02.05 BW Nonlead
https://www.barkandwhiskers.com/2017-04-06-nl-selkirk-rex/
https://www.barkandwhiskers.com/p/2ea089bb-28db-4907-bbb8-184a744c883c/
By Dr. Becker
Have you ever seen a cat with curly hair? It does happen, occasionally, due to a charming genetic mutation — a hallmark of the Selkirk Rex cat breed. Even their whiskers are curly.
The Selkirk Rex is a new breed; it’s only been around since about 1987, when a breeder of Persian cats, Jeri Newman, adopted a feral kitten with curly hair. She named the kitten Agnes DiPesto (aka “Pest”), after the curly-haired receptionist on the TV series Moonlighting, and all Selkirk Rexes can now be traced back to her.1
Newman named the resulting breed Selkirk, after her stepfather, making it the only cat breed named after a person. It turned out that DiPesto had a new rex gene that is dominant for a curly coat (unlike the gene for the Devon Rex and Cornish Rex breeds).
