A woman in America, April Arguin, has created two new hairless breeds of cat by turning two existing breeds, the Bambino and the Sphynx into cats with no tail (bobtailed). They are hybrids. The Bambino is a dwarf hairless cat. She introduced the gene which removes the tail or shortens it to create the BamBob. The Sphynx is the world’s best known hairless cat. She created a tailless breed from this cat which she calls the ShynxieBob; a cat without fur and tail. Let’s remind ourselves that this breed is based on removing two important aspects of the domestic cat’s anatomy (fur and tail) to create what Arguin believes is an attractive or interesting cat. The same, more or less goes for the Bambob.
The video tells her story. She wants her new breeds to be recognised by a small, rather insubstantial cat breed registry called the Rare and Exotic Feline Registry (REFR). The mainstream registries in America are the Cat Fanciers’ Association (CFA) and The International Cat Association (TICA). The former would not recognise these breeds on health grounds although ironically they promote the breeding of an inherently unhealthy cat, the contemporary Persian (and Exotic SH – the shorthaired version). As for TICA they currently recognise bobtailed cats, hairless cats and a dwarf cat (the Munchkin) and therefore may in due course recognise the SphynxieBob and the BamBob.
April Arguin says she has not created these breeds for financial gain but for her own pleasure and to bring new cat breeds into the world. The question is: does the world need or desire two new hybrid cat breeds? If we are honest, the answer is probably, no.
Dwarf cats are controversial because of potential health problems so these will be carried forward to the Bambob. Bobtailed cats are not uncommon and for instance you’ll see lots of street cats in Japan and Asia with short and kinked tails. The SphynxieBob is probably a better breed because it is probably inherently healthier. The Sphynx is quite popular although some people argue that it is unfair on a cat to remove its fur. These are essentially full-time indoor cats. They are an interesting cat breed, however. They have monkey-like behavior characteristics.
Do you think it is a good idea to create yet two more cat breeds to add to the existing 104 (approximately)? The major era for the creation of cat breeds was around the 1960s, by the way.
Note: this page was first published on September 11th 2015. The current video is still on YouTube. The page has been updated.
Thanks for your input Sarah. My thoughts concur with yours. REFR is almost meaningless and as you say these breeds won’t be truly recognised. Thanks for the update on TICA. I suppose the question is will they public go for them. My guess is that a small number might. The Munchkin is quite popular for instance and so is the Sphynx.
These cats are created by a business (rather than a cattery) registered with REFR (which is not a recognised cat registry). They won’t be recognised by TICA or genuine registries because they break a number of recently introduced rules on breeding different mutations together. The article is basically an advert.
If you look at the breeds listed by REFR, many will never get past the “just a couple of litters” stage, but registering them with a name and a sort of standard helps with selling the cats to Joe Public. A couple of the REFR breeds have been renamed and re-registered with TICA, but hairless bobtails won’t be among them.
My cat was slated for extinction by the breeder due to a defect. My identity remains guarded to protect my baby’s identity and that of her loving vet. The others in the litter were not so impaired but they did not survive. Breeding is clearly a business, not a love affair in most cases. An unkempt Sphynx is slimy in coat, not sweet smelling, and very sad. Their humans must be very attentive. It’s like giving kids a bunny for Easter…how cute and how mindless.
We agree with you Albert. Breeders breed cats for themselves with little sensitivity to what they are doing from the cat’s perspective. It is like creating a product for the breeder.
I like your comment RM. Very sensible. The breeder mentions or hints at her creation being hypoallergenic because they little hair but as you say they can still cause an allergic reaction.
The Fel d 1 protein, produced largely by cat saliva and sebaceous glands, is the primary allergen present on cats. Hair is not in the equation.
Nice quotes. I like Jeff Goldblum in the Jurassic Park films.