The Devon Rex is a breed of cat with a most unique appearance. Many people instantly react to seeing their first Devon Rex with a registered look of surprise. "Oh, it looks like E.T." "It looks like a little alien!" Well, Devons are the little elfin pixies of the cat fancy! They have huge, low-set ears that bell out at the bottom. The ears are set on wide heads that have flat skulls. The backs of their ears are usually covered with furry tufts of hair called "earmuffs." They have cheeky, short little faces, described as a modified wedge in the show standards. And inside those cheeks rest huge, beautiful eyes. They also have a very definite nose stop. Large, prominent whisker pads contain short, broken off little whiskers, or no whiskers at all!

The other feature that most distinguishes a Devon from other breeds is their wavy coat! Although another shorthaired breed, the Cornish Rex has a similar appearance and a curly coat; the Devon coat is very different. Devons have all three types of hair in their coats: guard, down and awn. The gene that causes their coats to be wavy or curly has also mutated the hairs. Any guard hairs present have a much different texture and feel than that of other cats. Because of this, and the fact that their coats are mostly made up of undercoat, they are velvety soft to the touch! A Devon Rex kitten can moult it's coat one or more times during kittenhood. Usually, a kitten born with a nice, curly coat will have a curly coat as an adult, even if it has moulted as a kitten.

Devons are a fine to medium build, small cat. Females weigh an average of 5-7 pounds when full grown and males range from 8-10 pounds. Although they look fragile, Devons are a sturdy, agile and very muscular breed.

Devons tend to be really inquisitive little critters! Even more so than the average cat. They love to be with their people and enjoy a game of fetch or hide and go seek! They are excellent jumpers as well, and because of their extremely curious nature; sometimes no shelf is off limits to them! Devons like to follow their owners around and they chatter in little trills and chirps rather than "meowing." Affectionate, intelligent, fun-loving cats. . . that's the Devon Rex!

Devons may be shown in kitten class, championship and premiership classes in CFA, and kitten, championship and alter classes in TICA. They are also accepted for show in other cat registeries. CFA has a written breed standard that shows how points are distributed and what the cat is judged on.

You can view a side-by-side comparison of the Devon Rex and Cornish Rex here.

Thanks Wendy for my favorite photo of Mazie!