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PERSONALITY
Sphynx are part cat, part clown, and part
dog. They are full of mischief or sound asleep. If laughter is the best
medicine, then you will be extremely healthy if you have a Sphynx in your
household. They will keep you laughing non-stop. Sphynx are extremely
affectionate velcro cats who want to help you with everything you
do.
Frankie helping Silas "clean dishes."
Bodie helping with the laundry.
Dude showing Bodie how to help Mom keep the plants
trimmed.
They frequently learn to enjoy water.
Evie even takes bubble bath soaks with me! The only problem she has is
that you have to hold her head above water, because she falls asleep and
tries to drown herself.
Evie & Carole in the tub
Sphynx wish
their owners were illiterate. Then all that time wasted on reading could
be spent kissing, petting, and playing with them! Their wonderful skin
makes you want to kiss and pet them constantly anyway.
ORIGIN
(The following information is
originally from the AngelFire Sphynx cattery website)
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 basis of the early Sphynx breed.
Despite tales of "barnyard breeders" here and there, most of today's
pedigreed Sphynx spring from two females, Punkie and Paloma, who were
rescued from the streets of Toronto, Canada and sent to Dr. Hugo Hernandez
in Holland in 1980. As there was no whole Sphynx male (stud cat) available
in Holland, a white Devon Rex male, Curare van Jetrophin, was used in the
breeding program. The offspring from these breedings were sold in 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 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. Although the Sphynx has been called a hairless cat,
this is not entirely accurate. The current approved TICA (The
International Cat Association) standards of perfection for the Sphynx call
for a short covering of down on the body, almost imperceptible to the eye
and touch, with short, tightly packed soft hair at the points (ears,
muzzle, tail, feet and testicles).
BREED
STANDARD
Here are links to the Sphynx breed standard for the
two cat registries we belong to.
Cat Fancier's Association (CFA)
The
International Cat Association
(TICA)
MAINTENANCE
The essential basics of
maintaining a Sphynx is a once a week routine of grooming. Ears need to be
thoroughly cleaned, nails need to be trimmed and cleaned, and the kitty
needs a bath. The whole procedure takes only about 20 minutes. Since all
of this grooming is performed on our kittens beginning at 3 weeks of age,
they are very used to it by the time they go home.
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