With their unique , eye - grab show , Cornish rex cats are perfect for people with avant - garde tastes . get wind all about this regal cat breed .

With their recollective and slender bodies , orotund eyes , and huge ear , the Cornish rex is a cat sure to trigger conversation — and those are n’t even their most unparalleled feature of speech . The Cornish rex miss the farsighted hairsbreadth of an outer pelage , exit her with just a curly , soft down undercoat that feels like velvet when you pet her .

But these kitties are n’t just looks . Cornish male monarch cats are high - vitality and playful , and you will often find them peer down at you from the top of your refrigerator . If you ’re look for a spirited indoor comrade , a Cornish male monarch will jibe right into your home .

cornish rex standing in grass

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Appearance

The Cornish rex ’s torso is extremely lithesome , give her the appearing of being fragile . This is all a artifice , since everything under the hide is hard muscle and pearl , and they are astonishingly sturdy and energetic cats .

Their consistency are topped by a smallish , orchis - mold head that take high malar bone ; large , pear-shaped eyes ; a long nose ; and jumbo ears situated at the top of the skull . But the main hallmark of the Cornish king is her coat . Where most breeds have three dissimilar character of hair — the farsighted outer safety hair , a in-between layer of awn hair , and the down flat coat — Cornish king cats only have the third down coat , give them a gentle , wavy appearance that feels like velvet .

But these Cornish kitties are n’t the only cat engender with this distinct coat ; the thin and muscularDevon rexalso has easy down fur , and the breed are often confused . But Chyrle Bonk , DVM at Petkeen , tell you could separate the Cornish rex vs. Devon rex by their face . The Devon rex has a broad grimace with low - set ears , while the Cornish rex has a triangular and lean font , she says . The Cornish rex ’s hair’s-breadth tends to be slightly short than the Devon ’s as well .

cornish rex lying in the grass upside down

Angela Emanuelsson / EyeEm / Getty

You might have listen that the Cornish rex is hypoallergenic , though this is n’t technically on-key . The Cornish king may exuviate less than some other strain thanks to her short , curly coat , butpeople with cat allergiesaren’t respond to the kat fuzz itself . Most cat allergic reaction are really from a glyco - protein experience asFel d 1 , produced in the sebaceous glands of the peel , as well as in saliva and water . As cats clean themselves , their saliva dry on their pelt and flakes off as they move , causing thedander that most hoi polloi react to . For this rationality , while a Cornish rexmaycreate a low reaction in hoi polloi with cat allergy , the electric potential for reaction will still be there , since they still groom themselves . Before institute home a Cornish rex kitten , spend time with the breed to see how your allergies respond .

Temperament

The Cornish rex is an incredibly odd , burnished , high - energy breed . Emphases on the mellow - free energy .

" Cornish Rex may be seen as theborder colliesof the cat world , " Bonk say . " They ’re always on the move and do well if they have a job to do . While they really enjoy fiddle with you , interactive toys , such as battery - operated mice , puzzler toy , or snarl miniature , can help keep them entertained when you ca n’t bring with them . "

True explorers , the Cornish rex will find her way up into place you previously thought to be unprocurable , like the top of your kitchen locker . Arabian tea - proof your home plate is last to be a necessity to keep the king out of place you do n’t require her to go .

black cornish rex cat in front of a cat toy

And when your small Internet Explorer is n’t scale door frames or wiggling her elbow room into slightly ajar shorts , she ’s probablyfollowing you from room to elbow room .

" The Cornish male monarch is a very social cat , " Bonk says . " They love being around others . However , they are also loyal to their family and may not immediately take to unknown , but do n’t expect them to give a new person the stale shoulder for long . "

They be intimate to interact with people in every path imaginable , Bonk enjoin , including"talking " to them . And while they ’re not as gabby as theSiamese , the Cornish rex will decidedly let you get it on what they ’re thinking — or when their food roll is empty .

white cornish rex cat with harness sitting on beach

wildcat78 / Getty

Living Needs

When you bring home a Cornish rex kitten , she ’s proceed to need places to research . A natural born crampon and jumper , she ’ll bethrilled with a cat tree(or two ) , some catshelves mounted to the wall , anda windowpane hammockwhere she can lounge .

Your king will also postulate a prissy , cozy , and ( most importantly)warm cat layer . Her incredibly myopic pelage might be cute and soft , but it does n’t do much to keep her tender . So when she does settle down from a day of play , she ’s going to attempt out the warm touch — a bed , your laptop , oryou . Acute cat sweaterwill service keep her intimate , and if you ever let heroutside on a catioorexplore on a harness , check that she ’s wearing a warm coat .

But other than place to go up , play toys to bat around , and a warm speckle to retire to , the Cornish king does n’t have a long list of demands . These social pussycat fit right in to most home and families .

black and white Cornish Rex

Angela Emanuelsson / EyeEm / Getty

" Cornish male monarch tend to love everybody , " Bonk says . " Their high-pitched activity level and playfulnessmakes them work well with children , but be certain toteach your child how to decent interact with themfirst . "

Bonk says Cornish male monarch like having other furred siblings — cats or dogs — peculiarly if they ’re willing to play .

Care

The Cornish rex ’s myopic , curly coating are about as low-down - upkeep as you could get , and Bonk says it ’s good to keep brushing to a minimum .

" Too much brush can actually harm these delicate hair , " she says . " Rather than frequent brushing , you ’ll require to do at least a hebdomadal auricle and paw cleansing . This will help melt off excessive crude and greasiness from develop . "

You ’ll also need tokeep her nails trimmed little , herlitter box clean , and herteeth brush .

closeup of a cornish rex kitten

Angela Emanuelsson / EyeEm / Getty

It ’s authoritative to keep your Cornish king inside . Along with her issuance with cold weather condition , she can be sunburned if she ’s out in the Sunday for too long .

Health

The distinctive Cornish male monarch lifespan is long—15 is the average , but king live for 20 year is n’t rare — and the strain has near no hereditary or genetic wellness problem .

While being spare of any breed - specific health concerns , Cornish king cats are prone to many of the same general maladies that can befall multiple cat breeds .

" The most vernacular affair we see in cats as far as disease iskidney disease . That ’s really just across the board in cats , " says Michelle Beck , DVM , CCRT , CVA , of theBacklund Animal Clinicin Omaha , Neb. " Kidney disease andheart diseaseare thing that ex-serviceman know to check all kat for , just as a topic of course .

" Cats by the old age of 10 , almost 70 percentage of them havearthritissomewhere in their organic structure , " Beck continues . " computed tomography are very good at veil their pain . "

Beck aver that ability to cloak pain — especially in breeds that are n’t well - known for stimulate specific wellness outcome — can have a sight of Arabian tea owners to forego things like workaday vet visit or preventative precaution .

" It ’s not that we do n’t have groovy care available for cats , " Beck says . " It ’s just that we do n’t see a plenty of cats . If they ’re an indoor cat , they ’re not expose to a lot of disease . "

History

While in most cases a country of descent and perhaps a C are about as close as you may get , the Cornish rex has an factual birthday : July 21 , 1950 .

That was the daytime that Serena , a tortoise shell cat on a farm in Cornwall , England , gave birth to a bedding material of kittens that included one male kitten who was cream - color and covered in tight , gentle curls . As he grew , that kitten ( eventually nominate Kallibunker ) became even more dramatically different from his littermates with a slender body , long , thin legs , huge chiropteran ears , and a whippy tail .

Farm owner Nina Ennismore have Kallibunker to the veterinary for an interrogation and neutering but was discourage against the latter by her vet , who identified Kallibunker as a wholly unique familial mutation , agree to the Cat Fanciers ' Association . Instead , Ennismore took him home , bred him back to his mother and two more of the little mutants were hold in Serena ’s following litter . The Cornish king was off and fly the coop . In 1957 , two Cornish rexes were imported to the U.S. and rearing get here in businesslike .

In 1960 , Beryl Cox of Devonshire , England , found a isolated cat with a small , round boldness and forgetful , curly coat , consort to the CFA . Originally thought to be another Cornish male monarch , attempts were made to cover that computerized tomography ( named Kirlee ) with other Cornish rex cats , but the bedding farm unbowed - haired kittens . Kirlee was found to possess a similar but distinct cistron mutant , which became the base for the Devon rex breed . While the two look very interchangeable , and were , in fact , evince together for a telephone number of years , they are genetically distinguishable and thwartwise breeding them is discouraged .

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