The Oregon Rex was one of several breeds of Rex cats which in the mid-20th-century occurred from spontaneous genetic mutation

Mutation

In molecular biology and genetics, mutations are changes in a genomic sequence: the DNA sequence of a cell's genome or the DNA or RNA sequence of a virus. They can be defined as sudden and spontaneous changes in the cell. Mutations are caused by radiation, viruses, transposons and mutagenic...

.

After its acknowledgment as a separate breed, it enjoyed a short time of popularity among cat breeders in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. By now, due to crossbreeding with other Rex types, this breed seems to have merged with the other more popular Rex breeds like Devon Rex

Devon Rex

The Devon Rex is a breed of intelligent, short-haired cat that emerged in England during the 1960s. They are known for their slender bodies, wavy coat, and large ears, similar to the Cornish Rex.-Discovery and relations:...

 or Cornish Rex

Cornish Rex

A Cornish Rex is a breed of domestic cat. The Cornish Rex has no hair except for down. Most breeds of cat have three different types of hair in their coats: the outer fur or "guard hairs", which is about 5 cm long in shorthairs and 10cm+ long in longhairs; a middle layer called the "awn hair";...

.

History

According to some claims, the first litters of typically Oregon-Rex-like cats occurred in 1944. The first documented case of an Oregon Rex cat is traced back to a litter of cats in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

 in 1955. The specific kitten differed from its siblings and its mother by having a curly coat whereas the others all had straight fur.

At the same time, the first Cornish Rex were imported to the U.S. from Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

, and were soon interbred with the developing Oregon Rex breed. Breeders from Oregon then established a purebred Oregon Rex which soon became one of America's most popular Rex breeds. In the course of breeding, however, all types of Rex cats—each of which differ genetically—were crossbred, and the Oregon Rex did not endure as a stand-alone breed. The last purebred Oregon Rex cat is reported to have died in 1972.

Appearance

The typical curly coat was silky, short and tight, and featured no or only relatively short guard hair

Guard hair

Guard hairs are the longest, coarsest hairs in a mammal's coat, forming the topcoat . They taper to a point and protect the undercoat from the elements. They are often water repellent and stick out above the rest of the coat...

. The kemp was shorter than the German Rex

German Rex

German Rex is a breed of domestic cat. They are a medium sized breed with slender legs of a medium length. The head is round with well-developed cheeks and large, open ears. The eyes are of medium size in colours related to the coat colour. The coat is silky and short with a tendency to curl. The...

's or Cornish Rex's and was fully developed, with a typical subpical swelling. Their minimal flexion made the kemp hairs longer than the undercoat. The number of hairs was normal, but the bristles were missing.

The head was wedge-shaped with a long bridge. The ears were large with smoothly rounded edges and were set high on the head, and the eyes were medium-sized with an oval shape.

The Oregon Rex's body was of an elongated and tiny build, the tail was long, slim and peaked. The legs were long, gracile and slim, with tiny, round paws.

Character

The Oregon Rex combined the character traits of all Rex breeds. They were affectionate and needy, funny and playful, sometimes a little turbulent, and a little arrogant. The Rex was also reported to have a dominant character and thus to be somewhat complicated to handle.

Genetics

The origin of the Oregon Rex breed is a result of mutation. Mutations of the gene responsible for the typical curly hair or those genes involved in that process seem to be quite common. In addition to the other Rex breeds there are several other variants, the now-extinct Oregon Rex being only one of them.

Crossbreeding of cats with typical Oregon Rex features (genetic description: roro) and Cornish Rex (rr) and later with Devon Rex (rere) resulted in offspring with normal, non-curly coats. Research supported the fact that the Oregon Rex mutation represents a recessive

Recessive

In genetics, the term "recessive gene" refers to an allele that causes a phenotype that is only seen in a homozygous genotype and never in a heterozygous genotype. Every person has two copies of every gene on autosomal chromosomes, one from mother and one from father...

 allele

Allele

An allele is one of two or more forms of a gene or a genetic locus . "Allel" is an abbreviation of allelomorph. Sometimes, different alleles can result in different observable phenotypic traits, such as different pigmentation...

(ro) of an own gene with the dominant wild type allele (Ro) and therefore was in fact genetically different from other Rex breeds.