At first glace, the curly fur on this orange kitten might make you think he's a stuffed animal, but he's a real cat!
On August 4, 2017, a Twitter user uploaded three photos of the curly, orange kitten, and the post quickly took the internet by storm. People either thought the curly kitten was from a toy store or thought his fur had been digitally altered. Both happen to be wrong! Like the Devon rex, this kitten, called a Selkirk rex, has curls!
Owners of Selkirk rex cats were quick to educate people on the breed — which has only been around for 30 years — and uploaded photos of their pets whose curly fur is a dominant trait.
According to the Cat Fanciers' Association: "The whiskers and hair do not change as the cat grows older; if they are curly at birth, they are curly as an adult. Even if the coat later shows less curl, the cat has the curly gene and retains the curly whiskers."
Keep scrolling to see all the photos of this adorable curly kitten and learn about the breed.
On August 4, 2017, a Twitter user posted a trio of cat photos that has taken the internet by storm.
"I've never seen a cat with curls until now," the user wrote. Judging by the 6,567 retweets, others thought the same thing!
The orange cat's curly coat has amazed thousands of people online because so many people are used to only seeing cats with straight fur — or even no fur!
But this little guy has become an internet sensation.
From Reddit to the photo-sharing site Imgur, everyone is sharing his photos and commenting on how amazing his curly coat is.
This photo clearly shows the adorable ringlets on the Selkirk rex's body. According to Petful: "The dense coat, which consists of three layers, can be short or long and come in a variety of colors. It is soft with loose, natural curls. The curliest spots include the stomach, neck, and flanks."
While it looks like someone gave this kitty a perm or fluffed him in the dryer, his coat is actually the real deal and his breed dates back 30 years.
The Selkirk rex can be traced back to Livingston, Montana. In 1987, a breeder by the name of Jeri Newman adopted a rescue cat named Miss DePesto, who had curly fur.
It took 25 years for the Selkirk rex to finally be recognized as a new breed of cat. The University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna confirmed in 2012 that the Selkirk rex was a genetically distinct breed.
Jeri bred Miss DePesto with a Persian cat. Of her litter of six, half had curly fur.
This led Jeri to believe the curls were a dominant trait for Miss DePesto. Conversely, Cornish rex cats have a recessive curl trait.
What this meant for the future of the breed was that crossbreeding could occur without losing the signature curl.
The Selkirk rex breed is also unique in that it was named after a person — breeder Jeri Newman's stepfather.
The "rex" is derived from the rex mutation which causes curly or wavy fur. There are currently four internationally recognized rex breeds of cats including the Selkirk. The others are the Cornish rex, the LaPerm rex, and the Devon rex.
After the post went viral, other Twitter users, like this one, have tweeted out their appreciation for the curly-haired breed — and have also accumulated tons of likes and retweets!
If you also think the Selkirk rex breed is adorable, please SHARE this post on Facebook with family and friends.
These stories are based on posts found on Reddit. Reddit is a user-generated social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website where registered members submit content to the site and can up- or down-vote the content. The accuracy and authenticity of each story cannot be confirmed by our staff.
