There's a new breed of cat called the "poodle cat," that has an thick coat of curly hair like a poodle as its main identifying features. The Huffington Post reported that researchers from the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna have identified the need breed in a study that was published last year. The scientific name of the cat is Selkirk Rex.
The cat's appearance is different than other cats primarily because it has thick curly hair that resembles a poodle. The time noted in the study that the breed occurred because of a spontaneous genetic mutation which makes the curly hair dominant. It also has a thick coat of fur because of it has three layers.
Mother Nature Network reports that the Selkirk Rex is often crossed with Persian or British short haired cats and they are playful animals to own.
"The curly-coated feline caught the eye of Persian cat breeder Jeri Newman, who decided to cultivate the line by mating the kitty with a male Persian. She christened the new breed Selkirk after her stepfather, making it the only type of cat that is named after a person," reported The Huffington Post.
"There are longhair and shorthair varieties of the breed, and their fur can come in a variety of colors. Because of their extremely dense coats, the animals shed a great deal and, unlike other Rex breeds, the Selkirk Rex isn't recommended for people who might be allergic to cats," reported MMN.
The cat has been an accepted cat breed by the International Cat Association since 1992 and part of the American Cat Fanciers Association since 1998 and the Cat Fanciers' Association since 2000, reported MMN.
Despite being accepted into these associations for quite some time, the University of Veterinary Medicine only recently confirmed that the cat is a genetically distinct line.
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