Breed Info | O'Rex Cattery Cornish Rex Cats & Kittens

Cornish Rex Breed Profile

Best known for its curly, marcel wavy coat, the Cornish Rex is considered the ‘Greyhound’ of the cat fancy for its elegant shape and racy appearance, high Roman nose, expressive ears and eyes. The Cornish Rex breed standard for CFA is, namely, its tight and velvety coat, egg-shaped head with high cheekbones, a long Roman nose and strong chin, with large, erect ears. The Cornish Rex body is curvaceous, with an arched back, barrel chest, thin waist, and elongated legs. They are lean and muscular, able to run fast and jump high.

Besides the curly coat mutation, early Cornish Rex were not very distinguishable from other domestic short haired cats. They had a rounded face, average body, and stocky legs. Developing a strong new breed required some diverse genetics, so the Cornish Rex was outcrossed with the British Short Hair and Burmese breeds for their durability, and later with the Siamese for their elongated, sleek body shape. Today the Cornish Rex breed standard is largely uniformed to have an egg-shaped head, a high ‘Roman’ nose, a strong chin, oval eyes, long ears with a full base, a curved spine, strong legs and long, elegant tail. Except for a few minor variations ranging from wide to high ears or subtle variations in body size, the most distinguishable–and ideal–feature of the Cornish Rex, remains its tight, ‘marcel’ wave curly coat.

Expect to have your new Cornish Rex follow you around like a puppy dog! Imagine living with a little monkey who talks to you (MEOWs!) and wants to sit high on the cabinet and watch you cook, or ‘help’ you with laundry, or demand attention by walking across your desk! These are just a few spunky and delightful characteristics that make living with a Cornish Rex fun and interesting. Your Cornish Rex kitty wants to play fetch, know what you know, smell and recheck the area, just to make sure it is safe for you and her/him!

The charming Cornish Rex is considered a highly intense and active breed. As such, they need much attention and are happiest when their guardian homes have been ‘catified’ (term coined by Jackson Galaxy) with high sitting perches, cat wheels, toys, windows, catios, and other stimuli. They also crave a buddy or another pet just like them–one who will match their high energy level. Many experienced Cornish Rex owners have found that they need to have a pair of Cornish Rex because the two cats can meet one another’s intense passion for activity, curiosity, mutual grooming, and shared comfort. A single Cornish Rex in a home is discouraged due to their self-destructive behaviors and tendency to ‘act out’. Yet, some solos can do well if the forever home is equipped with enough stimuli and devoted owners, and/or if there is a small dog or another feline with an equal temperament to keep the Cornish Rex well occupied.

The development of the Cornish Rex breed started with a cat fancier, Mrs. Nina Ennismore, who lived in Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, England. On July 21, 1950, Ennismore’s barn cat named Serena, who was a straight-haired tortoiseshell and white-colored cat, gave birth to a litter of five kittens. One of the kittens had a red and cream-colored coat, but it was oddly curly? He also had large bat-like ears and a longer tail than the his littermates. Ennismore decided to keep this kitten as a pet and named him Kallibunker. She took him to her veterinarian, Brian Sterling-Webb to be neutered, but Webb noticed Kallibunker’s genetic value and referred her to the geneticist, A. C. Jude. Together they hypothesized about the phenotype, and Jude suggested Kallibunker should not be neutered, but instead mate with his mother, Serena. That mating produced a litter of three kittens, a straight coated female and two curly coated males. One of the male kittens survived and was named Poldhu. Ennismore called this new breed, “Rex,” because she had previously bred curly-coated Rex rabbits. “Rex” is Latin for king—a fitting name for a cat unlike any other! Although curly coated cats had been reported in Cornwall prior to Kallibunker, he was the first documented, named, and deliberately bred to propagate this unique curly, short coat. In 1960 a different Rex gene was discovered so the terms “Cornish” and “Devon” were used to differentiate the two types of curly coated felines. It was later identified that this curly gene is a naturally occurring recessive mutation which kittens must inherit from both parents. Over time to widen the gene pool, Kallibunker was bred to Siamese, Burmese, and British Shorthair cats, but they only had straight-coated offspring. However, when bred back to each other or another Cornish Rex, some litters included curly coated kittens. The experimental breeding program that Ennismore, Webb, and Jude had begun extended to other countries in Europe and became an expensive endeavor for all. Unfortunately, in 1956, due to financial concerns and some fighting between Kallibunker and another tomcat, Ennismore decided to put an end to the breeding program by euthanizing Kallibunker and his mother, Serena.

However, Kallibunker’s sons, Sham Pain Charlie, aka ‘Champagne Chas’ (cream-white) and Poldhu (an unusual blue-cream male), along with his granddaughter La Morna Cove (blue colored), carried his curly gene and were part of preserving the Cornish Rex breeding program.

Meanwhile, at the same time in the United States, the story of Kallibunker and one of his kittens was published in Life Magazine in 1956. The cat fanciers in North America were intrigued and a year later some of Kallibinker’s descendants were exported to the US. The curly coated gene was carried by several exports. In 1957, Frances Blancheri of San Diego, California, imported La Morna Cove (the blue granddaughter who was pregnant by her blue-cream father, Poldhu, at the time) and her red half-brother named Pendennis Castle, who did not sire any kittens. These exports were later bred with Siamese for a thinner, more slender body shape as well as outcrossing with the Russian Blue, Havana Brown and the American Shorthair to strengthen the Cornish Rex genetics. The foundation catteries of the Cornish Rex in the US were established by La Morna’s offspring under the lines of Daz-Zling and Fan-T-Cee.

Interestingly, Kallibunker’s great-great-great grandson, named Rio Vista Kismet (a blue boy, Sired by Sham Pain Charlie), bred by Miss Jeanne Jeffrey of Calgary, Canada, ended up returning to Great Britain by Allison Ashford, to help reestablish the Cornish Rex to its original appearance and location. Ashford bred Kismet with other local curly cats, and she was instrumental in developing distinguishing features of both the Cornish and Devon Rex, including breeding an all-white Cornish Rex.

It took a few decades for the cat fanciers of the world—in particular, the Cat Fancier’s Association (CFA) in the US—to recognize the Cornish Rex as an official breed of cat. Although CFA began registering the “Rex” cats in 1962, the Cornish and Devon cats were shown together until 1979, creating some confusion and excluding some breeders from developing the Devon. In 1983 the Devon Rex gained recognition for championship status, and in 1984, CFA distinctly created two different breed standards for the Cornish and Devon, respectively. Today the Cornish Rex is recognized by all Felmological (feline/cat) associations over the world. With a deciphering eye, there are subtle differences between the American and European Cornish Rex cats. European Cornish Rex are bred for a more elongated body shape, while the standard allows for a stockier look. However, breed standards change and fluctuate over time, as outcrossings are necessary for genetic health, and styles can vary due to breeder preferences.

Other short-haired Rex cat breeds include the Karakul cats of the 1930’s, as well as the Oregon Rex, Ohio Rex, Colorado Rex, Tennessee Rex, Bohemian/Czech Rex, German Rex (originally black) and Ural Rex. Long-haired rex-coated cats include the California Rex, Selkirk Rex, and La Perm; there is even a rex-coated Maine Coon line in England.

Today, this curly Cornish Rex gene located in all mammals (including humans) is identified as lysophosphatidic acid receptor 6, or LPRAR6.

The O’Rex Cattery is committed to preserving the best features of the Cornish Rex, while still being conservationists for the breed, as it develops and enhances over time. This means we safeguard the Cornish Rex breed standards most notable features requiring preservation (phenotype, elegance, temperament), but also that breeding requires deliberate selection of refinement in each successful generation, conserving. All of this careful consideration is paired with the daily taste of optimal animal husbandry.

Being a successful breeder requires careful analysis, dedication, and yes, some experimenting. All of this refinement and strengthening of the breed takes time. We are committed to pursing the best of the Cornish Rex. Our foundational breeding cats have high-quality features from both American and European lines, and our kittens have among the best characteristics identified with the Cornish Rex breed standards. Like in human life, cat life is comprised of both ‘nature’ and ‘nurture’ which is why we take great care to enhance our environment and support healthy offspring. Because we are located in the United States and registered with the Cat Fancier’s Association (CFA) our cattery is focused on: a) preserving and conserving the current breed standards; and b) sending off healthy and well-adjusted kittens that promote the Cornish Rex breed.

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