The Don sphynxes - outcome of surprising natural mutation. Progenitor of naked cats in Russia - cat Barbara, which was found in 1987г. in Rostov-on-Don by Kovaleva Е. She was coated by an infrequent corrugated hair, which almost all had dropped out by one year age.
In one of her litters she gave birth to completely naked kitten, which had called Chita, and which is present now almost in all pedigrees of modern cats. With her the activity on the raising of new breed began, and the enthusiasts - felinologysts in different cities of Russia took part in it.
The issue of Chita and representatives of european shorthair cat were used for obtaining naked kittens, and as the "naked" gene is dominant, naked kittens of new breed "Don Sphynx" were received in such combination. The second direction of breeding has used orientals and this new breed was named "Petersburg Sphynx". It is possible to argue indefinitely about what from them is better or more beautifully. This is a matter of taste.
In 1997 enough number and the uniformity of type of breed "Don sphynx" has allowed to raise the question about an admission of breed by international organizations and confirmation of her standard.
| Breed history | |
| The foundation female of the two
Russian Hairless breeds (known as the Don Sphynx, Don Hairless and
Petersburg Sphynx, Peterbald) was a blue tortie cat named Varya who
was rescued by Irina Kovalyova. At the time it was thought that
Varya was seriously ill, as she appeared to have lost almost all of
her coat. After long-term treatment with anti-fungal medication
Varya didn't appear to be getting any better. In fact, despite
otherwise good health, Varya continued to lose what remaining coat
she had. It soon became obvious that Varya was not suffering from a
disease at all, but was a result of a new genetic occurrence.
In due time, (approx. 1989) Varya was mated to a neighboring male cat. A healthy litter resulted and what do you think? Several of the kittens were hairless! One of Varya's kittens (a black female by the name of Chita) went to the cattery "Myth" (owned by Irina Nemykina) where the cultural breeding of the Russian Hairless cats had begun. The first breed to be established was the Don Sphynx, Don Hairless. There was not any cat club in Rostov-on-Don in those days, so Irina kept her stud books herself. Of course, they were far from precise, yet very helpful from a genetic standpoint. According to these documents it was determined that the new gene for hairlessness is dominant to the gene for normal coat. This was evident because when heterozygous hairless cats were mated to normal coated cats, a number of hairless kittens always resulted in the litter. The hairless cats of Myth Cattery were bred exclusively to European Shorthairs and Domestic Shorthairs. The foundation cats which resulted from the first out crossings to European Shorthairs were, of course, heterozygous for the gene for hairlessness. Since the breed is relatively young, we are still working towards developing more homozygous lines. In some litters a number of straight haired kittens continue to be born along with the bald ones. First matings of Don Hairless cats with Oriental/Siamese cats were started in St. Petersburg and in Moscow in 1993. These oriental type of hairless cats (named Peterbalds) were unpopular in Moscow, but became very popular among St. Petersburg breeders. The first Peterbalds were born in January of 1994. The were the result of out crossing a very classy tortie oriental female (Radma von Jagerhof) with a brown mackerel tabby Don Hairless male (Afinogen Myth) whose bone structure was a bit light, but who had a wedge-shaped head. All in all, he was a good choice for breeding with Oriental cats. This male was also mated with Russian Blues. The litters from such matings were considered to be Don Hairless, but some of the kittens were rather elegant and were used in developing the breeding program for Peterbalds, becoming the foundation cats of the breed.
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Standard |
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Official Standard of PointsDon Sphynx (Russian Hairless/Donskoy Sphynx/Don Bald Cat)General: Firm cats of medium size, solid, with strong bones, soft velvety and hot to the touch. Head: Wedge shaped with finely outlined cheek bones and frontal bones. Noticeable eye balls. Flat forehead with many vertical wrinkles spreading in horizontal lines above the eyes. Nose of medium length, straight with scarcely emphasized pass to the forehead. Not long muzzle with a light pinch, slightly rounded. Whiskers: Curly, thick, may be shortly snapped, or none at all. Ears: Large, wide and high set, slightly tilted forward, wide opened, with rounded tips. Eyes: Of medium size, almond shaped, deep and slant set. All colors are acceptable. Type: Strong, muscular Body: Of medium length, compact, muscular, hot, wide croup, deep groin line. Legs: Solid bones, straight forelegs, long mobile toes, web footed. Tail: Long, straight, strong and flexible. Tail tip up to 3 cm may be covered with soft dense, close lying, lightly curly coat. Skin: Fine, elastic, "excessive", wrinkled on the head and neck, under legs and in the groin. Young cats muzzle may be covered with short fine coat, slightly lengthened on cheeks and at the ears base: "ear muff". In winter the whole body may be covered with fine coat. Allowance to be made for residual coat on the points: muzzle, ears, legs, and tail-in adult cats the residual coat fully disappeared up to 2 years old. Male cats haven't the musk odor. Kittens may be born with wavy rex coat and ‘bald spot' on the head. Curly whiskers are the required distinctive sign for new-born Don Sphynx. Very active and goodwill. Colors: All colors are acceptable. Faults: Short, round or narrow head: small or low set ears, round straight set eyes, short, light weak body, short or not correctly ending tail, full sunkeness of the body. Outcross: with other breeds, european shorthair, siberian, russian blue and hhp of similar looks. |
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Lisa
(Chipollita)
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Loved vet - during preventive examination |  |
Three generations |
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Our first kittens |  |
Lisa (Chipollita) | ||
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Our Kyka | 
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Our Kyka too | 
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Our Kyka too |
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Our Kyka too | 
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Lavrik and Fifa | ||
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Lavrik and Toster | 
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Our Sima and Liza | 
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Our Sima and Liza too |
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Our Lavrizel | 
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Our Lavrizel too | 
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Our Lavrizel too |
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Our Toster | 
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Our Toster too | 
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Our Toster with mother |