Sphynx cats with wool: are they what they are called and why is this happening?

The appearance of hairless sphinxes in the last century was frightened and fascinated by people. Many did not understand how to love a bald cat. After all, this animal should be soft and fluffy, pleasant to the touch, a real anti-depressant.

Some twenty years have passed, and the attitude towards sphinxes has changed. If you get this breed, then expect a complete lack of wool. The Internet is replete with perturbations like: “I bought a sphinx, and he has a growing fluff, what to do? Maybe he is not a sphinx?

Do not do anything - just love the animal. Sphinxes are different, and the presence of wool on some species is normal.. To understand whether sphinx has wool, let us give a description of some species of this animal.

In the late eighties of the last century, the first naked cat was born in Rostov-on-Don. From her began a kind of Don Sphynx breed. In the Don breed baldness is caused by the presence of the dominant Hbl allele in the genotype. There are four main groups of this species: golodorozhdennye, flock, velor, brush.

The name speaks for itself - kittens are born without a hint of wool. Moreover, they may have no mustache and eyebrows, as well as sensitive hairs on the legs. The skin of such animals resembles rubber or plasticine; it is warm, sticky, with a large number of folds on the head and body. Toddlers can be born with open eyes, as it happens in humans.

Elastic thinnest skin has not yet the final color. The future color of the animal (blue, black, spotted) can be found on the pads on the legs. Some individuals in the winter time overgrown with rare fur, but in the spring it disappears.

Kittens are born with a barely noticeable fluff over the entire surface of the skin, like peaches. Tactile sensations from touching their skin are very pleasant and unusual, cats resemble plush toys. By the age of two, the hairline becomes thinner, the bulbs die off, and the animals become completely bald.

Velor, like flock, only visually looks bald - taking a kitten in your hands, you feel a soft fluff all over your body, like a nap on velor fabric. Unlike flock, on an animal of this type the pile is longer and thicker, especially on the muzzle, paws and tail. The crown of the head remains absolutely bald. Having stroked the baby against the fur, one can notice how quickly his even hair is restored.

Velor kittens as wool divided into species. Light - has a minimum hair length of two millimeters. On paws they are thicker than on the body. Some kittens have hard hair, others have soft. There is no fur on the top of the head.

Point - wool has a relatively long pile (four millimeters) on the face, tail and limbs. Points appear in the winter, then their expressiveness decreases.

Downy look - the cat is completely covered with a gentle wavy, rather long pile. In addition, the animal has a surprisingly cute tail.

Brush is translated as "bristly".The wool of these animals really looks like an old brush - hard, sparse and spun. There are animals with bald head, neck and limbs. This species is used to maintain the population, but they have no value for the breeder, and they cannot wait for titles at exhibitions. Brush good as a parent to continue the species. The fact is that you can not cross two naked individuals - this leads to mutations and stillborn kittens.

Brush can shed wool by one and a half years, but this does not apply to a dense look. He has so thick hair that the skin through it is not visible. Especially good her overgrown tail, as well as a lot of wool on the legs and chest.

The history of the Canadian Sphynx began twenty years earlier than the Don, when in 1966 a bald kitten was born to a domestic cat in Canada. Such phenomena occurred before, in different nations, but kids without hair were considered a mutation and rejected. Only a Canadian kitten interested breeders and became the progenitor of a new breed, which is called sphinxes around the world. In Russia, the word “Canadian” was added to the name in order not to be confused with the Don and St. Petersburg.

Unlike the Don, the mutation of the Canadian species is expressed by the recessive alopecia gene. Most often, sphinxes retain, even in adulthood, thin residues of hair behind the ears, on the tail, on the limbs, or on the nose.

Cats without wool, with a large number of folds, look like aliens. They are all called sphinxes, and not everyone knows that this breed has its own species, which differ from each other. Canadian and Don sphinxes are endowed with the following differences:

• species have different genes for baldness (dominant and recessive);
• Canadian sphinxes are always covered with a barely noticeable fuzz, and the Don can be completely without wool ("rubber");
• Canadian individuals are endowed with large round eyes, while in the Don there is an almond-shaped eye section;
• Canadians have no mustache at all;
• in the Don species, the tail has an average length and thickness, straight and rather strong, in contrast to Canadians, who have a weak, thin tail with a pointed end;
• Don individuals have a strong torso and a strong muscular system, in contrast to the underdeveloped muscles of Canadians.

The breed was bred in St. Petersburg in 1994. The basis for baldness is a recessive gene. The forefathers of the species were the Don Sphynx. This breed is distinguished by an elegant slim appearance, an elongated muzzle with oval eyes and huge, divorced to the sides, ears.

In addition to animals without wool, pitballs, like Don sphinxes, have varieties of animals with a woolen coating: brush, velor, flock, and straight-haired. Let us dwell on the latter species, since the previous species were considered in the review of the Don breed.

The basis of the species is the selection of Siamese and Oriental cats with sphinxes. These animals lack the alopecia gene, they have the usual coat and mustache. The hair is short, tight to the body, according to the eastern type. The Pieterbold color often repeats the color of its progenitors - the Siamese and Oriental group.

The appearance of new wool on the animal of this breed, or, on the contrary, its disappearance after the growth of woolly kittens, is associated with many factors. Definite answer will not be. The reasons may be the following:

• vaccinations sometimes affect hairiness;
• hormonal manifestations of individuals associated with the carrying of kittens;
• unsuccessful selection of feed;
• weather;
• castration.

If the brood has ideal parents, but one of the kittens was born with wool, you should not forget that he had great-grandmothers and great-grandfathers who rewarded the baby with hair.

• Hypoallergenic sphinx is a myth. Even in the absence of hair, the organism in too sensitive people can give a reaction to the sweat and salivation of the animal.
• Sphinxes stand out among the feline family not only with their fantastic appearance, but also with the canine character: kind, loyal, attached to their owner.
• Cats of this breed can easily get along with any pets, but if they were allowed to choose companions, they would prefer sphinxes.
• Sphynxes have great heat transfer, so they like to eat well - only fast metabolism saves them from obesity.
• Before the breed became known, the owners of mutated bald kittens tried to cure depriving.
• Cats love to sleep with their hosts under the covers, resting their heads on the pillow.
• Sphynxes are able to sunbathe and sweat like people.
• Representatives of this breed live up to fourteen years old, although there are cases when pets lived to be nineteen years old.

Sphinxes are unusual animals, they have an original appearance, good intelligence and friendliness, that is, everything that is needed for an excellent pet and a good friend.

You will learn more about sphinx cats with wool in the following video.