Rexed Maine Coons have no guard hairs17. This is against the rugged nature of the classic Maine Coon coat.
Health Issues ...
The rexed coat of the Tasman Manx first appeared in a litter of Manx kittens bred by Bywater Cattery, Armidale NSW, Australia, and was traced by pedigree to Egerton don Michello, a cream "old-fashioned" Persian.
The curl in their fur is caused by a different mutation and gene than that of the Cornish Rex and German Rex, and breeding of a Devon to either of those cats results in cats without rexed (curled) fur.
It was discovered by out crossing to straight coated cats that the gene responsible for the "rexed" coat mutation was a simple recessive. The first litters were all straight coated kittens.
Texture: Soft, fine, full-bodied and rexed [i.e., appearing to be without guard hairs]. Density: The cat is well covered with fur with the greatest density on the back, sides, tail, legs, face and ears.
After a check with her veterinarian, Nina Ennismore bred the male cat back to its mother to produce more rexed kittens.
One of the rexed breeds, they have a tousled disarray to their dense coats that leads makes them look as though they are having a bad hair day! ...
Apparently, some curly-coated, or 'rexed,' kittens have popped up in otherwise purebred Maine Coon litters in the United Kingdom, indicating that somewhere along the line a curly-coated cat was introduced into the Maine Coon pedigree.
In 1957, the Cornish Rex arrived in the United States, where Oriental Shorthair and Siamese lines were introduced. A similar rexed breed was known in Germany, developed from a stray adopted by breeders in 1951.
Note that though the Devon Rex cat breed may resemble the Cornish Rex and German Rex breeds, the gene that produces the "rexed" or curled fur is different in each breed.
While this breed is a good match it was not used in the States because of concerns that it could lead to cats being bred with rexed coats and curled ears.
 See also: Sturdy, Recessive, Cat Fancy, Champion, Tortoiseshell
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