That was what the Russians also thought, back in 1988, when a hairless cat was rescued by Irina Kovalyova. The cat was treated with anti-fungal medicine, but the hair just kept on falling out. Soon it became obvious that Varya, a blue tortie cat, was ment to be hairless. She was the foundation cat of the two Russian hairless breeds.
Yes, TWO hairless breeds, the Don Hairless & the Russian Peterbald.
Most people thought Varya was just another natural mutation similar to the Sphynx. After started breeding with Vanya, it was clear that this was a total different kind of hairless gene. It is a dominant gene, where that gene that cause hairlessness in the Sphynx is recessive. Thus bald kittens can be expected in the fist generation kittens when mating a Russian Hairless with a normal coated cat. In the Sphynx all these kittens will be normal coated.
At first the breed was called the Don Sphynx, but after it was discovered, that this cat was totally different from the Sphynx, the name was changed to the Don Hairless.
In 1989, Varya was mated to a domestic cat, called Vasya. Several kittes were hairless. Irina kept kittens for a breeding program. The hairless cats of Irina's Myth Cattery were bred exclusively to European Shorthairs and Domestic shorthairs.
In 1993 a very oriental looking brown mackeral tabby Don Hairless male, Afinguen Myth, was mated to a very classy tortie Oriental female, Radma Vom Jagerhof. That was in St. Petersburg in Moscow. These oriental type hairless cats were called Peterbalds. They were unpopular in Moscow, but became very popular among St. Petersburg breeders. The first Peterbald were born in January 1994.
Radma was also mated with Russian Blues. The kittens were considered to be Don Hairless, but some were rather oriental in type and are used today in Peterbald breeding programs.
Another male that played a big role in development of the Peterbald was a black male called Nocturine Iz Murino. He was born in February 1995, resulting from the same sire and dam as Radma. He was used widely for matings with purebred Oriental and Siamese females, and produced many high quality offspring. His offspring have been bred with each other. To increase the gene pool, the Peterbalds are also crossed with light-type Don Hairless cats and new lines of Oriental Shorthairs and Siamese cats. Thus most colors are present in the Peterbald. The goal of course is to breed Peterbalds that are homozygous for the hairless gene. Such cats are born hairless, and they will not produce normal coated kittens if breed to another homozygous cat.
Thus mostly the degree of hairlessness in one litter can vary from full nakedness to "brush", to a straight coat. It depends very much on the genes the parents carry, and it is apparent that gene-modifiers are of great importance here.
A female Peterbald in Belgium was bred to a Sphynx and all resulting kittens were born with a full coat. Thus the Sphynx is not an allowable outcross for the Peterbald breed.
The Don Hairless and Peterbald breeds are becoming more well known outside of Russia. Peterbald have been sold to breeders in Holland, the Ukraine, Belorus, the former USSR republics, South-africa as well as America.
The head is long, wedge-shaped, with flat, high cheek-bones and flat skull. It has an almost straight profile, with slightly noticeable angle from forehead to nose. The muzzle is strong, not narrow and without any pinch. The Peterbald has a strong but not protruding chin. It has several vertical lines/wrinkles on forehead which diverge before the ears nearly at right angles. The whiskers and eyebrows are wavy or broken off near ski. The ears are large, broad at the base, high on the head, straight set, following the line of the wedge, opening forward. The eyes are not large but are oval in shape, deep and obliquely set. The eye color is green-gold, except blue in pointed cats.
The Peterbald is a sturdy, lean cat with a high, long neck with running wrinkles. The body is long, muscular, cylindrical with a deep groin line. The cat’s legs are long with firm, fine boning. It has straight vertical forelegs. The paws are oval with long agile toes. Young cats have wavy coat on their feet and may have fine coat on the extremities until the age of 2 years. The tail is long, straight, strong and whippy. Up to 3 centimeters (approximately 1 inch) of the tail tip may be covered with soft, dense close lying wavy coat. The skin is thin, soft, tender and fine, with pigmentation in hairless places, and with a "drawing" in the places with residual coat. The skin is wrinkled, easily moving along the body on the neck,, under the feet and in the groin.
Sometimes clear signs of rex coat are visible until the cat is 1.5-2 years of age; true baldness begins from the head, neck, and upper part of back. If the coat is still on the extremities, it is short, soft, wavy on muzzle, base of the ear, on forelegs and feet and on the last third of the tail or along all the tail length.
ALLOWANCES:. Light, fine hairs in adult cats. Males are larger than females and should not be penalized as long a the cat is in balance. ("Brush" coat may be shown in NBC ONLY).
FAULTS: Heavy boning, cobby body, curved profile, undershot chin, muzzle pinch, lack of wrinkles, bowed forelegs, significant amounts of hair except on extremities. Lockets ARE permitted.
EARS
Shape: Large, pointed, broad at the base.
Size: Large.
Placement: Continuation of the line of the wedge, opening forward.
EYES
Shape: Oval.
Size: Medium.
Set: Oblique.
NECK
Length: Long with running wrinkles.
Size: Slender.
BODY
Shape: Oriental body type.
Size: Medium.
Boning: Fine.
Length: Graceful. Long and cylindrical.
Musculature: Firm and muscular.
TAIL:
Shape: Long, straight, strong and whippy.
Length: In balance with body length.
LEGS:
Length: Long.
Boning: fine. The forelegs are straight and vertical.
Musculature: Firm and muscular.
FEET:
Shape: Oval.
Size: Medium.
Toes: Long, agile and prominent with membranes..
COAT AND SKIN:
General: The skin is thin and soft, wrinkled and easily slides along the body on the neck, under the feet and in the groin.
Length: Appears hairless. May be covered with fine short down which generally disappears by 2 years of age.
Texture: Chamois-like.
Whiskers and Eyebrows: Wavy and/or broken
Wrinkles: Several vertical lines/wrinkles on forehead and neck.
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A Sphynx in Russia?
HEAD 25 points
Size and Shape 5
Ears 5
Eyes 5
Whiskers 10
BODY 30 points
Neck 5
Chest 5
Legs and Feet 10
Tail 10
COAT AND SKIN 30 points
COLOR 10 points
CONDITION 5 points
RECOGNIZED CATEGORIES/DIVISIONS/COLORS: All categories, all divisions, all colors..
GENERAL DESCRIPTION: The Peterbald are graceful cats of oriental type which appear to be hairless (although they are not truly hairless). The cat has firm, fine bones and elongated body and feet, with delicate, elastic, warm "chamois" skin. A fine down coat along the body is allowed, more furry, soft, fine coat is allowed on the ears, muzzle, tail and feet.
HEAD
Shape: Wedge.
Profile: Straight from center of forehead to tip of nose.
Muzzle: Strong, not narrow. Nose and chin are in line.
Muzzle Break: None. No whisker pinch.
Forehead: Flat.
The Peterbald is a very friendly, outgoing, and very intelligent cat. Although they are outcrossed with siamese and OSH, they are not as noisy, and also more peaceful cats. A Peterbald loves his owner, and does not mind to make friends with strangers. They are graceful cats, that get very well along with other animals in the house. They can easily stay in a small place like a flat, not like their bloodbrothers, the siamese, who are just too inquisitive to stay in one place.
Although one might think that ths new breed will have losts of problems due to inbreedeng etc, they are very strong, healthy cats. They are super cats to have as comanion animals, with this extra bonus that they do not shed!
ANLEO CATTERY: The WHO and the WHERE
ANLEO CATTERY: The WHEN and the WHY
Everything about the Sphynx
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