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Old 09-07-2003, 02:19 PM   #10
LUVBUGZ
Not aging gracefully.
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 530
According to my "Atlas of Cats of the World", the Sphynx appeared as a mutation in a litter of cats born in Canada during 1966. None of the Sphynx cats are totally hairless, but their coat is so short that they are considered "hairless". Apparently, whatever hair it has is lost as the cat ages and the skin becomes wrinkled. They are unable to cope with any extremes of temperature and must be protected from strong sunlight and winter temps. Since hairlessness is inherited in the recessive manner, hairless cats mated to haired cats will produce normally furred kittens who's genes are split for hairlessness. For this reason some cat fanciers fear that such cats may unintentionally spread the gene to other breeds. Also, it takes time for these genes to show because it takes two of them to produce hairlessness and some breeders fear that by then the genes may have reached high numbers in a given population. Others, on the other hand see no danger in breeding for hairlessness as long as it is done responsible. This is all subject to opinion. I personally think it is possibly a bad idea because there are a lot of wack-o's out there who do stupid things and we could possibly see bald Persians in the future, but that's just my opinion. I definitely hold no resentment towards the poor little guys because as Jet said it's not their fault thay look that way.
Juju, I know of several people who prefer this breed because they do have allergies. I'm not sure if they have "dander" or not, but the people who own them say they don't have allergic reactions to them like they do with haired cats.
Bruce, I don't think these cats are anymore succeptible to scratches and bruises a than haired cats, but not 100% sure. I know that hair, while offering protection against the elements, is often what leads to problems with abcesses in cats. Stickers and thorns get caught in the hair and often puncture the skin and work their way deeper in which eventually forms an abcess. Big vet bills here. Fortunately, I am able to treat most abcesses on my cats saving a minimum of $150 each time I don't tave to take them into the vet's.
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