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BREED ORIGIN

The new breed-defining mutation in cats - hairlessness - was first mentioned in 1987. Once Mrs. Ekaterina Kovaljova saw a strange kitten on a street of Rostov-on-Don (Russia). The animal looked hungry and sick.

The cat's hair was thin and short. Ekaterina felt pity for the poor kitten and took her home. It was decided to call her Varvara. Though neither nourishing feeding, nor professional veterinary care helped the kitten have a worthy appearance.

Despite general fatness and care-free life on the sofa, the animal kept losing hair. By her first birthday Varvara was absolutely bald, though she was apparently healthy. Doctors found no abnormalities in the organism of the hairless cat.

By the way, Varvara didn't worry much about her baldness. At the age of sexual maturity she chose a partner and gave birth to the Don Sphynx breed. At the beginning the newborns were slightly hairy, but in the fourth litter Varvara brought a completely hairless female - Chita.

Later this interesting new breed was taken up by experienced breeders from Moscow, Saint-Petersburg and Yekaterinburg and various colors were created - black, blue, cream, red, bi-color, tortoiseshell, tabby.

The increase in number of animals and their typical phenotype allowed breeders to raise a question about recognition of the "Don Sphynx" breed and the approval of the breed standard before the international organizations. In 1997 the breed was recognized by WCF.

Don Sphynx at CATS-portal