Tennessee rex
The Tennessee Rex is one of the newest cat breeds, beginning with feral kittens found in a Tennessee garden in 2004 that had curly coats with an unusual satin sheen.
The mutation is recessive and appears to be distinct from every other known rex gene.
It weighs 3.5 to 6 kilograms and is a moderate, muscular cat. The defining feature is the coat: curled, and with a genuine lustrous shimmer produced by the structure of the hair shaft, which is where the satin part of the description comes from. The breed is registered by TICA as experimental and is extremely rare, with a small number of breeders and a correspondingly small amount of established knowledge about it.
- Origin
- Tennessee, United States, 2004, from feral kittens
- Size
- 3.5–6 kg
- Lifespan
- 12–16 years
- Coat
- Curled with a lustrous satin sheen from the hair structure
- Genetics
- Recessive; apparently distinct from other rex mutations
- Status
- Extremely rare; an experimental developing breed
Related: Cornish rex · Devon rex · German rex · Selkirk rex
2 tennessee rex photos, newest first
Living with a tennessee rex
Very little is settled about this breed, and that is the honest headline. With a founding population of a few cats and two decades of history, the long-term health picture simply is not known — ask breeders what they test for and what they outcross to, and treat confident health claims with scepticism.
Comb the coat gently rather than brushing it, as with other rex breeds, to avoid straightening the curl.
Outcrossing to domestic cats has been part of the programme, which is the right approach for a new breed and worth confirming.
Ordinary preventive care otherwise, and dental attention from a young age.
Owners describe them as affectionate and easy-going, but with so few cats that is a small sample rather than a breed characteristic.
General guidance, not veterinary advice. Individual cats vary, and anything about a specific animal is a question for a vet who has seen it.
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