Group Classification: Longhair and Shorthair
Country of Origin: U.S.A.
Date of Origin: 1987
Weight (M): 9-11 lbs.
Weight (F): 7-9 lbs.
Life Expectancy: 13+ years

History
The Selkirk Rex breed began in 1987, with a stray cat giving birth at For Pet's Sake, an animal shelter in Montana. One kitten in that litter was curly coated. A Persian breeder, Jeri Newman, rescued the cat, named her Miss DePesto and mated the cat to a male black Persian. This produced three Selkirk Rex and three straight haired kittens.

That result indicated that the curly hair trait was autosomal dominant, which means that a certain condition is directly or indirectly due to a dominant faulty gene located on an autosome. This is a common form of inheritance, and the results of crossing will follow a specific pattern. When one parent is the carrier of the autosomal dominant faulty gene, there is one chance in two (meaning a 50 percent chance) in every pregnancy that the offspring will have or develop the trait.

Miss DePesto is the foundation female for all Selkirk Rex.

British and American Shorthairs, Himalayans and Exotics (in addition to Persians) were used as outcrosses to develop the breed. All outcrosses are scheduled to stop in 2015, in accordance with the standards of major registry organizations.

General Description
Rex is the term for waved coats, which was originally applied to rabbits with the trait. Wavy or curly fur is the common feature in all cats with Rex in their names. This type of fur is the result of spontaneously mutating genes. Other cats (for the most part) have a fine down undercoat, a layer of bristly awn hairs and outer guardhairs. Rex cats don't have the guardhairs (except for the Selkirk) and the awn hairs are much shorter and finer, and they wave or curl. Their whiskers are shorter than those of other cats, and they may be wavy or curly too.

Selkirk Rex have round eyes (in all colors) that are wideset on a rounded head. Their muzzles and cheeks are full. These cats are of medium build and well muscled. Medium size wideset ears are noticeably pointed. They have thick tails that round at the tip.

Colors
All colors and patterns are accepted for this breed, including pointed, sepia and mink.

Coat
The Selkirk Rex has been bred in two coat lengths; in either long or short hair the wavy/curly coat feels soft to the touch and appears dense and wooly. It is often described as having the texture of lambswool.

Notable Features
The curly coat is the predominant feature of Selkirk Rex. It is the only rexed cat that has guardhairs, so overall the coat is denser than that of other rex breeds. Thanks to its Persian heritage, the longhair Selkirk Rex is the most arresting looking rex cat. Their coat is long and soft, falling in individual loose curls or ringlets.

Health and Care

The longhair Selkirk Rex may have all the attributes of a Persian when it comes to their fur