The watchwords of our Cattery

Our cattery is committed to three main axes, which define our identity and work as breeders.

Quality

The Cattery is committed to mating our guests in their best interest. We shall not play at being God and pursue foolish goals such as the shortening of their legs, risking their wellbeing just so we can show off with their odd eyes, or try and create a new breed. While the Cattery has used crossbreeding before, and probably will again, it was always done with great care and exclusively with Domestic Shorthairs, which both Sphynxes and Lykois stem from, and which are not as prone to common genetic diseases, unlike our naked favorites with HCM. This will hopefully ensure future generation more robustness and resourcefulness. The results so far are hugely positive.

Health

The Cattery is committed to doing our best to guarantee healthy cats. Medical care is done by an office with over twenty years of experience in the Sphynx, cardiac examinations are done by a renowned office, DNA tests are done by the Davis University. Any problem a kitten may be struck with is clearly explained to the adopter, along with the best possible advice we can give.

Socialization

The Cattery is committing to socializing the kittens to the best of our abilities, by raising them as household pets. Litters aren't treated with a battery farming mentality, all kittens are free to run around the house and educated by both their mother and ourselves, so as to guarantee the most affectionate temper possible.

Crossbreeding: How? Why?

What is crossbreeding?

The Sphynx owes its evolution, standard and survival to crossbreeding done by the breeders to sustain the breed.
So-called "F1" kittens, born of the mating of a Sphynx cat and a hairy cat will always be hairy, albeit with the gene "Hypotrichosis Congenita". Mated with a Sphynx, they can give birth to "F2" kittens, each of which has 50% chance to be naked and 50% chance to be hairy.
A naked F2 mated with a Sphynx will give birth to F3 hybrids, all of which will be naked (which wouldn't happen shoud a hairy F2 be used).
This naked F3, mated with a Sphynx, will give birth to F4 kittens, full-fledged Sphynxes by all standards.
The Devon Rex was the most widely used breed for crossbreeding in the past. With that said, Cornish Rexes, Burmese and Siamese cats were also used, with the latter ones bringing in the sepia and point genes, the combination of which gives the color mink.
In France, the LOOF standard only allows Sphynx x Sphynx matings. Many other clubs, Belgian among others, accept crossbreeding and deliver RIEX (Registre d'Inscription Expérimental - Experimental Registration Book) pedigrees..

What's the point?

Some crossbreeding didn't just further the breed. The use of the Cornish Rex, while allowing for a larger genetic pool, brought along unwanted characteristics: short nose and no stop.
As far as looks goes, the most interesting crossbreeding was with the Cornish Rex, which brought large ears, short nose and a nice stop. Unfortunately, it also brought with it the spasticity, a deadly genetic disease previously limited to that particular breed, and that still exists in some lineages. Thus, it was abandoned.
Mating Sphynxes with any breed just won't do. Crossbreeding must be part of a breeding program with specific goals in mind.
It's not just about bringing in new blood, but also working on the standard. A breed with a morphology close to the Sphynx's should be chosen, all the while keeping in mind the risk of introducing genetic diseases.
First and foremost, a crossbreeding program must consolidate the health or morphology of the breed, rather than bring in new colors or odd eyes. While those gimmicks may seem alluring, they hold no interest for the breed and making them a priority is a clear sign of having no interest in the welfare of our pets.
Throughout its short history, our little aliens haven't had the largest genetic pol, as the foundations for the breed could only be set by naked specimens stemming from natural mutations.
Breeders originally had to introduce breeds like the Cornish Rex and Devon Rex to enlarge the genetic pool. Today, the Sphynx is considered a full-fledged breed, and people realize that our flock isn't as perfect as we would like it to be, mainly because of HCM (Hypertrophic CardioMyopathy).
By crosschecking our databases on HCM, we can see that no lineaged is spared by the illness, although some are less exposed than others.
If we want to remedy this situation, and given that all Sphynx lineages are concerned by HCM - to various degrees - we have to look for other possibilities. One of them is to use crossbreeding. Again.

But with which breed?

These days, the CFA standard allows 2 types of crossbreeds:
  • Sphynx x Domestic Shorthair
  • Sphynx x American Shorthair
The TICA standard doesn't mention crossbreeding, but many TICA-registered breeders do it, most often with Domestic Shorthairs and American Shorthairs.
Crossbreeding with the American Shorthair can be interesting to work on their morphology. The American Shorthair is quite cobby, with a short nose, a clean stop and a large head, all qualities also sought after in the Sphynx.
Still, we ought to be careful. In the USA, some American Shorthairs have been diagnosed with PKD (Polycystic Kydney Disease, which can prove fatal), this illness having been introduced by... crossbreeding with the Persian cat in order to further the American Shorthair's morphology. Breeders with American Shorthair in their lineages are encouraged to have their breeding cats checked.
It's also possible to use a Domestic Shorthair with a morphology close to that of the Sphynx. We must keep in mind that crossbreeding should always better our Sphynx (or Lykoi)'s morphology, while not introducing new genetic diseases or health issues.
As such, it wouldn't make any sense to use, say, Oriental cats, whose phenotype is the very antithesis of the Sphynx, and that could introduce amyloidosis - a sickness some Oriental lineages are known to bear.
We cannot use another naked breed either. The Don Sphynx for example has a dominant gene mutation (whereas the Sphynx is recessive) and they don't look like a Sphynx at all.
Before acquiring a cat for crossbreeding, the first thing to do is careful read their pedigree, not to buy a pig in a poke. One shouldn't acquire any cat of Don Sphynx, Peterbald, Oriental or Persian lineage. And those are just the most obvious…

What about our Cattery?

We expressly chose to work with -very- select Domestic Shorthairs, for several reasons:
  • As previously explained, this is one of the two CFA-approved matings.
  • Domestic Shorthairs aren't particularly prone to PKD, unlike American Shorthairs.
  • The Sphynx is, in essence, a mutated Domestic Shorthair. It only makes sense to return to their roots.
We mainly chose to try our hand at crossbreeding to reinforce the breed's health, which has been put at risk by ill-thought crossbreeding. While the phenotype is important, we would much rather our cats live a long, healthy, happy life.
That doesn't mean we aren't very picky as to what Domestic Shorthairs we choose. We shouldn't betray the standards by using a cat that looks like a Persian or an Oriental. We simply choose health over looks, is all.

  • Kioto du Sphynx Heureux, F1 Sphynx.