Pamacs History I was first introduced to the Selkirk Rex in 1989 when
I met Jeri Newman at a show in Salt Lake City, UT. She was
there to introduce and promote this wonderful new breed at a
CFA show. Jeri was actively looking for experienced breeders
who had access to one of the outcross breeds. At that time I
was breeding Chartreux, but also managing a British
shorthair Cattery. Jeri was very protective of these new
cats but realized that she alone would not be able to breed
and exhibit enough cats to bring them to the attention of
CFA. After talking to Paul & Ginger Meeker of Castlkatz
British Shorthairs they came to an agreement on two male
Selkirks to use with some of their BSH queens. I was very
interested in one little blue girl (loving Chartreux made
blue my favorite color) as well as her chocolate
sister.However that was not to be. A few months later
I purchased a sable shorthair male, a colorpoint shorthair
female and a black & white longhair female and was on my
way to being a Selkirk breeder. Although in my heart I am more a breeder than an
exhibitor, I understood the great importance of getting the
cats out to the judges. I was very active in the late
60's‚ and early 70's‚ promoting the Bichon Frise
dog in AKC. A little later on, I became friends with Helen
Gamon, the lady who brought the first Chartreux cats from
France to the United States. I was intrigued with
these charming smiling cats and bred and showed them until
about 10 years ago. At that time I had a serious fall,
breaking my leg and shattering my knee. It became
necessary to place either the Chartreux or the Selkirks if I
was to continue in cats at all. For various reasons, I
decided to keep the Selkirks and place the Chartreux
breeders where they could be used properly. I am now retired from breeding but remain actively
involved with the Selkirk Rex breed. I will be happy to
assist anyone with any questions or problems you may
have. I would also be willing to look at your
pedigrees and offer advice in your breeding program based on
my experiences. And, I can always assist you in
finding the perfect cat or kitten to fit your needs. History of the Selkirk
Rex Jeri Newman, the originator of the
Selkirk Rex, described the origins of this breed in an
article written by Wendy McGuire for The Wave Link, the
Cornish Rex Society newsletter: Miss DePesto of NoFace "Before me sat a blue-cream and white
kitten with green eyes. She came from a batch of ordinary
housecats in Montana, and Peggy Vorrhees of the Bozeman
Humane Society brought her back to me in Livingston, Montana
because of her unusual coat. At an estimated age of ten
months, her whiskers were curly, her ears were full of
"brillo" hair, and her body looked like a "body wave". And
so Miss DePesto of Noface came to live at my
house. "At 14 months of age, I bred her to my
black Persian Male, Ch Photo Finish of Deekay, and anxiously
awaited offspring. On July 4, 1988, Miss DePesto not only
had six babies, three were definitely curly! The kittens
were: One black and white curly shorthair male (Noface Oscar
Kowalski); one black curly shorthair female (Noface Sheela);
one tortoiseshell curly shorthair female; two black
straighthair shorthair males; and one black straighthair
longhair female. NoFace Oscar Kowalski "The next year, the black and white curly
male was bred back to his mother, and on July 15, 1989, Pest
had one curly shorthair flamepoint male (Noface Snowman),
two curly shorthair torties and one black shorthair
straighthair female." On further inquiry, Jeri discovered that
Miss DePesto's mother and five littermates were all normal
coated. No other curly cats were found in the area, leading
Jeri to believe that Miss DePesto was the locus of a new
mutant gene. Jeri has described Pest as having a Devon
head on a Chartreux body -an angular head on a very large
body with thin legs. She developed into a cat of medium
size, with a muscular body, medium legs, good sized tail,
broad head with ears set well apart and a long muzzle.
Because Jeri felt Pest's look was not pleasing, she made the
decision (and based on her breed resources and the result)
that a more balanced look, similar to the British Shorthair,
was to be the desired conformation of the breed. Thus the
standard originally produced by Jeri to introduce the cat to
CFA was meant to describe the "Brit" look she envisioned for
the breed. The name Selkirk Rex originated with
Jeri. She did not want to name her new breed "American Rex"
as the Cornish and Devon were named for their areas of
origination. She instead decided to honor her stepfather by
calling the breed Selkirk after his family name. When asked
about the name by others, she claimed there was a range of
mountains in Wyoming named Selkirk and that's where she got
the name. The Selkirk mountains are in Western Canada,
however, not Wyoming. Rex was chosen because the cat was curly
-indicating a change in coat type unlike the American
Wirehair and closer to both the Cornish and Devon Rexes.
Other Rexes with curly coats have been found: The Oregon Rex
(since died out, specifics of the coat unknown) and the
German Rex (determined to be on the same gene locus as the
Cornish). Thus, the name Selkirk Rex, denoting a new, curly
haired breed of cat. Why was "REX" used to describe the coat?
As with the Cornish and Devon Rex, the word came from the
rabbit world. In the magazine "Rabbits ... Guide to Buying
and Caring for Pet Rabbits", an article describing the
origins of the name "Rex" was written by Rita L. Pascoe. A
summary of the article has been written by Lorraine Shelton
and is included here. "The name Rex is Latin and refers to 'one
holding the station in life of regent or king of a country.'
A French rabbit fancier by the name of Desire' Callion was
instrumental in promoting a newly discovered shorthaired
variety of rabbit. He sold some of these mutation rabbits to
King Albert of Belgium in the late 1890's. The King bred his
rabbits and entered them for competition at rabbit shows on
the continent of Europe. Being a judge is never easy,
especially when the King brings some animals that do not fit
the standard for the breed with regards to hair
type! "Rather than disqualify the King's
rabbits, local show officials changed the entry labels to
read 'Rex' on the King's entries. All rabbits with this
mutation for short fur were subsequently named 'Rex'
regardless of their color. When the first curly coated cats
were discovered in Cornwall, England, they were named 'Rex'
after these short-furred, soft-coated rabbits. Then when the
Devon Rex was discovered, these were named 'Rex' after the
curly coated Cornish Rex. At no time did the presence or
absence of guard hairs or other such qualifying trait come
into play. 'Rex' simply began to be known in the cat fancy
as an animal with unusual fur. "When the American Wirehair breed was
established, they chose to borrow a term from a mutation
found in humans and other animals called the Wirehair
mutation, resulting in a stiff, bristly hair structure. The
softness of the Selkirk coat is similar to that of the
Cornish or Devon Rex cats, so the term Rex is more
appropriate to our breed. The word Rex in our breed
emphasizes the fact that it is the unusual coat that defines
our cats." NoFace Oscar Kowalski and his son, NoFace
Snowman Noface Oscar Kowalski, a large black and
white male born in Pest's first litter, is the father of the
line for the majority of Selkirks today. Pest was bred only
five times, once to PhotoFinish, twice to Oscar, once to Mr.
Rogers (a local stray cat, when Pest escaped outside) and
once to a shaded golden Persian (Ch Razberrilane Purrpower
of Big Sky). Hair samples from Oscar and Snowman were
sent to genetics experts, along with background information
on the origin of the breed. Because this gene proved to be
dominant, unlike either the Devon or Cornish Rexes, it was
obviously different from either one. Roy Robinson's report, as presented to
the CFA Board when Jeri presented the breed for registration
acceptance, states: "I have examined the Selkirk hair
samples. In both neck and tail samples the hairs are very
fine, being shorter and thinner than normal. In the neck
samples there is a complete absence of guard hairs, but some
which are slightly thicker than down hairs which could be
awn hairs, more or less reduced to the size and length of
down hairs. On the other hand, in the tail samples there are
many long thin hairs which could be either guard or awn
hairs. "The Selkirk Rex is clearly different
from the coat of the Devon Rex since the latter typically
has all three hair types even if these are short and
crooked. There is some resemblance to the Cornish Rex in the
fineness and absence of guard hairs, in spite of the
different heredity." The first CFA show to witness the
introduction of the Selkirk Rex to CFA was Salt Lake City,
Utah in January 1990. The two cats shown were Oscar and
Snowman, Oscar's flamepoint son. Oscar and Pest have both
since been altered and are living in retirement with Jeri in
Montana. At the February 1992 Board Meeting, CFA
accepted the Selkirk Rex for registration. At the October,
1992 Board Meeting, the breed was put into the Shorthair
class as a Miscellaneous breed. Recently, the person who "owned" the
mother of Miss DePesto got in touch with a member of the
club who wrote the following: "I recently spoke to Kitty Garrett Brown.
Who is she? Well, I received a letter a bit ago from her
that stated the following: "'I have just learned, to my
astonishment, that 'Curly-Q', a kitten born at my place in
July of 1987, was the originator of the Selkirk Rex breed.
I've talked to Jeri Newman and she confirms this. I'm
writing because I'm eager for more information about the
Selkirk Rex. Do you have a newsletter I could subscribe
to?' "In our conversation, she cleared up some
historical details. Miss DePesto was not born in Sheridan,
Wyoming, but rather Sheridan, Montana. This woman runs a
shelter there out of her home called "For Pet's Sake". She
placed Miss DePesto to someone at a very young age, but she
"bounced back" because she cried too much. She was then
placed again at nine weeks. The person she was placed with
then gave the cat to Jeri. "Miss DePesto's momcat is still alive, a
dilute calico that is missing a foot where it was caught in
a trap before she was rescued. Her hair is not completely
normal, with a bit of a kink at the end. Her whiskers are
normal." Breeders are starting to pet out more of
their curly kittens, keeping just the best for breeding.
Males are easier to get as a pet than females, since most
breeders would prefer to keep females for breeding rather
than males. Outcrossing is still being done. Because the
Selkirk Rex coat modifying gene is a dominant, we get
straight hair kittens in the same litter with the more
desirable curly kittens. These straight hair pets still have
the same wonderful personality of their curly coated
siblings, but currently are not being used in breeding
programs and would make wonderful pets. They usually cost
much less than a curly coated kitten. Currently more breeders are needed in all
areas of the country - preferably breeders who have had
experience with one of the outcross breeds - Persian, Exotic
or British. While any experienced breeder can work with the
Selkirk, there are some special requirements that
experienced exhibitors/breeders of the outcross breeds would
have more experience with - such as grooming, health care
and dealing with large breeds. At the February, 1998 CFA Board Meeting
in Houston, TX, the CFA Board voted to advance the Selkirk
Rex to Provisional Status, effective May 1, 1998. At the February, 2000 CFA Board Meeting
in Houston, TX, the CFA Board voted to advance the Selkirk
Rex to Championship Status, effective May 1,
2000.
History
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