Hairless Cat Facts For Kids

There are at least eight hairless cat breeds that I know of but there are actually more than that. You will hardly see or know about some of them because they are rare. I am listing eight of them here with a picture that shows six of the eight so you know what they look like. The background picture is of a Peterbald. The person holding the cat is Virginia Mannino and she took the photo. She breeds Peterbald cats.

Hairless Cat Facts For Kids
Hairless Cat Facts For Kids. Pictures: 1: copyright Helmi Flick, 2: copyright Gunnel Hedberg, 3. copyright Kristen Leedom. 4. copyright Lecrislin Cattery, 5 and 6. copyright Helmi Flick.
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All hairless cats are cats with a problem, to be honest. The problem is that they should have hair. Something went wrong when the first hairless cats were born. What happened was that some people like cats without hair and they wanted to make some more hairless cats. These people are cat breeders. The first hairless cats just happened as a mistake of nature.

Here is a short description of the hairless cat breeds in the picture. I will list them by the number in the picture. I have added two extra ones to the list, numbers 7 and 8.

  1. Sphynx. This is the world’s best known hairless cat breed. It comes from North America. No cat breed is totally hairless though. The Sphynx does have some hair. It is very fine. Their skin feels like a warm chamois leather. You say that like this: “Shameee leather”. It is the leather with which you wipe and clean your car. You can read about the Sphynx on this page (it is written for kids too). The Sphynx cat breed started in 1966.
  2. Don Sphynx. This is the Russian version of the North American Sphynx. The breed started in 1987. The Don Sphynx looks the same as the Sphynx. The reason why this cat does not have hair is slightly different to the reason why the Sphynx has no hair. This cat is named after the place where it was first discovered: Rostov-on-Don in Russia.
  3. Elf Cat. This is a very rare cat that was created in 2008. It is a mixture of the Sphynx and the American Curl. This is why the ears bend backwards. This feature comes from the American Curl. The Elf Cat is called a “hybrid” which means a mixture of more than one other cat breed.
  4. Dwelf Cat. This is also a very rare cat breed and a hybrid cat. There are probably no more than a few of them in all the world. The cat is a mixture of a short legged cat (a dwarf cat) called the Munchkin and two other cats: the Sphynx and the Highlander (or the American Curl). It was created in 2008 by Karen Nelson and Kristen Leedom, in the America.
  5. Bambino. This name means “baby” in Italian. This cat has the skin of a baby. All hairless have the same skin. This is a cat with short legs. This is a dwarf cat. It is a well known cat. The Bambino has two things wrong with it. It has short legs and no fur. It is an interesting cat. It was created in 2005 in America.
  6. Peterbald. This is a Russian cat that comes from St. Petersburgh in Russia. The name is a mixture of Peter (from “St. Petersburgh”) and “bald” meaning hairless. It is a mixture of the Don Sphynx and the Oriental Shorthair. It was created in 1994. Sometimes Peterbald cats have a coat that is like a brush. Not all of them are hairless.
  7. Minskin. Like the Bambino it has short legs and is a dwarf cat. It started in 1998. It is a mixture of a lot of cat breeds, the Munchkin, Sphynx, Devon Rex and Burmese.
  8. Ukrainian Kevkoy. A hairless cat from the Ukraine that is like a Don Sphynx with floppy, folded ears. The Levkoy has been around since about 2004.

In fact, there are no cats that have no hair at all. Even the Sphynx has some hair. You can see that most of these cat breeds have a been around for quite a short time compared to most other breeds.

Please search using the search box at the top of the site. You are bound to find what you are looking for.

16 thoughts on “Hairless Cat Facts For Kids”

  1. LOL clawless and hairless in the same sentence? I have 2 Sphynx cats which means they were born hairless, which is quite different from a cat that is made clawless by amputation. Granted that hairlessness is a mutation, but it sure doesn’t compromise the health of the cat. In reality Sphynx are no more defective than bald people, and we don’t forbid them from procreating. Live and let live. Peace. Love the web site btw.

    Reply
    • Thanks Martha. I confess, I do like Sphynx cats. I discovered I liked them when I went to a cat show and played with one. Smart and like a monkey.

      I think the point Ruth is making is the idea that people should take what is a really a “defect” (no hair) and make it a feature. That is against nature. Coats do have a useful purpose. The coat is a major anatomical element for the cat. In the wild a hairless cat would find it much harder to survive.

      I am not being critical just looking at it from the standpoint of nature. Yes, the mutation does occur naturally but it is a genetic mistake that does not enhance survivability which is why it did not take hold in nature.

      Reply
      • Thanks Michael for your explanation. I allowed that the hairless gene is a mutation but I chose that word because I think “mutation” connotes something different from “defect.” I don’t disagree that in terms of survival in the wild hairlessness wouldn’t have enhanced survival, so in that sense I can see why some might call it a defect, but I question whether survival in the wild is the only valid metric. Since cats today live indoors so much (mine do 100%), do traits for surviving in the wild mean what they used to? I don’t think so, no more than smaller people are defective because they can’t beat a mastodon with just stones and lances :o) That is why I disagree with calling hairlessness a defect…in the current environment it’s not. It’s also worth noting that a hairless cat doesn’t miss a beat, unlike a declawed cat that would not be able to climb or scratch normally. Happily we are all in agreement on that subject …declawing a perfectly beautiful creature is just wrong, so if you favor the furniture, look into a nice aquarium.

        Reply
        • You make a fair and valid point Martha. As a domestic cat hairlessness is not a problem. I simply question the ethics or thought processes of people who make a feature of a “defect” in a pure natural sense. I prefer natural things.

          Reply
          • Oh I won’t defend people who see hairlessness as an opportunity to make money. I think profit is what is behind some of these new breeds like Elf, Dwelf, Bambino….

            But while I would not buy one of those breeds, I confess that hairlessness was one of the Sphynx attractions for me. It was not the main thing but it was a plus.

            Now the next question is, how can I support the Sphynx breed but not support those “designer cats” like Elf, Dwelf and Bambino?

            Well, for one thing there are enough Sphynx cats in existence today that if a cat breeder is just looking for profit, a Sphynx would not be that lucrative. When it comes to the designer breeds, I question what else is the motivation besides creating demand from nothing.

            Also, those designer breeds are actually man-made, which is why I call them designer breeds. It goes like this – take 2 cats, breed them, and instead of a moggie call it a new breed – what kind of logic is that? On the other hand, the Sphynx gene is not anything forced by human hands but rather a natural occurrence.

            I think that’s about all I can bring …thanks for sharing your thoughts!

            Reply
  2. I always enjoy your ‘cat facts for kids’ pages too Michael
    I wish people wouldn’t mess with Nature, all cats were supposed to be born with fur coats 🙁

    Reply
  3. I can expand your list from 6 to at least 10. The Ukrainian Levkoy Cat is a fold-eared naked cat. The Cheops is a hairless version of American Cornish Rex. The Minskin is a hairless Munchkin-type cat with slight fur on the points. There was, until recently, the Hawaiian Hairless (Kohana), but it has been allowed to die out due to health problems. If you count cats with partial hairlessness there is also the Lykoi and a mutation that is still being studied where the cats are hairless except for a lion-like mane. And a strain of Mexican Hairless (the first hairless breed) may have resurfaced.

    Reply

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