History

The cat that was the father of the Cornish Rex was Kallibunker, a cream kitten born on the 21 of july 1950 in Cornwall. He was born out of a domestic cat called Serena. The owner, Mrs Ennismore noticed that Kallibunker was unusual and that his coat displayed curls and waves and that he had  a wedge shaped head, slender body a long tail and bat-like ears.

Mrs Ennismore’s vet suggested to mate him again to his mother. Mrs Ennismore sadly stopped breeding in 1958 due to a number of reasons but fortunately Mr Brian Sterling-Webb took over and outcrossed  with  Burmese, British shorthairs . Later on the Russian blue and Siamese were added to strenghten the genetic pool.

In 1957 Mrs Ennismore sent two cats to Mrs Blancheri in California. One of them produced America’s first litter. The first association to give the Rex official status was the Cat Fanciers Association(CFA) of America in 1964. Britain’s Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF) only granted status in 1967.

Portrait of the Cornish rex

The Cornish rex is a slim cat with a body supported on long legs. He is very athletic which means of course that he can jump quit high. This enables him also to keep is activity level for longer periods of time than other breeds.

  • Head: If you look to the head in the front is should be wedgeshaped with high cheekbones. The lenght of the head is about one-third longer than the maximum width of the head. They should have crinkled whiskers.
  • Eyes: The eyes should be oval shaped and of medium size being a full eye’s width apart from another. Any eye colour is acceptable.
  • Ears: The ears are large, wide at their basal openings  and set high on the head.
  • Body: It is not a large breed and his slender body is of medium size and lenght to be covered with solid muscle. He has an arched back with tucked-up abdomen.
  • Legs: He should have long lengs withthe hindlegs being longer than the frontlegs. Paws are small and oval
  • Tail : Long, slender and flexible.
  • Coat: Short, dense and must display curls, Marcel waves or ripples.
  • Colours: Any colour or combination of colours acceptable.