The first curly kittens that were produced as a result of close matings were then bred with Burmese, Siamese and domestic shorthair cats, resulting in a broad genetic base for the breed. Further test matings between Kallibunker’s offspring confirmed that two curly-coated cats would produce only curly kittens.

An interesting fact about how the word ‘Rex’ came to imply curly or wavy fur originates from an occasion when King Albert I of Belgium (1875–1934) entered some curly-haired rabbits in a rabbit show. They did not meet the breed standard, but the show’s officials did not wish to risk offending the king by rejecting them. Instead, they accepted them but wrote “Rex” (Latin for King) beside their names!

The Standard of Points for the Cornish Rex describes an elegant, foreign type cat, medium sized with long slender legs and small oval paws, looking as if they are standing on tiptoe. The Cornish head is a medium wedge, egg shaped, with gentle lines and high cheekbones, narrowing to a gently rounded muzzle and firm chin. Their ears are very distinctive, they are large and ‘mussel shell shaped’ with rounded tips, set rather high, but not vertically. Their eyes are oval shaped and medium in size with the top line set almost straight with a slight slant to the outer edge of the ear; any eye colour is acceptable in the standard. The neck should be elegant and the body slender, hard and muscular and the tail long, fine and tapering, although slender they feel surprisingly heavy when picked up. The coat is very distinctive, it is short, dense and silky without guard hairs and should have neat, even and well defined waves (sometimes described as Marcel waves), especially over the back, sides and tail; coats are at their best once the cat is fully mature. The whiskers and eyebrows will also be crinkled. There are no points for colour for the Cornish Rex; all are acceptable, including self (solid) coloured, tortoiseshell, tabbies with or without white, smoke and pointed. The Cornish Rex obtained official recognition with GCCF in 1967 with immediate championship status. The Cat Fanciers Association in the USA granted championship status in 1964.

The Cornish Rex is a highly social, extremely affectionate, captivating companion animal. Always ready to play, they are acrobatic and funny in their antics and if there is no-one willing to play they will invent lively and energetic games. Close human contact is important to the Cornish and without his ‘people’ this wonderful cat would soon decline. This is a breed that adores human attention and friendship and, like a heat-seeking missile, you will find your Cornish in your bed and on your lap as you rest. Not usually a very vocal cat, the Cornish will communicate with you with expressive eyes and body language. Lovely with all members of the family, the Cornish Rex would be unhappy and bored if left without people for too long! This intelligent curious cat is friendly towards other companion animals in the family.

The Cornish Rex is in general a hardy breed and does not require any unusual care but they should not be left out in the rain without shelter because due to the lack of guard hairs their coats can quickly become saturated. Coats do vary within the breed with some moulting out all at once whereas others have such a gradual moult it is hardly noticeable. Hand grooming is normally sufficient to keep their coats in good condition but in some of the longer or woollier coated cats a soft bristle brush or a fine toothed comb might be necessary to coax the coat into neat waves. It is usually necessary to bath White and Bi-coloured cats with a high degree of white prior to shows due to the discolouration which can occur on their paws, tails and hind legs.

If you want to breed your Cornish Rex, then the recommendation of the Rex Breed Advisory Committee is to blood type test your cat as Cornish Rex can have either Blood Type A or B, and the cats should be compatible to avoid problems with fading kittens.  The lifespan for a Cornish Rex is around 16+ years, although it is not unusual for them to live up to 20 years.  They remain playful and energetic well into old age.  Males weigh between 8 – 10 pounds and females 5 – 7 pounds.