by Chris
(NJ)
My Devon was surrendered by his previous owner to the Philadelphia animal control shelter due to allergies. He was pretty hairless and they thought he was a Sphinx (Sphynx).
I fell in love with him on the spot especially when the director explained that he was to be euthanized that day.
I took him home and named him Bacchus, which fits him to a tee. He is so grateful for the second chance. He is very loving and interactive.
He also loves to climb on my shoulders and give kisses. He truly is a lot of fun.
Chris
Hi Chris… thanks for sharing. I always think it rare to find a purebred cat at a shelter. But it seems they are not that rare. Another good example is this: The RagaMuffin Cat and the Princess
I changed the title because people search for “Devon Rex Rescue” and yours is an example of that in a completely ad hoc and unplanned way. And forgive me for “hijacking” your page to discuss Devon Rex rescue.
It seems that Bacchus’s previous owners thought that a Sphynx cat would allergy free or at least they would be less allergic to a hairless cat. This has been circulated around the internet a bit.
This sort of proves that it is not true! There is no reason to think that it could be true as all cats produce the cat allergen Fel D1 that causes us an allergic reaction sometimes. The allergen is in the saliva of the cat and Sphynx cats and Devon Rexes etc. all groom themselves with their tongue. Hairlessness doesn’t change that. See a full discussion on Hypoallergenic Cat Breeds.
It is also interesting to me to read that they confused the Sphynx with the Devon Rex. They can look similar of course because the Devon can be near hairless but it implies that the previous owners didn’t buy from a breeder (unless the breeder deceived them) but also rescued Bacchus or were given the cat by a previous owner.
Purebred cats bought from a breeder that are not working out at their new home should really go back to the breeder. The breeder should be contacted first rather than relinquishing to a shelter.
Are there any Devon Rex Rescue centers in the USA?
The Devon Rex Breed Club helpfully run a rescue program. This is probably the first people to contact in the USA. The one cat, Spike, they have listed for rescue (Feb 2011) was also relinquished because “one of the residents in his new home was allergic to him”. It seems people sometimes adopt Devons to try and avoid an allergic reaction.
I wonder how many people adopt Devon Rexes and Sphynxs on the basis that they are hypoallergenic and find that they are not or at least less so than they thought?
As the Devon Rex is a purebred cat, one of the best way to rescue a Devon is to search the purebred rescue sites. I have a list on this page: Purebred Cat Rescue.
People considering rescuing a Devon might opt for the Cornish Rex instead although this is a very different looking cat in terms of body conformation (more slender and long legs). Cornish Rex Friends are involved in Cornish Rex rescue in the USA.
Cornish and Devon Rex Rescue NW, Sphynx Too are a Petfinder affiliated group involved in rescue of the named cat breeds in the USA. I don’t know how effective they are. At the time of writing (Feb 2011) there are no cats up for adoption.
Lets remember that the Devon Rex is not a mainstream cat breed such as the Siamese or Maine Coon so there will be less cats of this breed around.
I always think that one of the best ways to rescue a purebred cat or to adopt one other than by buying the cat is to get talking to like minded people and one way to do that is to join one or two of the Yahoo Groups.
This page: Devon Rex Yahoo Groups has a selection, one or two of which might help in a search for Devon Rex rescue.
All the external links on this page open in new windows/tabs.
