Sphynx
The Sphynx traces to a hairless kitten called Prune, born in Toronto in 1966, and to further hairless cats found in Minnesota and Toronto in the 1970s.
The hairlessness is recessive, and the cat is not truly bald — it is covered in a fine down that gives the texture of warm chamois.
It weighs 3.5 to 5.5 kilograms, with a wedge head, enormous ears, prominent cheekbones and a wrinkled body. Temperament is one of the breed's genuine strengths: Sphynx are extrovert, clownish, relentlessly affectionate and heat-seeking, and they will burrow under a duvet or sit on a shoulder for hours. They are also the breed most strongly associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which is the single most important fact to have before buying one.
- Origin
- Toronto, Canada, 1966
- Size
- 3.5–5.5 kg
- Lifespan
- 9–15 years
- Coat
- Effectively none — a fine down over warm, wrinkled skin
- Temperament
- Extrovert, affectionate, heat-seeking, clownish
- Health
- High incidence of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; needs annual scans
3 sphynx photos, newest first
Living with a sphynx
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is common in the breed and is the leading cause of sudden death in it. There is no reliable DNA test for Sphynx HCM, so it has to be screened by echocardiogram — breeders should scan breeding cats annually, and owners should have their cat scanned periodically through life. A cat can appear entirely healthy the day before it dies of this.
Bathe every one to two weeks. Skin oil that a coat would absorb instead sits on the skin, collects in the wrinkles and around the nail beds, and causes blocked pores and infections.
The ears produce a lot of wax with no hair to hold it back and want weekly cleaning.
They lose heat constantly and eat more for it. Keep the house warm, provide covered beds, and never let one outdoors in the cold. They also sunburn badly.
Sphynx myopathy occurs in some lines; ask the breeder.
A hairless cat is not a low-allergen cat, and this is the breed where that gets assumed most. The allergen is Fel d 1, a protein from the skin and saliva rather than anything in the coat, and a Sphynx produces it normally. Because the oils sit on bare skin instead of being taken up by fur, many allergic people react to a Sphynx as much as to a coated cat, or more. If allergies are the reason you are considering one, spend a couple of hours with the actual cat first.
General guidance, not veterinary advice. Individual cats vary, and anything about a specific animal is a question for a vet who has seen it.
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