Infographic about ‘Bullycats’. Vets warn of painful fate for this hairless breed.

The infographic summarises the situation concisely. Below it I add some detail. The ‘Bullycat’ is clearly a spinoff from the American XL Bully dog which gained such notoriety particularly in the UK where they are now banned thanks to a targeted amendment to the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991. But the Bullycat is not a dangerous animal! In terms of temperament, the Bullycat is just like any other domestic cat companion. I think the marketeers renamed the Dwelf to make it more current. They sort of resurrected it from a breeder’s graveyard as the Dwelf had almost fizzled out as a breed.

Whether the Bullycat is a Dwelf or a Bambino depends on whether the breeder wants the cat to have curled back ears which comes from the American Curl. I have seen Bullycats without curled ears and with curled ears. The aggressive-looking hairless dwarf cat in the infographic is a dwarf hairless cat; a Bambino. They have bred the cat to look aggressive and enhanced the folds in the skin through selective breeding. The skin will be a nightmare to keep clean.

Some more info.

Here are some more details about the so-called “Bullycat”. There is an article in The Times today about this development. And I think it is a development perhaps introduced by a breeder to reinvigorate what was an unpopular breed namely the Dwelf. As I mention in the Infographic, this is a three-way hybrid domestic purebred cat, created in America at a time (2007) when dwarf cats were an emerging phenomenon and where they gained some traction amongst the public. But the public learned that they potentially or actually inherit a couple of diseases because of the genetic mutation which makes them dwarf cats i.e. with short legs. CLick the link in the infographic for more on this.

And today, there is a more acute awareness of health of domestic cats because of maintenance costs but notwithstanding that, purchasers of purebred cats do tend to focus almost exclusively on the appearance of the animal and sometimes pushed to one side, conveniently under the carpet, important health issues which have a big bearing on the cost of maintenance of these cats.

And of course, as mentioned in the Infographic, there is the ‘cost’ of discomfort and pain in the individual cat themselves. There is an ethical dimension here. And in Germany, this cat would be classified as a ‘torture cat‘ and it would be banned.

The Nature Watch Foundation has informed people not to buy a Bullycat because they are unhealthy. This is a Sphynx-like cat with short, bowlegs and wrinkly skin. Hairless cats do tend to have wrinkly skin to varying degrees; sometimes very excessive wrinkly skin which can harbour problems as it is so unnatural. It can cause infections and irritations. In fact, the Sphynx cat’s skin is already a problem because the sebaceous glands deposit oils onto the skin are not into the hair strands and therefore the skin becomes grimy and it needs to be wiped off on a regular basis.

The charity said that the cat’s popularity has increased because of promotions on social media. I’m referring to Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. But the experts have now said that this unnatural breed is likely to experience pain which brings up the ethical issues.

As mentioned in the Infographic, Dr. Dan O’Neill, associate professor of companion animal epidemiology at the Royal Veterinary College, said that body cats were likely to live for 6.7 years compared with an average of 11.7 years for all cats.

According to the above charity, the trend appears to have originated in the US which I agree with. The charity campaigns to end the illegal trade in pets. They are concerned to see that they are now being bred in the UK.

A spokeswoman for the charity said:

“It’s shocking to see that these poor cats are starting to emerge in the UK. We’ve seen increasingly extreme breeding practices in the dog world [a reference I believe to the American XL body as mentioned in the Infographic] in recent years and it appears unscrupulous people are now turning their attention to exploiting cats in the same way, all in the pursuit of greed and social media likes. It’s an animal welfare disaster and this kind of breeding is just cruel.”

They added that:

“If you’re thinking about getting a cat, don’t buy into these harmful designer fads, as you’ll pay a high price in vet fees and you’ll have to endure the pain of seeing your beloved pet suffering from lifelong health issues.”

She further added that “There are lots of wonderful cats out there who need a home, so please go to a reputable rescue instead and choose a cat or kitten with a natural body shape.”

AGREED! 🙏💕😃

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