Where some Rex breeds have barely any coat, the Selkirk Rex has the opposite problem: a full, dense, curly coat in three layers that feels like a plush blanket and insulates like one. In a heatwave that insulation slows her ability to shed warmth, and it combines with the breed's famously laid-back temperament — a Selkirk who feels too hot often responds by sleeping harder, not by moving somewhere better.
Make the cool room the room she already sleeps in
Because this breed is a devoted napper with strong opinions about favourite spots, relocate as little as possible. Identify which of her regular sleeping places sits in the coolest part of the house, then upgrade that one: curtains drawn on its windows, a tile or wooden surface left bare beside her bed in case she wants to stretch out flat, and a fan keeping the air moving gently rather than blasting at her.
If her favourite bed is a deep, fleecy nest, add a cotton-covered alternative next to it. Deep plush bedding holds body heat around a curly-coated cat the way a duvet would around you, and many Selkirks will migrate to the cooler option on their own once the day peaks.
Brush the curls so air can move through them
Loose undercoat trapped inside those curls is dead insulation. A soft brush or wide comb worked gently through the coat every day or two lifts out the shed layer and lets air circulate closer to her skin. Go slowly and never pull at the curls — the Selkirk coat can be delicate, and a grooming session that becomes a tug-of-war will simply be refused next time.
Skip baths as a cooling idea; a soaked curly coat dries slowly, feels clammy, and stresses a cat who did not ask to be wet. Surface cooling she can choose — a cool mat, a frozen bottle wrapped in cloth near her bed — respects her temperament better.
Carry the water to the cat
A placid Selkirk in hot weather can genuinely under-drink simply because getting up is effort she keeps postponing. Defeat that by geography: a bowl in the cool room where she sleeps, one where she eats, and one more on the route between them. Refresh them whenever you pass, and consider a dripping tap or fountain if she is a cat who prefers moving water, since many do.
Offer her normal food at cooler hours and do not panic over one light day of eating; do notice if light eating becomes no eating alongside no drinking, because that pairing in a sedentary cat is easy to miss until she is unwell.
The signs that turn a hot day into a vet call
Check her deliberately at the day's peak rather than glancing in passing. Concern is warranted if her breathing stays fast while she rests, if she pants, drools, vomits, or seems weak or confused, or if her ears and body feel hot while she stays limp and uninterested in water. Contact a veterinary clinic promptly with any of those, move her to the coolest room, and offer water without forcing it.
After the heat breaks, jot down how she coped, which room worked, and anything the vet advised; a cat who struggled once will likely struggle at the next heatwave, and a record beats a memory.
Those notes sit naturally in KinsLe's Pet Passport alongside her vaccination record and past appointments, so her heat tolerance history is in the same portable packet you would hand a vet or boarding cattery.