People love cute kittens because they are little and fluffy - but what's hiding underneath all that fur? This adorable collection of hairless Sphynx kittens prove that this cat breed can be just as cute, if not slightly odd-looking, without a luxurious mane.
The Sphynx breed, despite its lack of a winter coat, originates from the great white north of Canada. In the mid-1960s, a cat in Ontario gave birth to a hairless kitten, as the result of a natural genetic mutation. Following this anomaly was the birth of two separate sets of hairless kittens in the mid-1970s in Toronto and Minnesota. Through careful breeding, the Sphynx cat evolved into the adorable animal you see today. Sphynxes come in a variety of colors and patterns and are technically not as "naked" as they appear. If you look close enough, you'll see they are covered with a thin layer of fuzz.
Common misconceptions such as the "hairless" myth can lead to people buying this breed without knowing how much maintenance they require. Their sleek bodies may mean less shedding, but that doesn't mean less grooming. Owners of these cute cats should be prepared to wash their pets once a week and regularly wipe down their bodies with a washcloth, as their skin attracts dust particles, pollen, and dirt along with dead skin. Without a protective coat, they are also susceptible to sunburns, overheating, and getting too cold. It's essential to do your research before investing in one of these exotic cats. Scroll down below to check out some photos of this adorable cat breed and don't forget to upvote your favs!
This post may include affiliate links.
How Adorable Is This Little Girl. Her Ears Melt Me
While a bald cat may seem like the perfect pet for people who are allergic but still want a feline, sadly Sphynxes are not hypoallergenic. This "hairless" breed still produce Fel d1, which is the allergenic protein in cat saliva and skin secretions that causes the itchy, red eye allergic reaction. Sphynxes and other breeds have been advertised as hypoallergenic before but according to cat geneticists there is not cat without this protein - sorry!
The idea of having a hairless cat may sound appealing for many reasons if not primarily that both house and cat maintenance would be minimal. Think no shedding means this breed is "cleaner" than other cats? think again. Sphynxes attract dust particles, pollen, and dirt along with dead skin cells. In addition to these outside factors their bodies produce a greasy film. Owners of this breed need to wipe their kitties down with a washcloth daily and bath them weekly.
This Super Cute Sphynx Kitten
Baby Blue
Just like babies, Sphynxes have sensitive skin. Because they don't have thick coats to protect them it is up to their owners to be extra mindful. While these cats are allowed to go outside keep in mind that the sun can harm them and they should be mostly indoor pets. Sphynxes can get sunburnt, overheat, and get too cold.
"Oh, Hello Ladies"
People love fluffy cats, especially the more exotic looking ones like the luxurious Maine Coon. But who said furrier was always better? Sphynxes prove sometimes less is more and were ranked as the 8th most popular feline breed in the country, according to the Cat Fanciers’ Association statistics for 2018.
Goodmorning
I am crying. And I have no clue why. Probably because everyone thinks that Sphynx cats are ugly but they aren't and also I am a cat person
Sphinxes may look as aloof and regal as their namesake in Egypt, but this breed follows the rule never judge a book by its cover. This breed actually has social, loving and playful personality with a recent study in the Journal of Veterinary Behavior even ranking Sphynxes as the most affectionate cat breed. A possible explanation? They need you to keep them warm!
Look At That Cute Nose
Beautiful Inky
Her Name's Andromeda Crazy Daisy
Deep Ocean Blue Eyes, Love Them
Like the stubble instead of full whiskers but wonder if they bump into things at night?
The Teeniest Of The Teeny Tiny
Another Day With Same Friend
My Little Handsome Boy Just Turned 9 Weeks
Look At Him, Isn’t He Precious
Best Wishes From This Pretty Girl
One thing which I got painfully aware of, looking at these photos: They are not just missing the hair inside their ears to keep them clean, as Lios mentioned - they also have no whiskers. That is almost worse than the fact that you have to constantly keep them warm, because whiskers are mire than just "a cats beard". They rely on them to get around. Imagine driving a car not being able to see the road clearly ... This breed by its nature is a special needs breed - in my opinion it belongs in the same category like (for example) pug and french bulldog: "Please don't breed them." They are dependent of human care (a lot of) and wouldn't be able to survive on their own. Why would you want to have a cat which can't "cat" properly?
You need about a million more upvotes. All I see here is animal cruelty.
Agreed! I'm a cat lover but whoever perpetrated this breed should be exiled to Antarctica. Naked. They managed to take a beautiful creature and make it helpless, and admit it, ugly.
No need for violence ;) A little more common sense in ALL breeders would be enough. (Also: Please excuse the "mire" - it was, of course, supposed to be a "more".)
They are kind of ugly, but you have to admit it’s in a cute way. If you didn’t think “aww” once you have a heart of stone.
I also wondered about the lack of whiskers, how do they judge their surroundings? Or are they just stay indoors cats?
They use their front paws as hands to check openings etc. Like little monkeys. They also seem to have longer toes than other cats and are certainly a lot more dexterous - I’ve had one hold a bowl in her “arms” to pull it down safely off a shelf. One of mine rubs the back of her paw over things to fully investigate them. The other one is so dexterous as to learn how to push buttons to interact with electronics, and so intelligent as to have learned that swiping my iPad will throw away whatever I’m trying to look at. My “normal” cat doesn’t use his paws anything like as much. I don’t even think this is an adaptation they necessarily individually learn. The gene for hairlessness has existed in cats for centuries and there is some evidence that it is a throwback gene - a random occurring cat in the wild with the gene will have similar bone structure to the purebred form which arguably differs from a “regular” cat - eyes are set further apart for one. Look at vintage photos in newspapers.
My cat has normal fur (he's a bengal mix) and he uses his paws like that. Very dexterous. I think it's probably just your cat, not a breed trait. One of your cats could have learned it from the other as well. Sphynx cats are bred from random cats that had a gene mutations which caused them to be hairless, so the fact that your cat looks like it has longer toes I think is just a product of there being no fur there to make it look wider.
Hi! My Donskoy Sphynx 100% has whiskers - she even has a light winter coat right now that you can also see in the photo. https://www.instagram.com/p/BuHPugQFzTA/ Additionally, I can see whiskers in MOST of these photos, they're just tiny kitten whiskers that aren't being captured well in the photos.
Donskoys have a different gene for hairlessness
I have exactly the same opinion. Poor animals.
As a person who has owned sphynx my whole life (mom was allergic so I grew up with them) there is nothing cruel about it. Yea, they require extra work, and you can't let them go outside, but you shouldn't really let ANY cat be an indoor outdoor cat - it shortens their lifespan significantly and puts them in danger of disease, animal attacks, grabby little kids, and even worse. Whiskers help them tell what they can and cannot fit in as far as small spaces go. Its not an issue if you don't let them go outside. the pair I have now go for walks in their stroller and sometimes on a leash, but only supervised, and they wear their clothing if its not really warm outside. to say that these animals shouldn't be bred is shortsighted and doesn't take into account the fact that they serve a huge portion of people who are cat allergic. While not completely hypoallergenic, they are great for some people. My pair are happy as can be.
After having read your comment again, I'd also like to point out that the answer to "can't have cats for reason X" shouldn't be "remove reason X at the cats' detriment". The most loving way to deal with that is "accept that you can't have cats".
A bit off-topic, but is that attitude of "outside it's dangerous for cats" an American attitude? Here in Germany - and most pother European countries, to my knowledge - the attitude is more that cats might want to spend some time outdoors. I don't know the statistics regarding their life expectancy, but myself I sure wouldn't want to spend all my life indoors, no matter how much safer I'd be... When my parents moved, they kept their cats indoors the recommended 2 weeks, and it was heartbreaking to watch them cope.
I love these cats, but I hope everyone who adopts one first does their research about the breed. These cats have special needs when it comes to temperature, hygiene, skin issues. So just be aware it is not your low maintenance, self-taking-care of cat. Make sure you are prepared for these exotic beauties.
This comment has been deleted.
Sorry but I can't support that. It's nothing but animal cruelty. Poor cats.
Then the majority of dog breeds is animal cruelty too. Poor wolves.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
What is? They are born that way.
One day a cat born hairless and breeders decided that was cute so they tried theyr best to breed cats to recreate those features, it happens with a lot of the pure breed cat (persians, scottish fold, munchkin...) because to retain those peculiar things they need to mate the "same" cats over and over. It's the same thing as incest, we find it a taboo but the main problem is it causes a lot of health conditions. This is because most of the pure races have issues. Plus this cat can't survive in the wild and will get sick shortly after human care isn't provided, and it costs around 2000€ or so. Want to get a cat that's healty, that'll have a long life but still beautiful and (hopefully) affectionate? Go to a shelter.
They were bred that way.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
they were still born that way. No one did anything cruel to them.
One thing which I got painfully aware of, looking at these photos: They are not just missing the hair inside their ears to keep them clean, as Lios mentioned - they also have no whiskers. That is almost worse than the fact that you have to constantly keep them warm, because whiskers are mire than just "a cats beard". They rely on them to get around. Imagine driving a car not being able to see the road clearly ... This breed by its nature is a special needs breed - in my opinion it belongs in the same category like (for example) pug and french bulldog: "Please don't breed them." They are dependent of human care (a lot of) and wouldn't be able to survive on their own. Why would you want to have a cat which can't "cat" properly?
You need about a million more upvotes. All I see here is animal cruelty.
Agreed! I'm a cat lover but whoever perpetrated this breed should be exiled to Antarctica. Naked. They managed to take a beautiful creature and make it helpless, and admit it, ugly.
No need for violence ;) A little more common sense in ALL breeders would be enough. (Also: Please excuse the "mire" - it was, of course, supposed to be a "more".)
They are kind of ugly, but you have to admit it’s in a cute way. If you didn’t think “aww” once you have a heart of stone.
I also wondered about the lack of whiskers, how do they judge their surroundings? Or are they just stay indoors cats?
They use their front paws as hands to check openings etc. Like little monkeys. They also seem to have longer toes than other cats and are certainly a lot more dexterous - I’ve had one hold a bowl in her “arms” to pull it down safely off a shelf. One of mine rubs the back of her paw over things to fully investigate them. The other one is so dexterous as to learn how to push buttons to interact with electronics, and so intelligent as to have learned that swiping my iPad will throw away whatever I’m trying to look at. My “normal” cat doesn’t use his paws anything like as much. I don’t even think this is an adaptation they necessarily individually learn. The gene for hairlessness has existed in cats for centuries and there is some evidence that it is a throwback gene - a random occurring cat in the wild with the gene will have similar bone structure to the purebred form which arguably differs from a “regular” cat - eyes are set further apart for one. Look at vintage photos in newspapers.
My cat has normal fur (he's a bengal mix) and he uses his paws like that. Very dexterous. I think it's probably just your cat, not a breed trait. One of your cats could have learned it from the other as well. Sphynx cats are bred from random cats that had a gene mutations which caused them to be hairless, so the fact that your cat looks like it has longer toes I think is just a product of there being no fur there to make it look wider.
Hi! My Donskoy Sphynx 100% has whiskers - she even has a light winter coat right now that you can also see in the photo. https://www.instagram.com/p/BuHPugQFzTA/ Additionally, I can see whiskers in MOST of these photos, they're just tiny kitten whiskers that aren't being captured well in the photos.
Donskoys have a different gene for hairlessness
I have exactly the same opinion. Poor animals.
As a person who has owned sphynx my whole life (mom was allergic so I grew up with them) there is nothing cruel about it. Yea, they require extra work, and you can't let them go outside, but you shouldn't really let ANY cat be an indoor outdoor cat - it shortens their lifespan significantly and puts them in danger of disease, animal attacks, grabby little kids, and even worse. Whiskers help them tell what they can and cannot fit in as far as small spaces go. Its not an issue if you don't let them go outside. the pair I have now go for walks in their stroller and sometimes on a leash, but only supervised, and they wear their clothing if its not really warm outside. to say that these animals shouldn't be bred is shortsighted and doesn't take into account the fact that they serve a huge portion of people who are cat allergic. While not completely hypoallergenic, they are great for some people. My pair are happy as can be.
After having read your comment again, I'd also like to point out that the answer to "can't have cats for reason X" shouldn't be "remove reason X at the cats' detriment". The most loving way to deal with that is "accept that you can't have cats".
A bit off-topic, but is that attitude of "outside it's dangerous for cats" an American attitude? Here in Germany - and most pother European countries, to my knowledge - the attitude is more that cats might want to spend some time outdoors. I don't know the statistics regarding their life expectancy, but myself I sure wouldn't want to spend all my life indoors, no matter how much safer I'd be... When my parents moved, they kept their cats indoors the recommended 2 weeks, and it was heartbreaking to watch them cope.
I love these cats, but I hope everyone who adopts one first does their research about the breed. These cats have special needs when it comes to temperature, hygiene, skin issues. So just be aware it is not your low maintenance, self-taking-care of cat. Make sure you are prepared for these exotic beauties.
This comment has been deleted.
Sorry but I can't support that. It's nothing but animal cruelty. Poor cats.
Then the majority of dog breeds is animal cruelty too. Poor wolves.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
What is? They are born that way.
One day a cat born hairless and breeders decided that was cute so they tried theyr best to breed cats to recreate those features, it happens with a lot of the pure breed cat (persians, scottish fold, munchkin...) because to retain those peculiar things they need to mate the "same" cats over and over. It's the same thing as incest, we find it a taboo but the main problem is it causes a lot of health conditions. This is because most of the pure races have issues. Plus this cat can't survive in the wild and will get sick shortly after human care isn't provided, and it costs around 2000€ or so. Want to get a cat that's healty, that'll have a long life but still beautiful and (hopefully) affectionate? Go to a shelter.
They were bred that way.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
they were still born that way. No one did anything cruel to them.