The Selkirk Rex originated in Montana, America in 1987, with a litter born to a rescued cat. The only unusually coated kitten in the litter was ultimately placed with a Persian breeder, Jeri Newman, who named her Miss DePesto (after a curly-haired character in the TV series Moonlighting played by Allyce Beasley). This foundation cat was bred to a black Persian male, producing three Selkirk Rex and three straight-haired kittens. This demonstrated that the gene had an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance. All Selkirk Rex trace their ancestry back to Miss DePesto.
The breed has been developed in two coat lengths, long and short (medium). It is a large and solidly built breed, similar to a British Shorthair. The coat is very soft and has a woolly look and feel with loose, unstructured curls. The head is round, with large rounded eyes, medium sized ears, and a distinct muzzle, whose length is equal to half its width. An extreme break, like that of a Persian, is a disqualifiable fault.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/msarypet/message/3The breed has been developed in two coat lengths, long and short (medium). It is a large and solidly built breed, similar to a British Shorthair. The coat is very soft and has a woolly look and feel with loose, unstructured curls. The head is round, with large rounded eyes, medium sized ears, and a distinct muzzle, whose length is equal to half its width. An extreme break, like that of a Persian, is a disqualifiable fault.
Medium-sized to large, well-proportioned cat, with powerful, muscular body which is more rectangular shape than square, but not long. The back is straight with a slight rise towards the rear, and shoulders and hips are the same width. The head is round and wide, with full cheeks and prominent whisker pads. The length of the muzzle is half the width. The ears are medium-sized and set wide apart. They are wide at the base and taper to a point. They should fit into the round contours of the head. Tufts of fur, if any, are curly. The eyes are large, round and set wide apart and should be neither almond-shaped nor oval. Instead, the inner and outer angles of the eye should lie on the same horizontal line. The legs should be medium-long to long with large, round paws. The powerful tail is medium-long and in proportion to the body. It is strong at the base, with neither a pointed nor stumpy tip. The coat occurs in two variants: short and longhair. The greatest difference between the two can be seen in the tail and the ruff. In the shorthair, the hair on the tail is the same length as the rest of the body, at around 2.5-5 cm. The curls on the tail lie plush and close to the body. The ruff hair is the same length as on the rest of the body. In the longhair, the curls on the tail are feathery and stand out from the actual tail. The ruff hair is also longer and frames the face. In both variants, the texture of the coat is soft, plush, abundant and obviously curly. The coat is dense and thick and does not have any bald or sparsely covered patches. Single curls may appear unevenly or haphazardly over the body, but these are not wavy and are usually clumped in bunches. Curls on the neck, tail and stomach may be more prominent.
