German Rex
cat Breed Profile
The German Rex is a small to medium-sized cat, and because she stands so high on her legs she can appear to be a large cat.
In this article
Size
Weight
small: <8 lbs.
small: <8 lbs.
Coat
Length
Short
Color
White, Blue, Black, Cream, Red, Brown, Frost, Platinum, Fawn, Chocolate, Chestnut, Cinnamon, Lavender, Champagne, Seal
Less Allergenic
No
Care
Longevity
9-14 yrs.
Needs
Moderate
Traits
Grooming Needs
Low
Social Needs
Moderate
Eye Color
Blue, Green, Gold, Hazel
Club recognition
Associations
FIFe
Prevalence
Rare
The German Rex has an unusual coat with no guard hairs. Her silky, short and curls naturally.
The German Rex is a small to medium-sized cat, and because she stands so high on her legs she can appear to be a large cat.
- FORM -
The German Rex is a breed that becomes involved with her parent. She loves to be right next to her humans and must have some time with them every day. In general, she loves being handled by her parents.
The German Rex is an athletic cat and will maintain her ideal weight if provided with enough space for exercise. Because the coat is close to the skin, you will easily be able to tell if your German Rex is getting too heavy.
A spontaneous genetic mutation in the cat world is not common. In 1950 in Cornwall, England, the first Cornish Rex kitten was born of a barn cat and an unknown sire. The parent took this curly coated cat into her home, named him Kallibunker, and began what became the Cornish Rex breed.
One year later, another wavy-haired female, Laemmchen, was found living on the grounds and in the basement of the Hufeland Hospital in what was then East Germany. Her parent also knew nothing about her background. In the late 1950s, Laemmchen had a litter with two curly coated kittens, even though she had nothing but straight-hair kittens in several earlier litters. This litter became foundation of the German Rex breed.
German Rexes were first shown in 1960, and quickly spread from Germany to France, England and the United States.
For a time, confusion abounded as to the separate nature of the Devon Rex, the Cornish Rex, and the German Rex. After the Cornish and German Rex were interbred, they were found to be genetically compatible. Unlike the Cornish Rex-Devon Rex breeding, which produced only straight-coated kittens, the Cornish rex-German Rex breeding produced curly coated kittens. In some parts of Europe, some Cornish Rex can trace their ancestry back to German Rex foundation cats.
As a result of the genetic similarity between the Cornish Rex and the German Rex, the German Rex is no longer bred as a separate breed in many countries. Today the breed is rare, even in Germany.
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