The standard rhythm suits this breed — with kitten and senior adjustments
One complete visit a year is right for a healthy adult Selkirk Rex, moving to every six months from his senior years, with the usual series of kitten visits at the start of life for vaccines, worming, and growth checks. The Selkirk is a fairly recent, generally robust breed, but it was built partly from Persian and British lines, and it inherited some of their homework along with the curls. The annual examination is where that homework gets marked: heart, kidneys, mouth, skin, and weight, reviewed as a set rather than waiting for symptoms to introduce themselves.
Part the curls: skin and ears at every visit
That plush, tousled coat conceals what a short coat would show you at home. Ask the vet to part the fur along the back, belly, and tail base and look properly at the skin for flaking, redness, grease, or early bald patches, because skin trouble in a Selkirk announces itself late to owners. Ears need the same attention — curly-coated cats can build up wax, and head shaking or a yeasty smell between visits deserves a call. Discuss bathing honestly at the appointment: this coat needs occasional washing to clear skin oils, but over-bathing makes dryness worse, so the right interval is set by his skin, not by a generic rule.
Heart and kidney screening inherited from his family tree
Ask for careful heart listening at every annual visit, and blood and urine screening as he moves through middle age. Heart muscle thickening and cystic kidney changes both appear in the breeds behind the Selkirk, and while many Selkirks never develop either, the baseline values from healthy years are what make a later change meaningful. If a murmur is ever heard, expect the vet to suggest imaging rather than monitoring by ear alone — agree to the plan and note the follow-up date before you leave.
Weight, teeth, and the laid-back appetite
Selkirks are solid, easygoing cats with healthy appetites, and the combination quietly adds pounds under a coat that already makes them look round. The vet's body condition score — hands on ribs, not eyes on silhouette — should anchor a written target weight, checked at home monthly. Teeth crowd the visit list too: check for plaque along the back teeth and ask when a dental clean should be planned, since a placid cat chews on through early gum soreness without changing his behaviour in ways owners notice.
Getting curly-specific value from the trip
Photograph any skin patch or thinning area at home when you first notice it, with a date, and show the series at the visit — progression over weeks guides the vet better than a single look. Bring the food and any coat product you use, names and all, and ask the clinic to note coat condition in the record each year so next year's comparison is factual. A familiar carrier and a towel from home keep this agreeable breed agreeable on the table.
With his skin findings, heart notes, and weight record filed in his KinsLe Pet Passport, each Selkirk Rex visit builds on the last instead of starting over.