The History of the curly cats
The History of the Devon Rex begins with the appearance of a red and white male "Kallibunker" was born in Bodmin Moor, Cornwall. Mrs Ennismoore, who was the owner of the mother cat quickly realized that this was something special.
The History of a cat from Devonshire
The History of the Devon Rex begins with the appearance of a red and white male "Kallibunker" was born in Bodmin Moor, Cornwall. Mrs Ennismoore, who was the owner of the mother cat quickly realised that this was something special. The little male was covered with a dense curly coat. Even the whiskers were curly which gave him the look of an old English lord. As Mrs Ennismoore actually bred Rex rabbits the new mutation was given the name "Rex Cats". Kallibunker was mated with his mother which resulted in another two curly boys and one straight haired girl. The mating was repeated and again resulted in more curly offspring. Unfortunately, short thereafter, Kallibunker died. One of the sons, named Polhu took his place. This was remarkable since Polhu was blue-creme, a color otherwise gender determined only for females.Because of inbreeding it was soon necessary to out cross on other breeds and the Cornish lost its sirelike proportions. At this time Alison Ashford decided to import a great grandson of Kallibunkers from Canada, Kismet. The result was new wonderful kittens with the desired Cornish type.
Approximately at this time, a Mrs. Cox from Devonshire reported having a litter of which one had a curly coat. This boy received the name Kirlee and was tried out in the breeding program for the Rexes. To every ones surprise the result of mixing the Cornish with the Devon Rex only resulted in straight haired kittens. This way it was determined to be different types of genotype. The Cornish Rex type was named breed type 33 for gene type one and the Devon type was named 33a for the second gene type
Approximately at this time, a Mrs. Cox from Devonshire reported having a litter of which one had a curly coat. This boy received the name Kirlee and was tried out in the breeding program for the Rexes. To every ones surprise the result of mixing the Cornish with the Devon Rex only resulted in straight haired kittens. This way it was determined to be different types of genotype. The Cornish Rex type was named breed type 33 for gene type one and the Devon type was named 33a for the second gene type
