Selkirk Rex

  The Selkirk Rex is a breed of domestic cat that, unlike the other Rex cat breeds, has a normal length coat. It is, however, curly compared to a normal cat, giving rise to its nickname, the Poodle Cat. The Selkirk Rex is an unusual breed of cat that is known for its highly curled hair, unlike most of the Rex cat breeds who are either hairless or nearly so.

Breed history
The Selkirk Rex was first seen in Montana in 1987 when a litter of kittens born from a rescue cat held a surprise kitten. This single unusual coat kitten was taken by a breeder named Jeri Newman, who named her Miss DePesto after a character in the Moonlighting TV series. This cat was bred to a black male Persian and produced three Selkirk kittens and three straight haired kittens. This means that the gene creating the coat was autosomal dominant mode of inheritance. All current Selkirks trace ancestry to this cat. Their coat is of normal length, unlike most Rex breeds, and is similar to the gene that creates the LaPerm breed of domestic cat.

Outcrossing has been achieved with American Shorthairs, Persians, Himalayans, Exotics and British Shorthairs, though the American Shorthair outcrossing has been stopped by all but The International Cat Association. The breed was accepted by TICA in 1992, by the American Cat Fanciers Association in 1998 and the Cat Fanciers Association in 2000. All outcrossing is aiming to be stopped by 2015.

Description
The breed has developed into both longhaired and shorthaired types. It is a large and solidly built cat that resembles the British Shorthair with a very soft coat that has a woolly look and feel to it. Their heads are round and their eyes are large and round also with medium sized ears and a muzzle that the length is half it width. If it has a muzzle with an extreme break like the Persian breed, this is classified as a fault for showing.

Accepted colors for the breed including pointed, sepia, mink varieties, bicolors, silver/smoke and both chocolate and lilac colors. Their coat is very dense and does shed a lot making it very unsuitable for people whose allergies are caused by cat hair.

Personality and health issues
The Selkirk is described as a laid back and reserved personality, much like the Shorthair breeds it partially descends from. They also have a cuddly nature, perhaps from their Persian ancestors and are very playful cats. They work well living with children and older people and are loyal companions to those they live with.

There are few known health issues with the Selkirk Rex and they are generally a very robust breed. There can be some problems with tear ducts that can lead to their eyes weeping, much as seen with Persian, meaning they may need their faces bathing occasionally. They can also have a problem with increase amounts of earwax due to the fur in their ears curling. Finally, cats that have two copies of the Selkirk gene from their parents can have a particularly curly coat that has a tendency towards greasiness, meaning they may need regular bathing to maintain good coat condition.

In the UK, these cats are all tests for Polycystic Kidney Disease as this can occur due to the outcrossing with Persians.