Dossow cat

What is the Dossow cat? This really is one of the rare cat breeds. It is meant to be a "proposed" cat breed. I am not sure what that means except it should mean that nothing has happened at all except someone has thought about the possibility of breeding cat A with cat B to produce cat C, the new breed, which would be an unrecognized breed until and if the cat associations agreed to accept it onto their books.

However in this instance this proposed breed, the Dossow cat, seems to be off the drawing board as one example at least of this cat is in existence and there is a picture! Pictures are often hard to come by for breeds this rare. See base of post for rights on this picture.

Perhaps the name helps us to decide the origins of this cat, they often give us a clue. Well this name seems to be an amalgam of more than one name. This indicates that this cat is a hybrid of at least 2 cats breeds. The beginning of the name probably signifies that one of the cats is the Don Sphynx. The Don Sphynx is a Russian hairless cat. Although none of the hairless cats are actually completely hairless as they have a very thin downy coating of hair, which can be hard to see. See some pictures and read in some detail about the Don Sphynx cat. As to the remaining part of the name I am going to speculate some more. The cat breeder of this breed (and I think that there might be only one breeder) is based in America I believe. I have a feeling that the name Possom comes into the breed name. However Possum Creek in a place in Australia. The Dossow cat was formerly called "Hem-sphy" and may have proposed the name "Hemingway Sphynx" after the famous American author who kept polydactyl cats

This American (I think that they are American based near Detroit) breeder is called Possom's Cattery and Rescue and they say that this is a cross between the Don Sphynx (also called the Donsky), Peterbald, Savannah and the American Polydactyl cat. That's complicated. The same breeder claims the cat is hypoallergenic. In my view no cat is completely hypoallergenic except the Allerca cats, if you believe what they say (see Allergen free cat). Perhaps it is fair to say that some breeds are less likely to produce an allergic reaction but there seems to be no science on this. The Donsky is one such cat breed. Another might be the Siberian which has lots of hair. See a little science on the reasons for cat allergies.

Anyway, the Savannah is a very exotic wildcat hybrid. A classy and expensive cat. The Peterbald is rare and one could say interesting looking (a semi-hairless cat with large ears). The Amerian Polydactyl is not a breed (is this cat a breed?) recognized by any of the mainstream cat associations but recognized by the Rare and Exotic Feline Registry (REFR).

The Dossow cat can sometimes have more than the regulation number of toes. This is a polydactyl cat. The coat takes 2 years to develop to the finished product. It would seem that the Dossow cat has in fact been breed for about ten years but I guess in few breeding catteries. Can someone provide some details?

There are a wide range of colors and patterns and hair types for the Dossow cat, including:

• Snow colored
• Tabby spots and marbled patterns (see Marble Bengal)
  
• Silver, brown, red and tortoiseshell coats (see black tortie)
  
• Wirehair and Chinchilla hair (see American Wirehair cat and Australian Tiffanie and Burmilla)
• And this is a larger than usual cat breed probably because of the presence of the Savannah. See largest domestic cat breed.
  

Dossow cat - Photograph: I have published this photograph without the owners permission but provided a link to the cattery which provided the image, in exchange. I hope that they find this acceptable. If not, please leave a comment and I'll act on it quickly and properly.

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