SPONTANEOUS MUTATIONS HAPPEN NATURALLY THROUGHOUT HISTORY!!!

A copy of a faded photo (1902) from The Book of the Cat.  Mr. Shinick of Albuquerque, New Mexico had obtained his cats from some nearby Indians.   He described them as being extremely playful, loving and intelligent, and "never been sick an hour."  He kept his cats indoors, but the fearless Dick "stole out and the dogs finished him."

If noticed and appreciated the new variation can be carefully cultivated.  If not it may slip away and soon be forgotten... 

Though incorrectly thought of as an Egyptian cat, in 1966 one of these mysterious mutant genes surfaced on the streets of Toronto, Canada.   What happened to be a naked kitten born in an otherwise normal coated litter was discovered.  This kitten "Prune," his mother "Elizabeth," and a few other bald mutations later discovered were the beginning of the early Sphynx breed.

Despite tales of "barnyard breeders" here and there, most of today's pedigreed Sphynx spring from three females, Q. Punkie and Q. Paloma, who were rescued from the streets of Toronto, Canada and sent to Dr. Hugo Hernandez in Holland in 1980 and a barn cat, Jezabelle who delivered a number of hairless kittens on a Minnesota farm.  The offspring from these breedings were sold in the United States, Holland and France and are the foundation of most of our present day breeding Sphynx.

During the late 1990s cross breeding between domestic short hair and other cat breeds including Devon Rex, American Shorthairs and Domestic Short Hairs has produced a wider gene pool and allowed the modern Sphynx to exhibit most of the eye and color patterns available in many of today's cat breeds.

For a more detailed article on the history of the sphynx CLICK HERE.

Although the Sphynx has been called a hairless cat, this is not always accurate.  You can find out more about the Standards required of a show sphynx from one or both of the following links:

TICA SPHYNX STANDARDS

CFA SPHYNX STANDARDS

The Purrrfect Sphynx - Supreme Grand Champion Kattewyks Nude Indigo of Britanya - with permission from Caroline Fralia & Joe Edwards, with thanks to Carol & Walt Richards - Indigo is the father of our original line.