What is a Selkirk Rex?
The Selkirk Rex was developed from a natural mutation that began in a litter of domestic
kittens born in 1987. The Selkirk Rex was developed from Miss DePesto, a dilute tortie and
white curly coated cat that was adopted by breeder, Jeri Newman from the Bozeman Humane
Society . Miss DePesto had curly whiskers and she had a coat that looked like it had been
given a "body wave". Jeri bred this cat to a black persian and discovered that the curly rex
gene was a dominant gene which was passed on to about half of the kittens.
Today, the Selkirk Rex is accepted for Championship competition in nearly all cat registry
associations. Due to the fact that all of these cats are decendents of Miss Depesto, breeders
use allowable outcrosses to expand the genepoole. Currently the Persian, Himalayan, British
Shorthair and Exotic Shorthair are used for this reason.
The Selkirk Rex is known as the "cat in sheep's clothing" due to it's soft curly coat. They
come in both a long hair and short haired version and are available in all colors and patterns.
The personality of the Selkirk Rex is normally that of a docile, but active cat. They enjoy
human attention, are playful and like to curl up on your lap to snuggle. They are not
particularly verbal, but will let you know when it's feeding time.
