Breed History
The Cornish Rex as we know it today was born on July 21, 1950. Serena, the cat of Nina Ennismore and Winifred Macalister, gave birth to a litter of which one of the kittens had an astrakhan coat, big ears, and a skinny tail. This kitten is named Kallibunker. A geneticist advises Nina Ennismore to breed him to confirm descendants with the same particular coat. Bingo!
The three cubs of Kallibunker had the same characteristics, but a female escaped, and one of the two males died. So only Sham Pain Chas remained. A few years later, a small group of breeders crossed Sham Pain Chas with fellow plain-coated breeds. This gave a new variant of Cornish Rex.