Selkirk Rex Care Calendar: Curls, Skin, Kidneys

The Selkirk Rex has one rule that overrides every other grooming habit you may have: never brush the coat dry. A dry comb turns curls into frizz and then into felt, and the fix is a bath, not more brushing. Everything else on this calendar follows from a dense coat sitting on a cobby body that would rather sleep than jump.

Two inherited problems are worth planning around — polycystic kidney disease from the Persian outcrosses, and HCM. Both are screenable, and both are cheap to check compared with treating them late.

Selkirk kittens are often born with tight curls, lose most of them between 4 and 8 months, and regrow the adult coat by 12-18 months. A straight-coated adolescent is normal, not a fault: photograph the coat monthly in that window. Adults carry a plush, dense coat; seniors often get a thinner, drier version from about 10 years.

Bathing: every 4-6 weeks, and why

Curls trap skin oils against the body, so this breed needs more bathing than any other rex. Bathe every 4-6 weeks with a degreasing shampoo, work it in along the grain, and rinse at least twice as long as you lathered. Conditioner on the ends only.

Dry completely: towels, then a low-heat dryer, in a room above 22 C. A dense coat left damp at the skin is how seborrhoea and fungal patches start. If grease returns within 10 days, the shampoo is too mild or the rinse too short. More on frequency: bath intervals.

Combing without wrecking the curl

Dampen the coat with a fine mist and a little leave-in product, then draw a wide-tooth comb through each section twice or three times a week. Never use a slicker on dry hair, and never comb a dry tail — that is where the worst mats form. Pay attention to the armpits, the belly and behind the ears.

Between sessions, a damp hand run over the flanks lifts loose hair and shows where the coat is packing. If you find a solid mat, do not cut it: bathe, condition, then tease it apart with fingers over 10 minutes. A mat that will not move gets clipped by a groomer. Claws every two weeks.

PKD: the DNA test, then the ultrasound

Polycystic kidney disease came into the breed through Persian outcrosses. A DNA test identifies the gene, and an ultrasound at 10-12 months confirms whether cysts are present. Ask for both parents' DNA results, test your cat once, and if it is clear you can stop worrying about PKD specifically.

If the cat carries the gene, an ultrasound every 12 months from age 1 and a chemistry panel with SDMA from age 3 is standard follow-up. Watch the water bowl: sustained intake above 100 ml per kg a day is worth a panel rather than a wait. Early kidney signs stay quiet because the coat hides weight loss.

HCM and the heart check

HCM occurs in the breed, and breeders are expected to echo-screen cats before mating them. For a pet, a baseline echocardiogram at 12-18 months and a repeat every 12-24 months is a reasonable schedule; add auscultation at every visit, because a murmur can appear between scans.

Count the sleeping respiratory rate monthly and write it down: 20-24 is normal, above 30 at rest needs a call, above 40 needs the car keys. Because this cat is not athletic, exercise intolerance shows up as refusing the stairs rather than panting, which is easy to miss.

Ears: the fold that traps wax

In some lines the curl grows inside the ear canal, so wax and debris collect where you cannot see them. Check weekly: lift the ear, look at the visible canal, and wipe the outer folds with a dry pad. Never push a swab in.

Three signs mean a vet visit rather than a clean: a yeasty smell, dark discharge, or scratching that ends with the head tilted for over an hour. Recurring otitis is often structural, so early management keeps the canal from narrowing.

Weight in a body that hides fat

Adults run 2.7-7 kg with males heavier, and the cobby build means 400 g of fat disappears into the outline. Weigh monthly and feel for ribs: at 4-5 out of 9 they are easy to find under a thin layer. This cat is not a jumper, so portions do the work that exercise does in other breeds.

Two measured meals a day, wet food for water intake, and kitten formula until 12 months because the frame matures slowly. A low-sided litter box matters: a 6 kg cobby cat with short legs finds a high entry hard work. Keep rooms at 20-24 C.

When to call the vet

Sleeping respiratory rate above 30 a minute, open-mouth breathing, or a cat that stops climbing the stairs: same day. Also drinking over 100 ml per kg a day, weight loss of 5% in a month, a belly that stops being groomed, or ear discharge with a smell.

The year at a glance

Period	Coat and skin	Health	Home
Jan-Feb	Comb 2-3x weekly, misted; bath	Monthly weigh-in; book exam	Humidifier; warm beds
Mar-May	Bath every 4 weeks; check mats	Annual panel; dental check	Cool room, no hot windows
Jun-Aug	Weekly skin check under the arms	Water intake watch	Keep rooms under 26 C
Sep-Nov	Bath every 6 weeks; ear check weekly	Echo or ultrasound if due	Draft-free sleeping spot
Dec	Conditioner on ends; claw trim	Yearly panel from age 7	Holiday hazard sweep

Six mistakes that ruin a Selkirk coat

• Brushing dry "just quickly" — that is how felting starts.
• Skipping conditioner and combing the tail into a mat.
• Bathing monthly with a mild shampoo and blaming the cat for grease.
• Rinsing for 30 seconds when the coat holds shampoo for minutes.
• Ignoring the PKD DNA result because the cat looks well at 2.
• Using a high-sided box a short-legged, heavy cat has to climb.

Start here this month

1. Bathe with a degreasing shampoo and time the rinse — double it.
2. Book the PKD ultrasound if the cat has never had one.
3. Set a monthly reminder to count the sleeping respiratory rate.
4. Replace the litter box with a low-sided one and weigh the cat.

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