Cornish Rex cats lack the guard coats found in almost every other cat breed, including domestic house cats. A strictly indoor cat breed, the Cornish Rex are adept at finding the warmest spots in any home (a person, radiator, heater vent, laptop, sunbeam, comforter, pillow, and laundry). So, while it is true they are more susceptible to the cold, they are extremely clever and always keep warm

Cornish Rex cats are very lightweight. Adult females are typically 5-7 pounds. Adult males are typically 7-9 pounds.  However, they are very long cats, typically 12-14″ standing height. 

Yes, but a lot less than most other cat breeds. Unlike other cat breeds, the Cornish Rex lack a topcoat, made up of long awn and guard hairs. So, while the short undercoat hairs are lost and replaced, you’ll never notice these tiny hairs and you’ll certainly never find “cat tumbleweeds” tumbling the plains of your home.

Yes! Cornish Rex cats don’t shed much hair and don’t tend to release other allergens into the home such as dander. No cat is 100% non-allergenic, and this includes Cornish Rex, which also produce Fel d1 (an allergy-triggering protein). Regular bathing, while not strictly necessary for the breed, can help to effectively eliminate hair and dander in your home. Rochelle has asthma and is allergic to cats, but we are able to breed Cornish Rex cats with zero health consequences. We have helped numerous families with allergy-suffering-members adopt a Cornish Rex that doesn’t send them to an emergency room.

Cornish Rex cats have one of the longest average life expectancies of any cat breed. It’s common for them to live beyond 16 years, with the oldest cats living into their 20s. 

Cornish Rex cats are a generally healthy purebred cat breed, with only a few known health conditions reported. Heart conditions, such as heart murmurs, are a risk in any purebred program. Selective breeding coupled with offspring reporting from adopting families can mitigate the risk. 

Historically, hypothyroidism has been reported, which leads to the slowing of a cat’s metabolism, but we have no reports of this condition impacting any of our breeding lines. Hair loss due to hypotrichosis has been noted in the past. However, this is easily eliminated through selective breeding practices as affected cats are born alopecic or hair loss starts at only 1 month old. We have not seen this illness in any of our breeding lines.

Yes! We love to show our cats in ACFA and CFA. It’s important for us to see what other breeders are producing and what judges think about the cats we are intending to breed. We show all of our breeding adults until they achieve championship level, and ideally, grand champion level. We are breeding to improve the breed health and breed appearance.

Yes! Be wary of any cattery that doesn’t allow you to visit their breeding facilities – even in times of COVID. When a kitten has been assigned, we invite every adoptive family to come and visit their new baby (after first FVRCP vaccination, of course).

Although otherworldly in appearance, Cornish Rex cats originated in Cornwall, England, where one first appeared in a litter of barn cats in 1950. A cream-colored male, named Kallibunker, was covered in tight rows of tiny curls, giving him the appearance of a miniature lamb. As he grew, his differences from his littermates became more dramatic: a slender, fine-boned body standing on long legs, a narrow head, enormous “bat ears,” and a long, whippy tail. Kallibunker was a genuine mutation and was bred back to his mother to produce curly kittens. The curly coated cats were bred with Burmese, Siamese, and British domestic shorthair cats, resulting in a broad genetic base for the Cornish Rex breed and the knowledge that the gene was recessive.