Pictures of Pompous Albert, a grumpy Selkirk Rex

I have just discovered Pompous Albert and feel I have to put a few words down because he is quite an extraordinary looking cat. He is named after Albert Einstein. I wonder whether he is as clever as Mr Einstein. In terms of the amount of grumpiness on his face it is not that dissimilar to the famous Grumpy Cat. But there was only one Grumpy Cat and the world is not ready for another. However, Pompous Albert has a very healthy following of 306,000 followers on Instagram. He is therefore a major success as a celebrity cat.

Pompous Albert as a youngster I believe. Photo his Instagram page.

Selkirk Rex cats are sometimes referred to as 'the cat in sheep's clothing' or the 'Poodle Cat' but there is a specific cat breed called the Poodle Cat so the name is confusing. You can see why these alternative names stuck. I'll write a few words about the Selkirk Rex which incidentally is not that popular a cat breed which is surprising because they do look very unusual and people like unusual-looking cats.

Pompous Albert. Photo: Instagram page.

This cat breed is one of three breeds with this sort of crinkly coat. They are called Rex cats. The mutated gene which causes the curly hair in the Selkirk Rex differs from the gene that causes curly hair in the Cornish and Devon Rex cats. It is a dominant gene. The breed started in 1987 in Montana, America. The founding breeder is Jeri Newman.

A rescue cat gave birth to a litter of kittens and one had the mutated gene and therefore the curly hair. She was housed by Persian cat breeder who named the kitten Miss DePesto. This single cat is the founding cat of this breed. The cat's name come from the mountain range in Wyoming, USA. In Scotland the town of Selkirk is 60 miles south of Edinburgh.

Selkirk Rex - not Pompous Albert. Photo: Helmi Flick.

Because the gene is dominant, 50% of the offspring of a mating between a cat of this breed and one of a non-curly cat breed or random bred cat will be Selkirk Rex cats. Don't think that because the fur is very different that they don't shed fur. They shed fur like any other cat and neither are they hypoallergenic.

To the best of my knowledge, there are no outstanding health issues inherited into cats of this breed. If my assessment is correct then that is a big endorsement because many of the cat breeds are linked to certain unfortunate inherited illnesses which purchasers should be aware of.