Cat Devon Rex

The Devon Rex cat owes its special characteristic to its fur, which has a wavy coat. It was born by chance in Devonshire in England and its story is a singular one. The first kitten of this breed came out of the mating of Mrs Cox's family kitten, in Buckfastleigh, with a stray who lived in an abandoned mine and who had precisely the characteristic wavy fur.

Only one kitten in the litter had the father's hair and this male kitten was named Kirlee and was the progenitor of this breed. A neighbouring Cornish cat breeder heard about this birth and tried to mate the Devon cat with Cornish but none was born with curly hair.

Therefore it was established that the Devon Rex cat was a breed of its own. The term Rex is attributed to cats with curly hair. This breed however is the result of numerous crosses with a high rate of inbreeding. This is why many cats are characterised by a rather obvious delicacy with regard to their health and protection from possible diseases.

Character of the Devon Rex cat

The Devon Rex cat has a very sweet character and loves attention and cuddles almost constantly. It is always around its owner in search of caresses. Unlike almost all cat breeds, it is by no means independent and indeed some are particularly jealous and possessive towards their owner. It is therefore absolutely not a cat to keep if you are away from home for a long time, this breed does not tolerate loneliness and it only takes a little to make it sad and even to make it cry in despair.

He likes to play a lot, so he gets along well with children and also with other pets. He manages to fit into the family environment immediately and apart from his almost maniacal predilection for his owner, he is affectionate with all family members. This breed has the habit of perching on its humans' shoulders and curling up on their legs as soon as they sit down. He is very curious and is attracted to any object or situation in the home. His sociable nature leads him to greet every guest with friendly chatter, purrs and wags.

He needs a lot of physical activity, so it is necessary to spend some time playing with him and keeping him busy as he gets bored easily. He is a very cold-hearted cat, so it would be good if he lived a practically apartment-only life; his curiosity would then get him into serious trouble if he managed to get out of the house.

Appearance of the Devon Rex cat

The Devon Rex cat is small to medium-sized, weighing no more than 4 kilograms for the male and one kilogram less for the female. However, it is very agile and has a powerful musculature, with rather long, thin legs, small, oval feet and a long, thin, tapering tail.

The appearance of this cat is unusual, the head is triangular, the eyes are very large, as are the ears, which are one of the breed's special features. As already mentioned, they are very large and positioned low on the head, very wide at the base, rounded at the ends and protected by fine fur. This characteristic makes him look almost like a leprechaun, especially as a puppy.

The coat is also a peculiarity of the breed, in fact it is short, wavy and dense, somewhat shaggy like that of a poodle or a sheep. The hair of this cat grows very slowly, and because of this, it can produce very little allergenic hair compared to other feline breeds. It will therefore be the ideal companion for cat lovers suffering from this type of allergy. The fur pattern can be two-coloured, three-coloured, spotted or tigerish. The most common is the black and blue Tortie (with or without white spots).

Health and care of the Devon Rex cat

As far as grooming is concerned, this cat does not need much care. A brushing once a week is sufficient to keep the coat shiny and clean. The ears must be cleaned of wax weekly and the nails must also be trimmed regularly. As this animal sweats a lot it can develop skin diseases such as dermatitis, so it would be good to get it used to bathing periodically from an early age. He suffers a lot from the cold and especially as a puppy he often has little hair, especially on his belly and neck, and needs to be warm and sheltered from draughts.

It has a life expectancy of about 15 years. Due to its high inbreeding rate, the Devon Rex cat presents risks related to certain diseases. Among others, myasthenia. This is an auto-immune neuromuscular disease characterised by excessive muscle weakness. Also, it is prone to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: which results in thickening of the heart muscle.

As a diet, he needs to be controlled, as he tends to overeat and thus gain weight. In part this is also due to an excess of sedentariness, in fact it is good to stimulate him to move.