- All colour varieties and patterns are recognised, including those with white.
- Permissible: Any amount of white
About the Cornish Rex
Origin: United Kingdom
View Cornish Rex breedersSee Cornish Rex kittens
No breeder is on record here yet. Portugal’s FIFe member club does not list this breed in its breeder directory at all, so an absence here says nothing about whether anyone breeds it in Portugal.
- Typical life span
- 11-15 years
- Size
- Small — from its typical weight
- Weight
- 2.7-4.5 kg
- Height
- 25-30 cm
- Registry status
- Recognised by TICA
- Breed group
- Rex
- Origin
- United Kingdom
- Known hereditary risks
- 2 documented conditions, with the test for each
About
What is a Cornish Rex?
Medium-sized, elegant cat with distinctive wavy coat, long legs, and arched back. Known for its playful, kitten-like personality throughout life.
Cornish Rex history and origins
Originated in Cornwall, England in 1950 from a spontaneous mutation in a barn cat litter. The wavy coat is caused by a recessive gene. Named after Rex rabbits with similar wavy fur.
Cornish Rex appearance and size
Typically 2.7-4.5 kg and 25-30 cm at the shoulder — published as one range rather than separately for males and females.
Cornish Rex temperament and personality
Generally described as affectionate, intelligent, active, curious, playful and social.
That is the breed in general, not a promise about one animal. Ask the breeder what their own line is like, and meet the parents before you decide.
Breed reference from The Cat API.
Characteristics
- Size
- Small
- Exercise needs
- —
- Easy to train
- —
- Amount of shedding
- —
- Grooming needs
- 3 of 5
- Good with children
- —
- Cost to keep
- —
- Tolerates being alone
- —
- Intelligence
- —
- Health of breed
- 2 conditions documented
Pros & cons
Pros & cons for the Cornish Rex
What you get with the Cornish Rex
- Commonly described as: “Affectionate, Intelligent, Active, Curious”
What you are taking on
- Two documented hereditary conditions, none of them classed as serious — each with the test to ask a breeder for, on the health guide tab.
Drawn from sources rather than written as an opinion — cited health research, the registry’s own standard, and peer-reviewed longevity. The Cat API. One breeder’s animals can differ from any of it, and an empty column means we hold nothing for that side rather than that there is nothing to say.
Characteristics
FIFe standard · Cornish Rex
Coat and colour
As the FIFe standard sets it out. Every line below is the standard’s own wording, tagged permissible.
Coat
Short, not shaggy, but slightly plush and dense, close lying to the body, without guard hairs.
Wavy, particularly on the back and sides.
Colour
- Preferred
- Permissible
- Undesirable
- Disqualifying
Preferred, permissible, undesirable and disqualifying are FIFe’s own words about the breed. They describe what the standard asks for — not an assessment of any individual dog, and not ours.
Shortened from FIFe standard CRX — each label is the standard’s own wording with the verdict lifted into the tag beside it. Read the full clause at source.
Temperament
AffectionateIntelligentActiveCuriousPlayfulSocial
Breed-level information from The Cat API. It describes the Cornish Rex in general; any individual animal can differ.
Health guide
Health & screening guide for the Cornish Rex
Known hereditary risks for the Cornish Rex breed, and the specific documentation to request from any breeder before paying a deposit. A responsible breeder will have these readily available; deflection is a red flag.
2 conditions documentedThis is breed-level literature, not veterinary advice about an individual animal — your vet knows the animal.
Health checklist (PDF)Hormones & metabolism
Hypokalaemia
Monitor
Cornish Rex is named on the WNK4 hypokalaemia test's VGL breed list alongside the Burmese group. The mutation causes episodic muscle weakness from low blood potassium.
What to ask for
WNK4 DNA test, UC Davis VGL, explicitly validated for Cornish Rex. Usually managed with oral potassium supplementation once identified.
Blood
Neonatal isoerythrolysis risk (blood type B)
Monitor
Cornish Rex is named by UC Davis VGL as one of the breeds with a high frequency of the blood type B allele. A type B queen mated to a type A or AB tom risks kittens developing neonatal isoerythrolysis after nursing colostrum containing anti-A antibodies.
What to ask for
AB blood typing test (UC Davis VGL and other labs). Both breeding partners should be blood-typed before pairing.
Gallery
No photographs yet
This is where Cornish Rex owners’ own photographs will go, from the pet profiles they keep here. Nobody has added one to a public page yet.
A photograph in a pet profile stays private to its owner. We will not put one here unless they ask us to.
Kittens
No kittens listed right now
No Cornish Rex breeder has a record on this platform yet, so there is nothing to list. That is a gap in our coverage, not a fact about the breed.