| The Sphynx |
History:
"Nature does nothing uselessly." -Aristotle
From time to time, and all over the world, bald kittens are born. These are natural mutations, that have been collected by interested breeders since the ‘60’s, so as to develop a new breed. After some trial and error they finally succeeded. Most Sphynxes are descendants of cats found in America (Canada). At first there was a lot of out crossing to Devon Rexes, because their specific type of hair is not dominant to that of the Sphynx. Now breeders are still allowed to do some out crossing over the next few years, then Sphynxes will have to have a pedigree that has only Sphynxes.
Sphynxes are especially loved by people who are allergic to cats. But Sphynxes, although they are bald, can still trigger an allergic reaction. Because they don’t shed hairs with dander, and are usually washed on a weekly basis which removes the tallow, there might be less irritation. The saliva, tallow and/or dander can still cause a (less severe) allergic reaction. But only when you really get into contact with it.
There are different breeds of naked cats: the Don Sphynx, the Peterbald, the Kohana (or Hawaiian Hairless) which doesn’t even have any hair follicles so it is completely bald.
Care:
"Cats regard people as warmblooded furniture." -Jacquelyn Mitchard (The Deep End of the Ocean)
Sphynxes are preferably kept indoors, so they need enough space and toys to keep them busy. A playmate and/or owner who is often at home are ideal. Sphynxes are very sociable cats and can whither away when left on their own too often. People who like to pamper their cats and create a close bond with them will find the Sphynx is the race for them. A playmate can be a dog, a cat from a different breed or just a domestic cat.
Sphynxes are usually washed once a week, with a soft shampoo.
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Ears are cleaned (only the visible parts) with a cotton tip and a wet wipe.
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Nails are cut and cleaned, again with wet wipes. It is easy to see where to cut: you can see through the nails a bit, and when you press the toes softly, the nails will come out far enough for you to distinguish the pink, fleshy bit (the “quick”). Do not cut there, because it will hurt and start bleeding. You can stop the bleeding by scratching the nail into a bar of soap in case it should happen after all. But do try to avoid it.
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A good scratching post is indispensable.
"The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity." -Dorothy Parker
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The litter box needs to be cleaned on a regular basis, and food and water dishes are also frequently cleaned and refilled. We use Cat's Best Oko Plus cat litter, because it combines two things: it forms clumps, so even urine is easily scooped up, and the rest of the litter stays clean for a longer period, and it is degradable. You can throw it in the compost, or even flush it in the toilet.
Our cats eat Orijen dry food, which doesn't contain wheat or any other fillers. The wet food is Miamor's.
Both litter and food we order through Zooplus online, this works very well. The order is delivered on our doorstep after about 4 working days. On the link page you can find a link to this site. They deliver in a lot of neighbouring countries, as well.
Blankets or pillows where Sphynxes have slept on can show brown stains because of the tallow, but these can easily be removed in the washing machine at 60° C.
Sphynxes like to sit on top of a radiator. This can cause their eyes to produce more goo, which is simply removed with a dry Kleenex. As long as the inner part of the lower eyelid looks a healthy light pink, it’s all right.
Sphynxes should get vaccinated against FHV and FPV and, depending on the situation, also against FELV, a fatal viral disease (leukaemia) and treated for worms.
They should get screened on a yearly basis for HCM, a hereditary heart disease, and PKD, a hereditary kidney disease, and FIV, a viral disease that affects the immune system and therefore is also called feline aids. Positive tested animals should be withheld from the breeding program and their close relatives should be under severe scrutiny. Here and here you will find HCM databases on the net. When reading an HCM test form, you should look at the values next to "LVWd" (Left Ventricular Wall) In Belgium, when this number is 5 or more, it means the wall is more than 5 millimeters thick. Because of this, less blood can run through the chambers and this causes the cat to become sick or even die. Other countries sometimes take different values as the borderline between clear and positive. If you are looking for a cat or kitten to buy and can look into the parents' test results, you can always ask the breeder for copies to show to your vet, if you are not sure what the letters and numbers all mean.
Sphynxes can maintain their internal temperature without any problems, even outside, but they shouldn’t be able to leave the garden. They could get into fights with other cats, get stolen, or run over by a car. That a Sphynx should have a higher body temperature because of a higher metabolism is just a myth. When they get hotter than 39° C they are running a fever, just like any other cat. They can get sunburns, so don’t let them stay in the sun for too long. I don’t fancy rubbing them with lotion, because they will wash themselves and lap it up, which I don’t think will do their stomachs much good.
Around the age of six months, a kitten will lose its first teeth, and new ones will start pushing through. Sometimes the permanent set of teeth appears before the small ones fall out. You can see this in the following picture. Just like with a human baby, kittens can feel pain, or be annoyed during this period, and they like to bite down on things. They try to get rid of the baby teeth that way. Often you can find one of those teeth near where they eat. Hard kibble can help, or a chicken leg to chew on.
On these next pictures you can see what it looks like when a kitten has just been neutered. The stitching is still there. There won't be much of a scar left when the cuts heal. Female and male kitten:
Poisons and substances toxic to cats
A page on poisonous plants, with pictures.
ASPCA (animal poison control center page)
"Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. Nothing is that important." -Natalie Goldberg
Standards:
Sphynxes should have big ears, that are not too close together. They have lemon shaped eyes that are fairly big and attentive, and you can notice a distinctive “stop” in their profile: there is a clear break in the line running from the nose towards the forehead. The muzzle is well developed, as is the chin.
The body of a Sphynx is rather muscled, but he has slender limbs and long toes. He always looks well fed.
A small amount of hair on nose, ears and tail is allowed, and under the influence of hormones e.g. during heat or pregnancy there may temporarily be more fur.
Sphynxes come in all colours, with or without white, and pointed cats (like in the Siamese breed) are also possible.
Genetics:
"If we could breed the perfect cat in only one generation, what would we do after that?" -Karolina Leitnerova, Tyrellsphynx, Czech Republic
Because there aren’t many Sphynxes as yet (it is a fairly recent breed) there isn’t a very big gene pool right now. So when breeding Sphynxes criteria for matching a queen and a stud shouldn’t only be their respective qualities. One should take a look at the pedigrees as well, so as to avoid too high a percentage of inbreeding. Some inbreeding can be useful to “fixate” good qualities, but bad ones may float to the surface as well. Breeders who are aiming to improve the race sometimes cross the Sphynx with furry cats, so as to reduce the percentage of inbreeding. The first generation will then be called F1, and consists of only furry cats that carry the recessive Sphynx gene. When these cats are mated beck to a Shynx, the chances of getting bald kittens are statistically 50% in this second, therefore F2, generation. When these bald kittens are mated to another Sphynx, only Sphynxes can come out. But those carry a whole new set of genetic material.
What is also important when breeding cats is knowing their blood types, to avoid kittens dying because of the antidotes they get when drinking their mother’s milk. If this is the case, these kittens should be fed special kitten milk from the bottle or tube fed during the first 20 hours.
As to colours, it isn’t always easy to recognise them in newborn kitties. I prefer to get advised by an experienced breeder, and try to learn as much as I can in the meantime.
Our cats are tested on a yearly basis for HCM and PKD, so no positive cats can influence the gene pool.
For everyday veterninary care (vaccines, colds, check-ups etc.) we visit Dr. S. Thys' practice in Sint-Antonius Zoersel.
Tests are done at Sirius in Mechelen.
Cat colours for starting breeders. This is an article that can be of help for new breeders, or a reminder for the more experienced breeder. It summarizes a few basic rules, and can help determine the coat colour of your kittens, and even help predict colours. If you have any questions, remarks or want to add something to the article, please do send me an e-mail ;)
Because sometimes it can be rather difficult to determine sex of a newborn (Sphynx) kitten, here are a few examples to compare. Kittens that are born with breech presentation (backwards, tail first) can have swollen genitalia, which can be misleading.
This was Jack right after birth, a male. |
This was Raja, another boy. His was a breech birth. |
Ace, a third male. |
And Kika, a female. |
Jojo, this boy was also born backwards |
Bottom picture you can see Blitzz' behind. She is a girl. |
This is Obi, a male |
And Smokey, his brother. He was born breech. |
