Choosing my Devon Rexes

One of the first photos I saw of my babies to be

I originally started out looking for just one cat. I'd lost my beloved moggie Pushka a few months previously and wanted someone to help fill the void he'd left in my life. I'm also much more used to dogs and the golden rule with them is never to get two puppies together as they tend to bond more with each other than with their humans. However my obsessive internet research and a call to a vet friend of mine convinced me that two kittens are better than one so the search began for a pair of youngsters, ideally brothers.

Devon Rexes ain't cheap. I paid 700€ each for my kitties. I'm sure prices vary from country to country and breeder to breeder but where I live my research suggested that was a fair price for a good kitten. At that price they should come with a pedigree, vaccines and a microchip.


First things first, find a breeder. I live in Italy and the number of reputable breeders is limited. By "reputable" I mean people who really care about Devons and breed them intelligently and thoughtfully as opposed to just saying "I've got a Devon, you've got a Devon, let's mate them and sell the kittens for a tonne of money". The Devon gene pool is small and fragile and I wanted to make sure I wasn't encouraging and giving my hard-earned cash to disreputable folk out to make a swift buck.

I called ALL of the Italian breeders. Every one. Only a few had available kittens or cats expecting litters which narrowed down my search (I'm not the most patient person in the world and once I decided on a Devon I wanted one NOW). To me, the most important reason behind my decision to get a Devon Rex was their personality so I needed a breeder who was passionate about each and every cat and brought them up within a family environment rather than a cattery. That helped me cross a load more off my list.

When I spoke to Sandra and Patrizia of the Rarex cattery (click here to view their website) I knew I'd found the right breeder. Their operation is small and friendly, the kittens are brought up as part of the family, sleeping under the duvet with their humans, brilliantly socialised and best of all the kittens are used to having dogs in the home (I have an 11 year old Irish Setter who gets on well with cats so this was an important consideration for me). They just happened to have two males available from the same litter, one black and one white with odd eyes which was exactly what I was looking for so I knew my search had ended. The bank transfer and transport arrangements were made and a few days later I found myself at Milan airport, the proud and slightly nervous owner of two Devon Rexes. Let the journey begin...