Zoe Amarilli, of 'Amazolou Cats', looks at two decades of the wonderful, ‘woolly ones’ and celebrates their success.
It’s been six years since the first Selkirk Rex cats entered the UK and what an impact they’ve made! Their popularity has increased year on year with the number of Selkirk kittens registered with the GCCF raising from 41 in 2004 to 245 in 2007. The numbers of breeders has also increased year on year with the increasing popularity of the breed and their stunning WOW factor on the show bench.
Background The Selkirk Rex originated in the USA. In 1987, a breeder in Sheridan, Montana, was asked to look at an unusual kitten that was in a local shelter. It had slight curls and waves in the coat. The breeder, Jeri Newman, was interested in feline genetics, so she adopted the kitten and later bred it to one of her Persians, ‘Photo Finish of Deekay’. On July 4, 1988, the stray, wavy kitten, now named ‘Miss DePesto of NoFace’ gave birth to six kittens. Three had a curly coat and three were straight coated. Jeri knew this 50 per cent ratio was exactly what would have been expected from a dominant gene for curl. She was fascinated with this concept and decided to explore the development of a new breed based on the curly coat. She gave the breed the name ‘Selkirk’ Rex after the Selkirk mountains near to her house to keep the same theme as the Cornish and Devon regional names. After several years of showing the Selkirk’s the breed was admitted to Championship status by TICA in 2004.
