Cornish rex - Physical traits

Body

The Cornish Rex is small to medium in size with a muscular body built of fine and delicate bones. Its legs are long and slender with dainty, slightly oval paws. The back is naturally arched. The tail is long and slender, tapering toward the end.

Head

The length of the oval head is greater than the width, but cannot be too long. In profile the end of the nose and the chin are in a straight line. The nose of the Cornish Rex is long: the American Cornish Rex has a Roman nose with considerable depth, whereas the nose of the European Cornish Rex is straight. Large ears are set high on the head and rather apart from each other. The eyes are oval in shape and slanting slightly upward.

Coat

The hair is short, soft and thin. The coat of a Cronish Rex is softer than that of the Devon Rex, because the former one does not have course guard hairs. The ideal coat is dense, evenly wavy, resembling a washboard. It is completely free of guard hairs. The whiskers and eyebrows are also wavy. Bald parts of the body and tail are considered to be disadvantages, but this can happen, since the coat of this breed of cats is extremely light and vulnerable.

Colours

Cornish Rex cats come in a wide variety of coat colours and patterns; even in a colour-point pattern standard in the Siamese breed (this type of Cornish Rex is called Sirex). In the cat shows the quality of the coat is considered to be more important than its colour. The most common colours are black and blue with white patches or without them, tabby or not; however, in the show one can also see Cornish Rex cats with a tortoiseshell pattern or with a purely white coat. The eyes of these felines may be green or gold (accept for the Cornish Rex whose eyes are always blue) and have to be appropriate to the predominant colour of the cat.« Cornish Rex