XL Bully cat is a dwarf Sphynx (Bambino) and has been around for a long time

The news headlines at the moment from the cat world are something like: " UK experts warn against buying ‘XL bully cats’" It is a reference to the hairless pet cats being bred to have some of the aggressive and odd appearance of the XL Bully dogs.

XL Bully cat. A 'Bambino' in cat fancy parlance. A dwarf Sphynx.

The point I want to make here is that the XL Bully cats are actually Bambinos! Yes, a name from Italy which describes the dwarf Sphynx cat.

The hairless Sphynx is very well known and quite popular but frowned upon by experts as it is unnatural and it is unfair to leave a cat without a coat.

Add the genetic mutation that causes the hairlessness to the mutation that causes dwarfism and you have a dwarf hairless cat namely the Bambino.

Another version of the Bambino is the Dwelf. This dwarf breed which is very rare has a third additional genetic mutation namely the one that causes the ears to fold backwards as seen in the American Curl.

More: Dwarf cats 2023 – full discussion.

What I an saying is that the XL Bully cats have been around for a long time but in a different guise: dwarf Sphynx cats.

Dwarfism carries 2 major health risks. Click here to read about them. Plus the cat has not coat and no whiskers. No coat means this is an indoor cat and no whiskers affects the cat's natural behaviour detrimentally.

The Germans would call the making of this strange cat: torture breeding. Hairless cats have folded skin as well which can harbour germs and dirt.

These cats need a lot of extra maintenance as their coat gets dirty and smelly. I would guess that most people who adopt one learn that they become troublesome. You have to be a real cat afficionado to be prepared to deliver excellent care for the shortened life of these breeds.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins. Also, sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. And, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable. Finally, (!) I often express an OPINION on the news. Please share yours in a comment.

No whiskers makes the Sphynx cat illegal in Germany

Under Germany's torture breeding laws, the Sphynx cat is illegal because it has no whiskers. There are other reasons but if you visit a Sphynx cat forum, the aficionados on that website constantly refer to the fact that this breed normally has no whiskers.

They are born with whiskers but they are very brittle and they break off. That's part of the result of the genetic mutation which makes the cat hairless.

"I would consider the lack of a sensory organ to be harmful," animal expert Thomas Göbel said before court during a case about neutering a male Canadian Sphynx cat in Berlin owned by a breeder, Jacqueline L. The court made an order for the breeding cat to be castrated to prevent him breeding thus undermining the breeder's hobby business. 

The court case proves that the law is occasionally (at least) enforced. The report is dated 2015.

You might know that Germany has a unique policy on domestic cat breeding which prevents breeders from creating animals that suffer through what I would call misguided breeding practices. It's the cat fancy which drives breeders to creating unusual-looking cats such as these hairless cats and others such as the Persian with the extremely flat face which causes breathing problems. That breed is also illegal in Germany despite the fact that it is a very popular cat breed in America and has been for decades.

Germany is ahead of the game in terms of controlling cat breeding. Although, this law is difficult to enforce in Germany. On the forum I mention they say that there is at least one Sphynx cat breeder in Germany 😹🙀. I presume they are exporting their cats abroad.

It was interesting to me to see what these Sphynx cat owners say about their cats falling foul of the German Qualzucht law. They pinpointed the lack of whiskers but there are other reasons because this is a hairless cat.

A side effect of a lack of cat coat is that the sebaceous glands' oils are deposited on the skin and not into the hair strands. This causes the skin to become grimy which means the Sphynx caregiver has to wipe down their cat regularly. It can also cause the cat to smell. 

20 facts about cat whiskers

Cats need whiskers for balance, to help guide them in darkness, to feel a prey animal that's been captured. You see a cat force their whiskers forward when there is something of interest right in front of them. Whiskers are incredibly sensitive because of a large bundle of nerves at their base. They are really an important part of a domestic cat's anatomy and therefore their life.

To remove them is cruel and the cat will suffer which is why this breed is banned in Germany. And to that obvious fact you can add another one which is recently been revealed namely the incredibly short lifespan of this cat breed which is 6.68 years according to a comprehensive study.

And the reason why the lifespan is so short is because this breed like other cat breeds suffers from HCM which stands for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which describes a thickening of the left ventricle of the heart causing the heart to become very inefficient leading to a shortened lifespan. And a high percentage of Sphynx cats suffer from this disease. It isn't good enough. The Germans know this. And that's why it's illegal in Germany.

How does a cat use her whiskers?

This is a cross-post because it's an important post. It's important to tackle what cat advocates regard as inappropriate cat breeding. I'm not against cat breeding per se but when the animals produced are inherently unhealthy because of genetic mutations it's unfair on the cat. But the cat fancy allows it because these cats look interesting. They attract attention.

This is an attractive and popular looking cat but there are too many deficiencies all because of what animal advocates would regard as inappropriate breeding.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Mystery of the two dead Sphynx cats on the side of a road

NEWS AND COMMENT - UK: News media are reporting on a sad and mysterious discovery of two dead Sphynx cats, one male and one female, in a field not far from a road. On the other side of the road there was a red cat carrier in which there were cat faeces. The cats were micro-chipped but there were no details except that they were of Romanian origin. It appears to me that the details were erased.

The cats were found by a dog walker who reported the discovery to the RSPCA who are mystified as to what happened

There was no sign of trauma so the cats were not killed by being hit by something. We have to speculate and I sometimes like to speculate.

This is a fictional image of male and female SPHYNX cats. I can't publish the picture of the dead cats on this website as it might breach Google Adsense's policy rules.

Abandonment

To me, this would point to an informal Romanian cat breeder breeding hairless cats namely the Sphynx cat in their home in the UK because they are valuable and you can make quite a lot of money selling Sphynx cats.

I would further speculate that the breeding wasn't working out very well. Perhaps the cats became ill. The female cat had bad teeth but it wasn't possible to determine her age.

I would suggest that they were abandoned by this breeder and the microchip details erased as a consequence. They would appear to have been alive when they were abandoned but that might not be the case. They might have died at the breeder's home and put in a cat carrier that already had faeces in it.

Either that or they were alive in a cat carrier and trapped in it for a while and died when they escaped from the carrier. They were not attacked by a predator. They appear not to have been hit by a vehicle. They might have died of exposure as they are hairless after all with no protection from their coat and it's been pretty wintry, very wet and cold.

They were found on Saturday, March 16 in Cambridgeshire, UK. The bodies were near the road between Balsham to Hildersham High Street in the area of Samworth Close.

The bottom line is that they must've been abandoned

And they must have died within the ownership of an individual or perhaps sometime after they were abandoned. That I think is the logical assessment but I would welcome somebody else's views on this.

It is the first time I have read a cat new story of this nature. It is incredibly sad. It's in fact rather horrific to be honest.

Photo

I can't show the photograph of the bodies because I have a feeling that advertisers on this website won't like them and they would object to it. Google AdSense would also object to it possibly and notify me of a breach of their policy which I don't like to hear about.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Marketa Vondrousova's Sphynx cat kept her husband at home until the Wimbledon final

Well, for me, it is nice to know that the Wimbledon champion likes cats even if she bought a hairless one - a Sphynx - which is a little controversial as some people think that some cat breeds should not have been created because they are too unnatural and require specialist care as does the Sphynx. It is called torture breeding in Germany.

It is nice that Vondrousova's husband stayed behind in the Czech Republic to care for their cat Frankie while she was battling her way to the final.

The couple decided that he should come over for the final and arranged for a cat sitter to take his place. It worked out for them.

Sphynx cats are normally indoor cats as UVB light can harm them as they have no skin protection from fur. 

Also, they need cleaning regularly as the oils from their sebaceous glands sits on their skin and not on the fur where it protects it and makes it feel silky. 

When the oil is on exposed skin it attracts grime. The skin becomes dirty and needs regular cleaning. The Sphynx ears also need regular cleaning as they become.

This is a highly active, monkey-like cat breed. And they are intelligent. They've described affectionately as 'part monkey, part dog'!

Despite having almost no fur, they do have some; a downy soft coat like you see on peaches! This is why the breed has coat markings. There is also the fact that the pigment producing cells in the skin follow the pattern so we see coat patterns on this hairless cat which is a little strange.

Frankie has a brindled-like coat. The whiskers are typical of a Sphynx; broken, short and curly with some missing. This another aspect of the cat's unnaturalness. The whiskers are an important part of a cat's anatomy.

20 FACTS ABOUT CAT WHISKERS

Frankie Sphynx cat. Image: Vondrousova.

Photo of a Sphynx cat doing Pilates (plus a bit about the breed)

You can always bank on a Sphynx cat to look interesting in a photograph. This is one such example. It's obviously set up but done well. It caught my eye. The eye is immediately drawn to the webbing between the toes. The hairlessness of the sphynx cat shows us what is typical of all domestic cats, namely the webbing between the toes. This simply must be an adaptation for swimming. Domestic cats are pretty good swimmers which goes against the views of a lot of people that "cats don't like water". They don't mind water. Their wild cat ancestor does a lot of hunting near watercourses. These are good areas for prey animals.

Photo of a Sphynx cat doing Pilates. Photo in the public domain.

This Sphynx cat looks nice and clean. You probably know by now that Sphynx cats have a problem with becoming grimy because the sebaceous glands in their skin which would normally deliver oil to the individual hair strands, instead deliver it to the skin where it attracts dirt. That is why they say that you have to clean a Sphynx cat with a damp cloth regularly. I've also heard that they can smell a bit because of this.

RELATED: Extraordinary face of a male hairless cat.

And of course, you can't let them wander around outside so they are always going to be full-time indoor cats. Perhaps a catio would be ideal but you would have to make sure that you don't let blazing hot Californian sun shine directly into it if your Sphynx cat likes to spend time on a shelf in the catio.

Sphynx cats are known to be monkey-like. They are good climbers and intelligent and mischievous. Of all the breeds, they are in the top echelon of intelligence it is said. Although you have to take cat breed intelligence comparisons with a pinch of salt. It is impractical, if we are honest, to compare the intelligence of the cat breeds. It's impossible to compare the intelligence of an adult domestic cat with that of a four-year-old child as well. People try to do it but I disagree with the idea.

RELATED: Cat Intelligence.

Sphynx cats are a bit like Marmite. You either love them or loathe them. They are certainly eye-catching. They are the most photogenic of all cats other than the supra-large Maine Coons.

This cat is not entirely hairless. For a start, they are covered with a very short down that is almost imperceptible to the eye and can hardly be felt. There may be a small amount of hair on the tip of the tail and the extremities i.e. the points may have a soft short dense hair. Sometimes you see them with crinkly broken whiskers.

You will probably see somewhere out there in the world a hairless cat that is not a Sphynx cat and neither is the cat a purebred cat. They are still out there but of course extremely rare. They have been around for thousands of years and the spontaneous genetic mutation which causes the hairlessness sometimes pops up. You will see hairlessness in dogs, rats mice and other animals.

RELATED: Do Sphynx cats smell?

There are various stories about the beginnings of the Sphynx cat breed. Gloria Stephens thinks that her research has produced the best example. She says that in 1974 in Wadena, Minnesota, USA, a female cat called Jezebelle gave birth a hairless kitten called Epidermis. She was female. The following year Jezebelle gave birth to Dermis another hairless female. They were sent to Kim Mueske of the Z. Stardust cattery in Tigard, Oregon.

The classic Sphynx origin story is that in 1966 in Toronto Canada a domestic cat by the name of Elizabeth produced a hairless kitten named Prune. And in 1978, 3 hairless kittens were rescued from the streets of Toronto. These three kittens may be the foundation for the Canadian sphynx. There are other stories. I think I will stop as it is confusing. Hairless cats have popped up in Paris, France and other parts of the world. Some said they were the offspring of Siamese cats. Others said that they were stray cats.

There is one thing that is certain which is that the first Sphynx cats that became the foundation cat of this breed were non-purebred cats, simply random-bread cats from which they were selectively bred to produce this popular and interesting breed.

Katie Price gives away her kids' remaining Sphynx cat

People ask whether Katie Price has a Sphynx cat. Well, there was a time when she had 2 Sphynx cats but no longer. It is hard to keep pace with the acquisition and abandonment of animals that live with Katie Price and to be perfectly honest I can't say I care about her but I do care about the animals. 

She impulsively adopted two Sphynx cats some time ago. The black Sphynx cat was named Hagrid while the standard coloured Sphynx cat was named Dobby according to The Sun newspaper. They have an Instagram account (don't they always :-? ). The photograph on this page is from that account.

Hagrid and Dobby - Price's former 2 Sphynx cats. Photo: Instagram

She gave away Dobby about years ago and The Sun now reports that she has just given away another of her children's pets in giving Hagrid to a friend from the local stables where her £10,000 horse is kept. The reason? It's because her so-called 'Mucky Mansion' is being refurbished as part of a reality TV programme, as I understand it. Therefore she is living out of a suitcase with her current partner.

RELATED: The wrinkly skin of hairless cats.

Katie's former boyfriend Kieran Hayler said that both the hairless cats were peeing everywhere around the home ('mucky mansion' seems correct) when he lived there. Dobby was relinquished because he couldn't get on with Katie's protection dog Blade. That would have caused peeing inappropriately.

And because there was cat urine everywhere the place stank of cat urine as it would (ammonia smell). And because of that she lit a candle to try and mask the smell. That caused a house fire apparently.

So that's the story of Katie Price's Sphynx cats. A disaster. What is ironic is that when she lived with her former husband Peter Andre, he insisted that she had to keep the cats because they belonged to their two children Princess and Junior. Times have changed and now anything goes.

Katie Price has a history of self-indulgent adoptions of animals without proper preparation and budgeting to only find later that she hasn't got the skills or the finances to properly care for the animals in her charge.

If it is true that the hairless cats were peeing everywhere it would have been due to stress because they were marking territory to reassure themselves. And this points to a chaotic environment which was not calm enough. 

Also, Sphynx cats are quite hard to care for because they need to be full-time indoor cats and washed regularly as their skin becomes grimy due to the oils from sebaceous glands deposited on the skin. 

They look interesting which would have appealed to Katie Price but it's not all plain sailing. You have to know what you're doing and be committed. This appears to be beyond Ms Price.

The aptly named "Mucky Mansion" is certainly large. It's located in Sussex and she bought it for £1.3 million in 2014. It has nine bedrooms and three stories. There is a two-bedroom annexe, stables, tennis court a swimming pool and 12 acres of land. There are many reports about its rundown state. This probably is due to the fact that Katie Price did not have the budget to maintain the property. It appears that her earning potential has faded considerably as she becomes older and the public becomes weary of her antics.

Cold Sphynx cat looking like an old man in a doorway

This is a picture of a cold Sphynx cat bent over in a slightly strange position with an interesting expression and an overall appearance which reminds me of an old man with a bent back walking down a street or standing in a doorway on a cold winter night. Perhaps my imagination is running riot and perhaps I am anthropomorphising this cat too much. We nearly always anthropomorphise our cats. But look at the expression on his face. At the base of the page I explain why I think he has taken up this position.

Sphynx cat huddles over warm air vent to keep warm inside the home. Photo: Reddit.

It's a peculiar position and his owner says that he always does this when he's cold. And when I read that information I questioned what she was doing. Why did she allow him to get cold and then photograph him and upload the photograph to the Internet?

Would it not have been better if she had kept him warm? The trouble with that suggestion is that if she had kept him warm he wouldn't have looked like this. And she wouldn't have been able to take an interesting photograph of her cat. In turn, that would have prevented her uploading an interesting cat photograph to the Internet. You can see what I'm getting at. A problem for Sphynx cats is that they are very photogenic. You can get a lot of very good photographs of these hairless cats.

She let him get cold so she could get a good picture for social media consumption. Personally, I don't like it. I think social media is undermining cat welfare. And I'm including YouTube. All those funny cat videos are in fact videos of cats often being stressed and anxious. People don't like to discuss it but I refuse to let it go.

RELATED: Do Sphynx cats smell?

I don't want to be curmudgeonly but there has to be a balance between animal welfare and making some money on YouTube through advertising. That is the reason why people make funny cat videos. You can make more money on YouTube advertising through Google AdSense then you can through a website i.e. the written word. YouTube can be quite a good earner.

The problem is that the YouTube administrators have gradually, over the years, added to the amount of advertising on uploaded videos. They've absolutely maxed it out to the point where it can be irritating to watch a video because it is interrupted too much by adverts. I'm digressing.

RELATED: Are Sphynx cats hypoallergenic?

Back to the cat. Despite my criticism, it is an interesting photograph. I would say that the reason why he looks like this is because he's keeping himself warm over the warm air vent which is right in front of him! The photographer knows that.

It is hardly worth saying but Sphynx cats are hairless and therefore they feel the cold. You've got to keep your home warm. That's going to cost extra money. Sphynx cats require enhanced cat caretaking (bathing for instance) which is perhaps something that people don't take fully into consideration when they adopt one.

Hairless crested dog in bed with a Sphynx cat

An interesting photo: what appears to be a hairless crested dog and a Sphynx cat in bed together. I think it is the first time I have seen this. Two things come to mind (1) they can keep each other warm and (2) the owner must like hairlessness! You have to keep hairless cats indoors, which is unfortunate.

Hairless crested dog in bed with a Sphynx cat. Photo: Pinterest.

I do not know much about hairless dogs but I do know that with hairless cats you have to clean them regularly because the sebaceous glands produce oils which rather than being deposited on hair strands is deposited on the skin where it picks up dirt and grime. The sebaceous also have nowhere to go. And of course, you got temperature issues because a hairless cat in a very cold climate is not going to work for obvious reasons. 

You have to provide a coat but the advice that I have seen is that you should keep a Sphynx cat inside in cold temperatures. In hot temperatures there may be the possibility of sunburn so the general upshot is to keep hairless cats inside but what about dogs? It goes against the grain to keep a pet dog inside all the time and it is probably impossible to achieve.

Associated: A rare hairless opossum rescued in Texas goes viral. Now she’s getting a new wardrobe.

There is an accepted idea of the full-time indoor cat but is this model of cat caregiving accepted for the hairless domestic dog? What percentage of domestic dogs are kept inside full-time? I can't find an answer to the question but you will find an answer to the question of how many domestic cats are kept indoors full-time. It is quite a high percentage nowadays e.g. 40%, and the trend is growing in that direction in the USA.

The same problems of keeping a cat indoors all the time apply to a dog, perhaps more so. I think that you would have to find some way of taking your hairless dog outside safely perhaps using a skin care product to protect against sunburn or, in the cold, to wear a suitably adapted coat.

P.S. The cat is a bicolor. Is the pattern in the skin or within fine downy hair? I reckon the melanocytes in the skin, where the pigment is created, create the pattern in hairless cats. See: Picture of a black Sphynx cat.

Lucy the 'bat cat' nude kitten with hydrocephalus

Lucy is described by her owner as "the bat cat". Not a particularly flattering title I have to say. You might know me and that I dislike these sorts of Instagram accounts because you get owners of strange cats vicariously achieving some fame for themselves through their cat. 

Often these cats are misshapen through a genetic defect or in this instance this hairless cat suffers from hydrocephalus which is a buildup of fluid on the brain which puts pressure on the brain and which can damage it. It is treatable and for humans and the survival rate for treated hydrocephalus is high. 

Lucy the bat cat. Photo: Instagram

Sorry if I upset some people in disliking these sorts of social media accounts. The pics are from Lucy's Instagram page. They were taken by her owners.

Lucy is called 'the bat cat' because of the obvious reason: she looks a little bit like one of those strange bats. And the stranger the cat looks the better for the celebrity cats.

My research indicates that a cat suffering from hydrocephalus may be asymptomatic. Alternatively, the symptoms might include, wetting or soiling in the house, sleeplessness, blindness, seizures, excess globalisation, hyper-excitability, a large dome-shaped head which is due to intracranial swelling, walking abnormalities, cross-eyes, abnormal breathing, arching their head back and extending all four legs and coma.

Lucy the bat cat. Photo: Instagram.

There are various causes including, inherited (congenital), genetics, prenatal infection, vitamin A deficiency, intracranial inflammatory diseases, masses in the cranium, brain haemorrhage in newborn after a difficult labour, exposure to teratogens (these are drugs which interfere with the development), coronavirus. We don't know which cause is applicable for Lucy. My guess is that it was inherited.

Credits as per above.

Lucy is a Sphynx cat by the way. She has 35,400 followers on her Instagram page. Her birthday is on March 15. She was born on March 15, 2019.

Are all cats wrinkly like hairless cats but we just can’t see it?

No, normal cats do not have wrinkly skin like the hairless cat breeds. Do breeders of hairless cats deliberately make their skin wrinkly? Hairless cats such as the Sphynx have incredibly wrinkly skin. Take a look at the cat below, bred in Moscow, Russia. It is like the skin of a 99-year-old man (worse!). Cats with coats do not have skin like this. What is going on? If you part the fur on a normal cat, you see whitish, smooth skin.

Are breeders creating skin wrinkles on hairless cats deliberately. Photo and breeding by Cattery Murmetroll, Moscow, Russia. This might be a Don Sphynx, Russia's version of the Spkynx.

I have asked a couple of Russian hairless cat breeders using FB messenger why their cats' skin was so wrinkled but no response. Maybe they are embarrassed. Perhaps they feel that they have been found out?

SEE SOME PAGES ON 'HAIRLESS CATS'

No one has discussed this properly but it needs to be explained. Perhaps the gene that makes these cats hairless also affects the elasticity of the skin. Or perhaps the skin has to be washed so much that it is damaged and becomes wrinkled. 

You probably know that the hairless cats become dirty because the oils from the sebaceous glands which are meant to go into the coat to make it glossy is deposited on the skin, as it has nowhere else to go, and it attracts the dirt. Yep, it is one of those troublesome little details that a hairless cat owner has to contend with.

My favourite reason why Sphynx and Elf cats have wrinkled skin is because the breeders selectively breed them like that. The breeders like the wrinkles as it gives the cat 'texture' and makes them look more interesting. Fair enough.

I have just checked the reddit.com website where they discussed this issue but no answer. They don't know. And that was 2 years ago.

Comments welcome please. We need to get to the bottom of this :) .

Hairless cat from the oil fields of Siberia

This is a striking hairless cat from: Noyabrsk City, Russia, the largest city in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Russia; located in the middle of the West Siberian oil fields, on the Tyumen-Novy Urengoy railway about 300 km north of Surgut. He/she looks like a Sphynx but she might be a Don Sphynx (the Russian Sphynx) or a hairless dwarf cat without dwarfism! Let's just say she is a hairless cat from Siberia and she caught my eye. She/he was bred by Любовь Козаченко, who also took the photo. It is a fairly unsophisticated photo but noticeable for the cat's wrinkled skin. Why do hairless cats have wrinkled skin?

See above for details and credit.

Are hairless cats really hairless?

No, so-called "hairless cats" are not truly hairless because various parts of their bodies maybe nude but the remainder e.g. the muzzle and the feet (often) are covered by fine down, fuzzy hair. Sometimes hairlessness progresses with age. There is a fine covering in the young adult cat which gradually disappears leaving a bare, wrinkled skin over much of the body of the full-grown adults.

Bicolor Sphynx. The fine down hair strands in the hind legs are
pigmented I believe, which is why there is a dark patch and the tail
 is dark too. This is melanin in the down hair strands.

There is a bit of discussion about whether hairless cats can have a pattern on their skin. You do see 'bicolour' Sphynx cats with the two colours being the skin colour and the other colour being an inky darker colour. 

I had thought that the darker coloration was due to the pigment producing cells, the melanocytes, colouring the skin but I now believe that this is due to fine down hairs having the coloration that the cat's genetics gives it. The melanin in the hair strands being produced by the melanocytes.

To be clear, if you see a bicolour Sphynx or any other hairless cat what you are seeing is hair strand coloration. The point is that you can barely see the hairs because they are very fine and short, being the down or undercoat.

Manx and Sphynx Cat Breeds Becoming More Popular?

The Manx and Sphynx have entered the top ten of most popular cat breeds. This is interesting to people like me who get involved with the popularity of cat breeds. Perhaps they were always there but not on my reckoning. They are not one of the core mainstream cat breeds. But a survey by Vetstreet.com tells us that the Manx and Sphynx are the 8th and 10th most popular cat breeds for 2011.

There are various ways to measure cat breed popularity. Each is likely to produce a different result. I cover that in more detail on this page which is a similar but extended article to this one.

Vetstreet used the number of births on their database for 2011 to come to the conclusion that the Siamese was streets ahead for popularity. I can believe them but - there is always a but, isn't there - who are Vetstreet? They seem to be a general content website about pets. They have disclaimers about their advice. I don't know why they have a database of purebred cats especially one that contains '623,000 cats born in 2011'.

The number of births is a pretty good guideline as to popularity but were these all purebred cats? The number quoted is large and it should include random bred cats. In fact I would say it must include moggies because it would seem unlikely to me that they have 623,000 purebred cats on their database.

This is what they came up with:

Vetstreet.com Most Popular Cat Breeds in America (based on 2011 data)

1. Siamese
2. Persian
3. Maine Coon
4. Ragdoll
5. Bengal
6. Himalayan
7. American Shorthair
8. Manx
9. Russian Blue
10. Sphynx

Comment on the result: One thing you can say for sure is that all ten are popular. Eight of them nearly always feature in the top ten. The odd two are the Manx and the Sphynx.  That is the reason for the header. It is not that the Manx and Sphynx are 'odd', they are not but they usually fall in the mid-range of popularity amongst about 70 cat breeds. The CFA register about 40 and TICA about 70 so the Manx and Sphynx usually rank around the 20 mark and not in the top 10. Both are quite specialist. The Sphynx requires some specialist care being nude and the Manx has at least some potential health problems associated with the shortened or missing tail.

As to the Siamese cat. There are 3 or 4 versions of this breed. Which one are Vetstreet talking about?

Choosing a Pet Cat

Matching a pet with the owner's personality can be quite important in minimizing the risk of abandonment.  Incidentally, I don't like the terms, "pet" and "owner". I prefer "animal companion" and "cat caretaker" or "cat guardian" (if the animal is a cat).

There are too many cats and dogs being abandoned.  Doris Day once said that there were 12 million cats and dogs put to sleep each year in the USA. Whatever the number is, it is high, very high and a shock. I am sure there are similar percentages of domestic animals euthanized in Europe. It is just not spoken about so much.

People need to reflect more on their reasons for adopting a companion animal before proceeding. The reasons should be legitimate meaning not frivolous. You don't get a pet to match the decor of the house or as a Christmas present for the children.

People should also swot up on companion animal care and the costs. There should almost be an obligatory cooling off period between saying, "let's get a pet!" and actually getting it. That simple act would save millions of cats and dogs I suspect.

Choosing a pet cat begs the question whether you would like a purebred cat or a moggie. Purebreds are relatively rare. Moggies are relatively abundant. If you want to help get a moggie. And get a black one as they live longer.

Some individual cats are more passive and more able to cope with being alone. Some are more able to deal with full-time indoor living and living in small spaces. You will find that some breeders say that the Persian must be a full-time indoor cat. The fur is too long to go out in the mud! The Russian Blue is a delicate, reserved cat that likes the security of a home. The Sphynx is without clothes so needs to be in the warm and out of the sun to avoid the risk of skin problems. This is also a smart cat so will interact well if you like that.

The Ragdoll is laid back. More active cats are the wild cat hybrids, Bengal and Savannah. You'll need to be around for these cats and provide input. Actually all cats require input. It is a fallacy to think that cats are independent. They are self-contained but dependent on us for just about everything.

If you don't like noisy cats don't acquire a Siamese or associated cat breed e.g. Oriental SH. They are known for their vocal skills. The British Shorthair has an almost silent voice.

I think, though that you will find some individual cats of any breed or no-breed more cautious and reserved than others. If you want a cat that is fairly static and happy to curl up,  a more cautious cat will oblige. The more confident male cat is more likely to be unhappy with a lack of space and input from us. He is more likely to want to go out and get into trouble.

Associated page: Choosing a cat breed.

Sphynx Cat Photo

Sphynx cat Photo by Mario Izquierdo (Flickr)

This is an amazing photograph of a cat but Sphynx cats do make amazing photographs because you get beautiful tones particularly in black and white as is the case here and as the cat is hairless or nearly so you get all those lovely wrinkles that produce such rich texture and interesting shapes.

This though is a particularly good example of a Sphynx cat photo as it is slightly mysterious. It is hard at first to figure out exactly what is going on. Yet on close inspection we can see that this is a small cat as it is in the hand of the owner (unless I am completely mistaken!).

Another thing about this photo that is a bit mysterious is that although this cat has its digits extended (the phalanges of its paw extended) as if to grab something to stabilise itself as it has been held by the person, there are no claws that I can see.

You would normally see claws under these circumstances in my experience. If I am correct, that means this cat has been declawed and if that is the case and only if that is the case my admiration for the photographer due to his photographic skills are diminished by his desire to declaw his cat. I would criticise for that (if that is the case) but this photographer is very good indeed.

Declawing cats is simply horrible to anyone who really cares about cats and animals as it is the removal of the last phalanx of the paw, which is called the distal phalanx. In other words it is an amputation of part of ten toes (see cat paws and declawing cats).

OK, I hope that I am wrong. Lets not forget that the Sphynx cat is particularly monkey like in its agility and athletic skills and it relies in claws to do a lot of that.

The Sphynx cat is also named as the most intelligent of the cat breeds. That assessment though probably is not very scientific and probably does not take into account the wild cat hybrids particularly the first fillial wild cat hybrids who are very intelligent having inherited the intelligence of their wild parents. Wild cats are considered more intelligent that domestic cats because they have to use their brains more to survive as domestic cats have everything on a plate!

Another interesting thing about the Sphynx cat (that does have some down like hair by the way and is not hypoallergenic) is that the colour patterns of the hair were it in existence is mapped out on the skin of the cat as pigmentation in the skin – how about that?




Sphynx cat photo - Associated pages:

Sphynx cat
Hypoallergenic cat breeds
Non-shedding cat breeds
Don Sphynx (Russian Sphynx cat)
Chakan CD

From Sphynx cat photo to Home Page

Cat Coats Hairless

Cat Coats Hairless looks like an illogical statement as there is meant to be no coat but as you might know, even in hairless cats, there is a coat (of sorts). 

Sphynx cats can have oily skin which smells unless bathed regularly. Picture in public domain.

Often there is a downy coat particularly in kittens and on the muzzle, nose, tip of tail, for example. 

The gene that produces a hairless cat is not confined to the Sphynx cats. I'm talking of the Sphynx (Canadian) and the Don Sphynx (Russian). 

It is possible to think that these are the only hairless cats, which as stated is not the case. The Donsky is more hairless apparently than the Sphynx, perhaps due to the dominant gene producing hairlessness in the Donsky allowing for more efficient breeding. 

Another notable hairless or semi-hairless cat is the Peterbald an associate or relative of the Don Sphynx (same founding cat). This cat breed was created in 1993 (a cross between the Don Sphynx and Oriental/Siamese). 

There have been numerous occurrences of the manifestation of the phenotype (physical attributes) of the mutant gene over the years as it pops up here and there. There is a link with the Rex coat as well. 

The Rex coat is crinkly and curly. Some Don Sphynx kittens have a Rex coat until adulthood. The Don Sphynx whiskers are often crinkly and brittle to the point where they snap off. 

The Rex coat is found on cats such as the Laperm and Devon Rex. The Devon Rexes are prone to baldness (hairlessness) so you can see link between these genetic traits. Sarah Hartwell records the occurrences of hairless cats on her website. 

Here are some recorded instances: 

- Latin America 1830

- Paraguay "Scant-haired cat" 1902

- Mexican Hairless (Mexico) 1932 

- Le Chat Nu (the naked cat) 

- France 1930s? 

- "Cat-Dog", Carolina, USA 1950 

- Paris France - two hairless cats born to Siamese cat 1963 

- Toronto, Canada 1978 

- Toronto, Canada - hairless street kittens 1978

- England - hairless Birman kittens 1981, 1984 

- England - reports of hairless kittens 2002 

- Hawaii - Hawaiin Hairless 

There are other examples and there will be more no doubt in the future, occurring randomly of their own accord. 

The gene that produces the hairlessness is dominant for the Don Sphynx and recessive for the Sphynx. 

The gene for the Donsky (dominant) is labelled "Hp" and the gene for the recessive (Canadian) Sphynx is labelled "hr". 

There are apparently two other recessive genes producing hairlessness (there may be more) and these are the French "h" and the British "hd". 

From Cat Coats Hairless to Peterbald cat