About Devon Rex

In 1959 the first Devon Rex was discovered living near a disused tin mine in Buckfastleigh, Devonshire. This wild male cat was observed by a Miss Beryl Cox who lived in the area and frequently wandered the fields around her home. He had masses of black curls and ringlets up his tail. Despite numerous attempts this wild cat was never captured however eventually he mated a straight coated tortie & white female, who Beryl Cox had befriended and in this litter, born in September 1959 one curly coated kitten was found.

This landmark kitten stood out from his litter-mates with his long legs, pixie face and curly blue-black coat.

On discovering this curly coated kitten in the litter Beryl adopted this kitten and christened him Kirlee after his curly coat.

Kirlee lived a long and productive life, following Beryl like a dog and learning several tricks, including walking a tight rope and wagging his tail for approval as he did so. Kirlee lived until he was the victim of a road accident in 1970.

10 years prior to Kirlee’s arrival another curly coated cat (Kallibunker) was discovered in Bodmin Moor, Cornwall and christened the Cornish Rex. Originally it was though that Kirlee was related to the Cornish Rex however through breeding Kirlee with offspring of Kallibunker it was established that Kirlee carried a completely new Rex gene (Gene 2) – the Devon Rex!

At this point a breeding program was set-up, and Kirlee was introduced to several different breeds (British Short-hair, Siamese, Russian Blues, Persian, Burmese and others). All the resulting kittens were straight coated, however when Kirlee was mated back to his daughters the litters contained 50% curly coated kittens. This process also proving that Kirlee was a longhair gene carrier himself.

In 1967 the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF) granted the Cornish Rex and the Devon Rex championship status and recognized them as two separate breeds.

Although the reason for the mutating ‘curly’ gene is still unknown most of the Cornish and Devon Rex’s occurred in the mining districts of Cornwall and Devon and there is a theory that it was radioactivity from the mines that may have caused the mutation in the first place.

Kirlee - The First Devon Rex

Characteristics & Puursonality

The Devon Rex has been compared to pixies, gremlin's, elves and of course space aliens (ET) over the years for their impish faces with large satellite dish ears, large oval eyes and uniquely shaped head.

The head is a modified wedge, delineated by a narrowing series of three convex curves, the outer edge of the ears, cheekbones and whisker pads. The ears will often have fur tuffs atop.

The Devon Rex is a medium sized breed in size (adult female averaging 2.3-3.6kgs and an adult male 3.6-4.5kgs) with a surprisingly muscular body with a board chest carried high on the legs, while the neck is slender and of medium length.

The Devon Rex coat can be denser around the tail, head, legs and ears with a fine wavy covering on the body which comes in a variety of colours – solids, smokes, tortoiseshells, tabbies and pointed all available.

Devon’s have all three hair types: guard, awn and down. In the fur of a Devon Rex, the guard hairs become short, thin and sparser. They also take on a soft, wavy appearance. The whiskers of the Devon Rex are very brittle and tend to break easier.

Sufferers of cat allergies will often be able to live with the Devon Rex because of the Devon’s minimal shedding. The fur of the Devon Rex is shed in the normal manner, however there is less of it, and it is shorter than normal and is far less obvious then with cats having typical feline fur.

The Devon Rex is an intelligent, affectionate, curious cat that will act like a kitten all its life, following you around, sitting on your shoulder, fetching whatever you throw for them and wagging its tails in moments of happiness.

Devon Rex can be taught to walk on a harness and love it and many are “piggy-back riders” riding around on their owner’s shoulders.

The Devon Rex is not for anyone looking for an independent, aloof cat. They prefer to spend every moment with you. These cats are people orientated, very adaptable and even tempered. Devon’s will join a family of children, other cats and dogs with ease.

Devon’s talk in enchanting, subdued chirps, chortles and trills with a purr to drown out all other noise! They are not as talkative as some breeders however this varies cat-to-cat.

The Devon Rex’s devotion to its people also means that bath time in a Devon owned home will never be quite the same – many love water and have been known to join their owners in the shower or bath rather than miss out on time spend with their people.

Devon Rex are natural mischief-makers and very intelligent and this intelligence will often get them in trouble. They will often learn new tricks from watching their humans and copying what they have seen and will keep you amused for hours.