These Curly Cats Who All Descended From One Shelter Kitty Are Taking Internet By Storm
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Last week, the Internet got conquered by a photo of an orange kitten with curly hair. The picture was shared with the following caption: “I’ve never seen a cat with curls until now.” Well, neither have most of us, but this is no trick – the curly hair on the kitty is the real deal, and here’s why.
The breed of the cat who became Insta-famous last week is most likely the Selkirk rex – and its origins can be traced to one peculiar rescue cat named Miss DePesto.
Miss DePesto was born in a Montana shelter in 1987. She had four siblings, each of which have straight coats, but the kitty stood out due to her unusually curly hair. She was adopted by Jeri Newman, a local Persian breeder.
She bred the cat with with a black Persian and they produced a litter of six babies, all of them with curly hair. Newman realized the curly hair was a dominant genetic trait – and this is how the Selkirk rex was born.
(h/t)
Last week, the pictures of this orange kitten with curly hair went viral
Image credits: meanpIastic
Image credits: meanpIastic
Image credits: meanpIastic
People started sharing photos of cats with curly hair, usually known as Selkirk Rex
Its origins can be traced to one peculiar rescue cat named Miss DePesto
Image credits: shumsende
The curly kitty, who was born in a Montana shelter in 1987, had 4 siblings with straight hair
Image credits: shumsende
She was adopted by a breeder who realized her curly fur was a dominant genetic feature
Image credits: shumsende
The woman bred it with a black Persian and they produced a litter of six babies, all of them with curly hair
This is how Selkirk Rex was born – the breed named after a woman’s stepfather
Image credits: Ingrid Matschke
She added ‘Rex’ to indicate that the adorable coat was curly, a feature that so many cat lovers fell in love with
Image credits: ignataliya
Positive reactions from the Internet:
Negative reactions from the Internet:
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Very cute but I completely agree with the "negative" reactions from the Internet. Breeding a rescue cat??? Oh the irony.
Because it was in 1987... Things have changed.
And what she^ means is Not that there weren't an over abundance of strays in the 80's. There certainly was, however, its just that we do a lot more nowadays to raise awareness and rescues have the policy of fixing all the cats before placing them.
No, they didn't. There are still millions of strays out on the street on every continent. Even curly cats are among them.
i agree Brigitte! It's a shame, not just for the fact of breeding rescueds cats, but BREEDING????i'm an ethologist/biological speciaslist and it is very dangerous to do such things. Curls here are here because of a disease, and people reproduce the disease and want to keep it because of just some CUTE HAIRS and MONEYYYYYYY! The people who are breeding that should get a lawsuit and i'm not even american.This is very dangerous! Mary Shelley: they should read her (Frankenstein), it was a century ago...they are monsters (not the cats, the people)
This is linked to the polycystic kidney disease, hypertropic cardiomyopathy and of course less dangerous ears problems and greasy fur because of the shape of the fur. Breeding is not a game and this cuties often suffer because of humans choices. To change the shape of follicles you have to select other breeds with their own diseases and it ends with poor cats with a lot of genetic disease because humans think it "so cuuuute".
"BREEDING????i'm an ethologist/biological speciaslist and it is very dangerous to do such things." #whyidonthavekids
What disease is the curly hair linked to??
What disease are curls a result of? Changed shape of follicles isn't slated to disease anywhere AFAIK
Exactly. Focus on the millions of strays. Only 300 Selkirk kittens are born in the US every year. People don't own them instead of a rescue cat, they own them in addition to a rescue cat, in my experience.
And I thought was just the result of a sneaky poodle...
😂😂
They even made a cartoon about it- Cat-Dog
They are cute. But I can't get behind the breeding. Adopt, don't shop.
My family recently purchased a german shepherd puppy so that when she is older, I will have a "scary" looking dog to take with me when I run at night. They do have a lot of health issues as a breed, and as such, my parents wanted to be able to trace the family lineage to see their hip health, temperaments, etc. We wanted a young dog so that we can socialize it properly, as GSDs MUST be socialized heavily, as they are naturally slightly aggressive and so we have to train it out of them.
There really is no reason why you NEEDED to purchase a pup from a breeder ... you could have gotten one from the shelter. Unless you want to run that dog in little doggy shows and sip some wine from the boxes, you don't need a purebreed. By doing so, you're screwing over thousands of other animals that would be great companions.
There are German shepherd rescues that have puppies and adults available to adopt. Please don't advocate going to a breeder to get a purebred!
Very cute but I completely agree with the "negative" reactions from the Internet. Breeding a rescue cat??? Oh the irony.
Because it was in 1987... Things have changed.
And what she^ means is Not that there weren't an over abundance of strays in the 80's. There certainly was, however, its just that we do a lot more nowadays to raise awareness and rescues have the policy of fixing all the cats before placing them.
No, they didn't. There are still millions of strays out on the street on every continent. Even curly cats are among them.
i agree Brigitte! It's a shame, not just for the fact of breeding rescueds cats, but BREEDING????i'm an ethologist/biological speciaslist and it is very dangerous to do such things. Curls here are here because of a disease, and people reproduce the disease and want to keep it because of just some CUTE HAIRS and MONEYYYYYYY! The people who are breeding that should get a lawsuit and i'm not even american.This is very dangerous! Mary Shelley: they should read her (Frankenstein), it was a century ago...they are monsters (not the cats, the people)
This is linked to the polycystic kidney disease, hypertropic cardiomyopathy and of course less dangerous ears problems and greasy fur because of the shape of the fur. Breeding is not a game and this cuties often suffer because of humans choices. To change the shape of follicles you have to select other breeds with their own diseases and it ends with poor cats with a lot of genetic disease because humans think it "so cuuuute".
"BREEDING????i'm an ethologist/biological speciaslist and it is very dangerous to do such things." #whyidonthavekids
What disease is the curly hair linked to??
What disease are curls a result of? Changed shape of follicles isn't slated to disease anywhere AFAIK
Exactly. Focus on the millions of strays. Only 300 Selkirk kittens are born in the US every year. People don't own them instead of a rescue cat, they own them in addition to a rescue cat, in my experience.
And I thought was just the result of a sneaky poodle...
😂😂
They even made a cartoon about it- Cat-Dog
They are cute. But I can't get behind the breeding. Adopt, don't shop.
My family recently purchased a german shepherd puppy so that when she is older, I will have a "scary" looking dog to take with me when I run at night. They do have a lot of health issues as a breed, and as such, my parents wanted to be able to trace the family lineage to see their hip health, temperaments, etc. We wanted a young dog so that we can socialize it properly, as GSDs MUST be socialized heavily, as they are naturally slightly aggressive and so we have to train it out of them.
There really is no reason why you NEEDED to purchase a pup from a breeder ... you could have gotten one from the shelter. Unless you want to run that dog in little doggy shows and sip some wine from the boxes, you don't need a purebreed. By doing so, you're screwing over thousands of other animals that would be great companions.
There are German shepherd rescues that have puppies and adults available to adopt. Please don't advocate going to a breeder to get a purebred!