Animals

The Devon Rex is a breed of unique appearance. Its large eyes, short muzzle, prominent cheekbones, curly whiskers and huge, low-set ears create a characteristic elfin look.

The Devon Rex is a fine to medium build, small cat. Females weigh an average of 2-3 kilos when full grown, and males range from 3-4 kilos. Although it may look fragile, the Devon Rex is a sturdy, agile and very muscular breed.

The Devon Rex distinctive soft, wavy coat comes in a variety of patterns and in colours, including pointed (si-rex), solid, shaded, tortoiseshell, calico, bi-colour, harlequin and smoke colours as well as the tabby pattern.

The Devon Rex is recognised and accepted for competition in all colours and patterns.

The character of the Devon Rex is remarkable! Devon Rex are alert and active, and shows a lively interest in their surroundings. They love to be with their humans, and enjoy playing fetch or other games. They are also extremely agile cats with an inquisitive nature and will explore every corner of their homes.

When you gaze upon the glorious coat of the Somali, you may find it hard to understand that Abyssinian breeders once were horrified to find longhaired kittens among their litters of pristine Abys. Fortunately, on two fronts, in Canada and in the U.S. a couple of people saw the potential for this beautiful cat, and the Somali was born.

The Somali has an elegant, athletic build that is medium in size. Males tend to weigh in at 4 – 5 kg, females slightly smaller. The face retains the tabby markings of the ‘M’ on the forehead, however the rest of the cat should be free of tabby markings. The ears are large and pricked forwards and the expression is alert and curious. Eyes can be green or amber, the richer colour the better.Somali Cat
In Australia Somalis are commonly available in the four eumelanistic colours of Tawny (called ruddy in the USA, usual in the UK), Cinnamon (also called sorrel), Blue and Fawn The above four colours are also possible in a silver version, called respectively Black Silver, Cinnamon Silver, Blue Silver and Fawn Silver. In silver colours, a particular gene inhibits the base coat colour, leaving the ticking on a white undercoat. Each colour has its own special appeal. In some states chocolate and chocolate silver are being bred.

The coat of the Somali really attracts attention the ticking gives a wild appearance that is very unusual for a longer haired cat. Each hair has bands of contrasting colour. The Somali coat is longest in the breeches, and the lovely ruff. A real feature of the Somali is the tail, which has earned them the name the Feline Fox. The beautiful coat is very easy to care for, due to the silky texture that does not have a tendency to matt. A weekly comb is all that is needed to keep the Somali looking and feeling good, and the cats enjoy this.

Calico cats are cats with a spotted or parti-colored coat, sometimes there is a swirl (called a rosette) on either side of the stomach. In North America, a blotched or spotted domestic cat, usually predominantly white with red and black patches (a pattern also called tortoiseshell-and-white). Because genetic determination of some coat colors in cats is linked to the sex chromosome, calicoes are almost always female.

They are also known as calimanco, clouded tiger, tricolor cat, mi-ke (Japanese for triple fur) and lapjeskat (Dutch for ‘patches cat’).

Calico cats are nearly always female. This is due to the genes for the orange or black color being on the X chromosome. Female cats have two X chromosomes, while male cats have an X and a Y chromosome.

Therefore, the mother cat passes the X chromosome on to her kittens, while the father passes either the X or Y chromosome, thus determining the kittens’ sex. To be a calico cat, the kitten must have an X chromosome that has the orange color and an X chromosome that has the black color. Male calico cats are genetic anomalies, with XXY chromosomes and are sterile and extremely rare.

A calico cat has sections of different colors in its fur. Usually the calicos with more white fur also have larger and more distinct patches of color. If the orange and black fur is mixed, the cat is called a tortoiseshell. Tortoiseshell cats, or “torties,” as they are commonly known, have little or no white fur.
A variation on the usual calico color pattern is the “dilute” or “pastel” calico cat. This type of calico cat gets its name from the fact that its color pattern is a “diluted” or “pastel” version of the typical colors. A dilute or pastel calico cat has a pattern of buff or cream instead of orange and “blue”, a slate gray color, instead of black.