So You Think You Might Like To Own a Devon?

But then, looking at a Devon, you may wonder whether there is not some dog in 'em. I'm convinced Devons are really dogs that somehow got trapped inside a cat's body during the doggie transmigration of souls (you know, reincarnation mishaps). Vico even fetched! My current Devon, Obi, also fetches and wags his tail when he's happy. As I write this he's letting my other cat clean him (just like a dog--to lazy to clean himself!). Heck, one of my best friends here in Minneapolis, Angela Ray, says that she hates cats but loves my Obi because he "acts like a dog."

Well, he's not a dog, thank you. He's really a secret agent from the Planet Cuteness (oy! I can pour it on . . . ).

The first Devonshire Rexes appeared in Buckfastleigh, Devonshire, England, in 1960. This lady mysteriously referred to in fancier literature as "Miss Cox" lived near a tin mine. There was this mangy, curly haired tom cat milling around all the time that obviously lived in the deserted mine. Anyhow, true to the cultural myth that homeless men are looking for love in all the wrong places, another stray tortoiseshell (that's a color, I think) dame (Queen Elizabeth knighted her) gave birth near her Miss Cox's home (and she figured the sire was the tom cat), and lo and behold, one of the kittens had some curly-hair. Like a poodle! She kept this one kitten (no one mentions what became of the rest of the litter--but, you can figure it out).

In a stroke of pure genius, Miss Cox named this cat "Kirlee." The strange wavy coat had appeared in cats elsewhere, however. There was evidently another dude who was called Brian Stirling-Webb who also had some curly haired cats as a result of some unrelated genetic blunder. Stirling-Webb, however, was busy breeding his curly cats for profit and prestige among the fancier community (his cats, evidently, became a small "rage" in the snooty cat community in England), which he called Cornish Rexes. Of course, this mutation occurred on a farm in Cornwall England around 1950. The "rex" referred to the rex rabbit, a critter known for its odd, curly whiskers (and some say, the odd spiral-shaped dung). The Cornish got the "Rex" because of the similarity--although we should mention that the Cornish Rex's whiskers are so curly they usually break-off, unlike those of the rex rabbit.

Anyhow, as the story goes, Mr. Stirling-Webb wanted to increase the gene pool of the breed, heard of Miss Cox's now famous poodle-cat, and urged a cross-breed (or, as fanciers call it, an "out-breed"). An out-breed is usually done for genetic diversity, cause we must remember that most pure breads are inbred, meaning they're not much unlike the bluebloods of the British. What is it with these people? Remember the royal hemophilia problem? I mean, even my parents know that when cousins and sisters and brothers marry the kids come out retarded (we may be from the South, but we're from Georgia, not Mississippi).

So Stirling-Webb puts Kirlee in a fur-lined room with some of his Cornish (Barry White was not big yet, but we're reasonably sure Marvin Gaye was played in the background). To Stirling-Webb's chagrin, many matings only produced straight-haired cats. This led fanciers to the conclusion that the Kirlee was of a different genetic mutation (and he was, since the curly coat genes are recessives), so the breeds were not bred together again, and we got da Devonshire Rex.

The rest of the breed history is rather boring, so we'll stop here. Suffice it to say that the Cornish, the Sphinx, and the Devon are tenuously related (although from different genetic mutations). Many "out-breeds" produced the Devons of today, which are rather different than Kirlee, as well as the Cornish and the Sphinx. The Sphinx have little hair to speak of (that's the cat in the Austin Powers movie that looks like a rat). Cornish have rows of hair. Devons don't have rows (well, sometimes they do). Think of it this way: Cornish have "waves," you know, like cowlicks; Devon's have a perm. And their personalities are different too. Cornish are busy all the freaking time, like elves, always having to do something. I almost got a Cornish, until I played with one at a cat show and got annoyed with how "busy" they are (Cornish are like cats on crank, in my humble opinion). Devons are busy too, but they'll sit in your lap (something that Cornish typically won't do unless there's an incentive--like a toy).

People like these cats because they have little "guard hair," which is the longer cat hair that sheds on shit. The theory is that people with allergies can tolerate rexes. That's not to say they are free of allergens! All cats have little proteins in their oils that makes allergic folks go nuts. It's simply that, for some reason, Devons make less of this oil (don't let the short hair length fool ya). Nothing is non-allergenic. I should know--I've got 63 environmentally related allergies. Even those nasty, plastic bed-mite covers one can put on your mattress. They smell like beach balls, and people can be allergic to that too. You know, that plastic smell. I had a cover on my bed when I was little. Not so much for allergies as for the uncontrollable bladder. I still should use one of those things from time to time. Especially when I've been playing some serious drinking games.

Actually, according to Webster, you could call Rexes hypoallergenic: "not likely to cause an allergic reaction." That doesn't mean these guys aren't allergen free--they are not. Hypo (less) and Hyper (more) gives you a inkling. I think Persians are Hyperallergenic. Definitely. And for me, big dogs, like Labs. And English Peas. Yuck.

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