Breed Profiles

My German Rex arrived by accident, a friend's cat had a litter and I said I would foster one for a week. That was four years ago. She is on the sofa as I write this, curled into a comma, purring loud enough to hear across the room. The German Rex is the quiet pioneer of the curly-coated cats, and almost nobody knows her name.

The story goes that after the Second World War, a cat with a wavy coat turned up in a German clinic, and a breeder named Rose Scheuer-Karpin noticed. She called the look "rex," the same term used for the mutant curly rabbits of the era, and built a breed from that one line. The Cornish Rex came from a different cat in a different country, so do not let anyone tell you they are the same thing. They share the curl. They do not share the bloodline.

What you get is a cat with a short, plush, rippled coat that feels like warm velvet and barely sheds. No guard hairs, just the soft undercoat, waved. They come in every colour, though the original lines leaned silver and smoke. People with cat allergies sometimes tolerate a Rex better, though "better" is not "fine," and I would never promise that to someone with a serious allergy.

The personality is the real selling point. This is a cat who follows you room to room, rides your shoulder, plays fetch with a crumpled receipt, and complains when you leave. Mine learned to turn the bathroom tap with both paws and sits under it like a person at a fountain. Smart, busy, and far too social for the aloof-cat stereotype.

Care and the things people get wrong

Because they have almost no topcoat, German Rexes feel the cold. In winter mine wears a little fleece the vet's office sells, and she tolerates it the way a toddler tolerates a hat, badly but it stays on. Keep them indoors in cold weather and give them sunny perches. They will find the warmest spot in any house and defend it.

Skin needs a wipe now and then. With no guard hairs to carry oils away, the coat can get greasy, and the ears collect wax. A damp cloth once a week keeps them fresh. Bathing is rarely needed and can dry the skin, so I skip it unless she rolls in something specific.

Health is good, better than the Cornish in some lines because the gene pool was managed carefully, but the breed is small and small gene pools hide problems. Ask about heart and kidney screening. They are active, lean cats that stay kittenish into old age, which is a kindness when so many breeds slow down early.

Feeding is normal, but they burn energy pacing and playing, so they eat more than a lazy cat their size. Watch the waistline anyway. A fat Rex loses the elegant lines and the spring in the step.

If you want a cat that behaves like a dog in a curly coat, the German Rex is the original. Just know you are signing up for a shadow with opinions, and a sofa that will never be yours alone again.

The breed's rarity means you may wait for a kitten, and you should use the time to learn the lines. Because the pool is small, health screening matters more than show ribbons. Ask about heart and kidney tests in the parents, and be wary of anyone who cannot answer. A healthy Rex from a careful breeder is a joy for fifteen years; a careless one is a vet bill waiting to happen.

Mine has a habit that still makes guests laugh. She learns the sound of the treat cupboard from two rooms away and appears, upright, before I have the door open. Smart cats are like that, they map the house by reward. I lean into it with trick training, a paw shake, a turn, a jump to a marked spot, which tires her brain on rainy days when the window perch is cold.

If you have cat allergies, do not assume a Rex is safe. Some allergic people do fine, many do not, and the only honest test is time in a home with the breed. Borrow a weekend with a friend's Rex before you commit. I would rather you knew the truth than bought a cat you cannot keep, because rehoming a cat who trusted you is a sadness nobody needs.

One last thing about the coat: because there is almost no guard hair, the Rex feels the cold and the sun more than a normal cat does. In summer she seeks shade and presses against the tiles; in winter she camps on the radiator shelf and glares if I move her. A heated bed solved the winter sulk. Learn the breed's small quirks before the kitten arrives, and the adjustments feel like care rather than chore, the kind of attention a cat this social quietly expects from you.