NATURAL MUTATIONS

The Sphynx is a natural mutation breed. Hairless kittens have occurred in litters of both pedigreed and non-pedigreed cats over the years, and on different occasions people have tried to perpetuate this mutation. Finally they have been successful with the mutations that occurred in Minnesota in 1975 and in Toronto in 1978. There are two notable cats who have made a contribution to today`s Sphynx, cats who were discovered after the establishment of the breed in TICA. The first natural mutation hairless cat is Desert Storm of Gunzhof, a seal lynx point and white male born in 1989. This cat also came from Minnesota and was purchased (from a newspaper ad) by Patricia Stevenson of Gunzhof cattery in Putnam Valley, NY. He was used by Sandra Adler of Safram cattery quite a bit and added not only to the Sphynx genepool, but helped to introduce the mink and pointed genes to the breed. In 1995 another hairless kitten was born, this time in Tennessee to two long-haired parents. He went to live at Jinjorbred cattery in Arizona and was named George Burns of Jinjorbred. He has sired hairless kittens, who have also produced hairless kittens, thus further enriching the Sphynx genepool. Other hairless mutations have also been documented. In 1986 I was put into contact with a woman in Bloomfield, NJ who had a colony of domestic shorthairs. She let them breed freely and there was one female cat, who she named Charlie, who was hairless. Charlie had a litter of normal-coated kittens but unfortunately I was not able to obtain either Charlie or any of the kittens to incorporate into my breeding program. In 1993 I was contacted by Grace Brady of Forgotten Felines, a cat rescue organization in Westchester County, NY. She had a mother cat with a litter of four kittens, one of whom was hairless. I acquired this cat, named Saving Grace of Rinkurl. However, the mutation that made Gracie hairless is not the same as that of our Sphynx. When she was bred to one of my Sphynx males Gracie produced a litter of normal-coated kittens. There are more hairless genes than the one that Sphynx breeders are working with today. A hairless gene in Russia has been discovered and the breed is being called "Don Hairless". Unlike the Sphynx gene, this is a dominant gene, and the Don Hairless has been bred only with European Shorthairs, Siberian Cats (by WCF), to produce hairless kittens. Now there are fine copies of Don Hairless in Moscow. They are very effective cats. They have big future. In St. Petersburg, Russian breeders have crossed the Don Hairless with Oriental Shorthairs to perpetuate the Peterbald, which is an Oriental-type cat with no hair. When bred to a Sphynx male a Peterbald female produced only normal-coated kittens, thus proving that these breeds are not the same, have nothing to offer one another, and should not be bred together. I am sure that more naturally occurring hairless cats will be discovered, and it is important to allow these cats into Sphynx breeding programs to ascertain whether or not they are compatible with our Sphynx. They can be in invaluable asset to furthering our genepool. Also, since the Sphynx originated from the domestic shorthair, I feel that these cats, carefully chosen by conciencious breeders, can also contribute to widening our genepool and hybrid vigor. Lisa Bressler, Rinkurl Sphynx, NY,USA