Profile of the Devon Rex

In 1960 a new coat mutation was discovered in the cat. Ten years earlier, cats with curly coats had been born in Cornwall, England. By this time, their descendants were being displayed at cat shows around London. Miss Beryl Cox happened to see photos of these unusual cats and recalled having seen a large tom cat with masses of curls living in an abandoned tin mine in Buckfastleigh, Devon, England. Miss Cox took in a tortie and white pregnant stray who gave birth to a litter of kittens. In the litter was a curly-coated male kitten. She named him Kirlee and kept him for her pet. She contacted Mr. Stirling-Webb after seeing photos of the curly-coated Cornish Rex. It was assumed that Kirlee was a relative of the already existing breed, but could nevertheless be used in a breeding program adding to the gene pool.
Miss Cox allowed Mr. Stirling-Webb to use Kirlee, and after test matings with several Cornish queens, only straight-coated kittens resulted! It soon became clear that although Kirlee had curly hair, a new rex gene had been discovered! Many other test matings were tried, with the same results; straight-coated kittens! After mating brothers and sisters together, some curly-haired kittens were born, but it was impossible to tell which curly gene they possessed. It was decided that the Cornish (Gene 1) and the Devon (Gene 2) were not compatible, and it was advised to discontinue further crossings between the two.

Kirlee was then mated to several British Shorthairs. His straight-coated daughters were brought back to him for breeding, and these litters resulted in 50% curly kittens. This showed that the Rex gene is a recessive according to the Mendelian theory that a recessive gene is produced in a 1:1 ratio in a back-cross to the original recessive genotype. This then became the foundation for the Devon breed. All Devons today should be able to trace their ancestry back to Kirlee, the first Devon Rex!

It also became quite clear that Kirlee was of completely different "type" than Kallibunker; the first Cornish Rex. His coat was mole-grey and he looked like a little pixie. He had wide cheeks, a short face, and huge ears like bat wings! Kalli had a slightly longer head, high-set ears and a straight, Roman nose. Although both Kirlee and Kalli had huge ears, Kirlee's low-set ears were covered with tufts of hair on the back creating an "earmuff" like effect that is unique to Devons. To this day, Devon breeders have maintained the original look of the Devon Rex. Photos of today's kittens look remarkably just like photos of the earliest Devon Rex.

All of the Rex breeds were born as spontaneous mutations out of ordinary domestic cats. Both the Cornish and the Devon Rex have a distinctly "foreign" body type.

The Devon Rex is a breed of cat with a most unique appearance. Many people instantly react to seeing their first Devon Rex with a registered look of surprise. "Oh, it looks like E.T." "It looks like a little alien!" Well, Devons are the little elfin pixies of the cat fancy! They have huge, low-set ears that bell out at the bottom. The ears are set on wide heads that have flat skulls. The backs of their ears are usually covered with furry tufts of hair called "earmuffs." They have cheeky, short little faces, described as a modified wedge in the show standards. And inside those cheeks rest huge, beautiful eyes. They also have a very definite nose stop. Large, prominent whisker pads contain short, broken off little whiskers, or no whiskers at all!

The other feature that most distinguishes a Devon from other breeds is their wavy coat! Although another shorthaired breed, the Cornish Rex has a similar appearance
and a curly coat; the Devon coat is very different. Devons have all three types of hair in their coats: guard, down and awn. The gene that causes their coats to be wavy or curly has also mutated the hairs. Any guard hairs present have a much different texture and feel than that of other cats. Because of this, and the fact that their coats are mostly made up of undercoat, they are velvety soft to the touch! A Devon Rex kitten can moult it's coat one or more times during kittenhood. Usually, a kitten born with a nice, curly coat will have a curly coat as an adult, even if it has moulted as a kitten.

Devons are a fine to medium build, small cat. Females weigh an average of 5-7 pounds when full grown and males range from 8-10 pounds. Although they look fragile, Devons are a sturdy, agile and very muscular breed.

Devons tend to be really inquisitive little critters! Even more so than the average cat. They love to be with their people and enjoy a game of fetch or hide and go seek! They are excellent jumpers as well, and because of their extremely curious nature; sometimes no shelf is off limits to them! Devons like to follow their owners around and they chatter in little trills and chirps rather than "meowing." Affectionate, intelligent, fun-loving cats. . . that's the Devon Rex!