Breed History

KALLIBUNKER, the first curly coated cat was born on July 21st 1950, in the Duchy of Cornwell, in England, to an ordinary straight-coated farm/barn cat named SERENA, in a litter of otherwise straight-haired kittens. The kitten with the curly coat was the only one in an otherwise unremarkable litter of four.

Serena's owner, Nina Enismore, a breeder of curly-haired Astrex rabbits, knew immediately that this cream tabby male kitten's "rex coat" was unique. Nina contacted well known cat breeder Mr Brian Stirling-Webb and geneticist, A, C. Jude. After some deliberation it was decided to test the genetic basis of this unique velvety curled coat by mating the kitten, now named KALLIBUNKER, back to his tri-coloured mother. This mating produced 3 kittens: 1 normal female and 2 rex males. Unfortunately, one of the boys died, but the other, named POLDHU, a rare blue-cream tabby, went on with Kallibunker, to father a number of litters. Most of Poldhu's matings were to straight-coated females to prevent inbreeding. All the straight-coated offspring from these mating carried the Rex gene.

The following link leads to the full article as published by Dr's Searle and Jude and featured as a link at www.rexsphynxklubben.dk

Searle A. G.& Jude A.C. (1956) 'The Rex Type Coat in the Domestic Cat', Journal of Genetics, Vol. 54, No.3. pp. 506 -513

Kallibunker

Born: July 21st, 1950
Died: 12th September, 1956

Note the distinctive lean, tall, body type with tummy tuck, angular head and large ears

Testing the Genes

Over the next few years Mrs Enismore began a formal breeding programme that involved keeping detailed records of the each mating.  Initially, 64  kittens: 29 normal and 35 rex were produced by mating Kallibunker and Poldhu  back to Serena and other non-rex females from Kalli's first few litters.  Uncontrolled matings between Kallibunker and normal coated cats resulted in 100% normal kittens. The rex X rex matings produced 100% rex kittens, an early indication and correct assumption, that this particular rex coat is controlled by a fully penetrant, recessive gene. 

Mrs Ennismore kept records of all the early matings and, in the 1950's, provided quite detailed records of her early breeding programme to the The Forum, a newsletter of the Rex Breeders United Club.

The following is a summary of Kallibunker and Poldhu's earliest matings

Source: Original published: The Forum, April, 1971. Reproduced by Dr Rosamonde Peltz. Source unknown

	Birth Date	Sire	Coat	Queen	Coat	Kitten Coat
	21.3.53	Kallibunker	(r)	Serena	(R)	r -	R 1
	15.6.53	Kallibunker	(r)	Orange Girl	(R)	r 2	R 1
	10.7.53	Kallibunker	(r)	Serena	(R)	r 2	R 1
	17.8.53	Kallibunker	(r)	Butterfly	(R)	r 2	R 1
	5.12.53	Kallibunker	(r)	Serena	(R)	r 2	R 1
	30.4.54	Kallibunker	(r)	Orange Girl	(r)	r 3	R -
	19.8.54	Poldhu	(r)	Millie Brim	(r)	r 3	R -
	29.8.55	Poldhu	(r)	Loveday	(r)	r 3	R -
r = Rex coat      R = normal straight coat

Table1:

It can be seen from this table that the earliest Rex x Rex matings resulted in 100% Rex kittens.  The Cornish Rex was breeding true, early signs that this new curly coat gene was fully penetrant, and recessive, to the normal straight coat gene.

The curly coated kittens all carried the distinctive tall, lean, long whippy tail, large eared, and fine, angular body type of the typical Cornish Rex pedigree cat. The straight coated kittens on the other hand,  were typically "moggy" in type; heavy set, rounded head with smallish ears. The "rex" coat would seem therefore, to be somehow linked genetically to other phenotypic (what you can see) factors such as body type and personality, all of which are unique and distinctly Cornish Rex in character.

                   Poldhu

                       unknown source

Tortoiseshell coat colour is expressed by the red (O) gene which is only present on the X chromosome. Two X (female) chromosomes are required for the full expression of the tortoiseshell trait,  a pattern characteristic of female cats only.

The few true documented male tortoiseshell cats have been sterile. Poldhu however, was not only very fertile, but of note, sired red & cream kittens from 4 different queens which would suggest,  that he was a true tortie.

As genetic knowledge has expanded, so has our understanding of sex-linked genes. Poldhu is now thought to have been a chimaera, carrying a double allocation of the XY male sex genes,  symbolised as XY/XY, a combination enabling full expression of male tortoiseshell colouring as well as fertility.

Read more about Poldhu and other chimaera's in the following site featured at: www.messybeast.com.

Mosaicism, Tortie Tomcats, Genetically Impossible Kittens & Gender Anomalies

Unfortunately POLDHU was accidentally rendered sterile during exploratory surgery to extract tissue samples to enable investigations to help determine the exact nature of his genetic makeup. *KALLIBUNKER had died by this stage and with POLDHU now infertile, the new Rex breed was in danger of extinction. However, with careful breeding of POLDHU's offspring , especially his daughter, LAMORNA COVE, and KALLIBUNKER's only other surviving progeny, a cream and white male called SHAM PAIN CHARLIE (CHAS),  the Cornish Rex breed was saved.

* By 1956, the financial burden of maintaining a serious, committed breeding programme was taking its toll, and although Mrs Ennismore was assisted by Mr Brian Sterling-Webb and A. C. Jude,  she was ultimately forced to destroy a number of the early cats. Unfortunately, Serena and Kallibunker were among them. 

Early USA

In 1957, LAMORNA COVE established the Cornish Rex in America after being imported to California from Britain by Mrs Francis Blancheri. LAMORNA was already pregnant to her father POLDHU prior to leaving and soon after arrival in America, delivered 4 Rex kittens. One died in the first year and one male was infertile. The remaining two kittens, DIAMOND LIL a female, went to Mrs Fred Galvin and MARMADUKE of DAZ-ZLING, a male, went to Mrs Helen Weiss went on to establish the breed in America. MARMADUKE can be found in the pedigree of most Cornish Rex cats, in all countries.

A comprehensive article written by Mrs Weiss on the early Cornish Rex breeding programmes in America was published by the C.F.A. Year Book, 1965 under the title of, Rex the King

In 1968, when it was thought that Marmaduke was the last remaining Cornish Rex male, Mrs Weiss began breeding Marmaduke to a Siamese Queen and other shorthair females.

These early matings with cats of a finer build altered the look of the breed considerably and also introduced the colourpoint gene into the lines: a very attractive and highly sought after colour variation in the Cornish Rex world today.  The British Cornish Rex cats were relatively large and, while tall and slim,  quite "chunky" in comparison to their American cousins and the Cornish Rex we see today. 

There was considerable debate for many years regarding the differences between the American and British Cornish Rex. This came to a head when  DALI, a black and white coated male, the first American Cornish Rex to be exhibited in another country, was put up against the British "type" in France. DALI created a quandary for the judges who were required to choose between these distinctively different  types. Eventually was the prize went to DALI.

American Rex

Over the years there have been a number of spontaneous mutant births of Rex coated kittens in the USA. Some of the recognised Rex mutations are listed below:

R.

Others that have appeared in later years, are thought to be the offspring of free roaming Rex cats that have mated with normal domestic cats.

Special thanks to Mrs Eula Cross who worked with Mrs Gabriel Kaufman as one of the earliest Rex breeders in Australia. Much of the information on these pages was provided by Eula, including many of the old photographs, that were unfortunately, collected without source in the early years of the Cornish Rex breeding history.  Definitive origins of some of the photographs is proving difficult to obtain: any information pertaining to the originating source of any photographs not acknowledged would be appreciated. 

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A "Rex" By Another Name