Main page Don sphynx
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History and Origin

The Don Sphynx is a Russian breed of hairless cats. These cats have very much in common with Sphynx cats originating in Canada, but their gene pool is different. The first hairless cat, which became the primogenitor of all Don Sphynxs, was found in Rostov-na-Donu, Russia in 1987. Don is one of Russian major rivers, which gave the name to Rostov-na-Donu city and later to its native cat breed.
When a Russian breeder Elena Kovaleva brought home homeless bald female cat she decide that it was sick and tried to cure it from the supposed disease that caused loss of hair. But it was discovered soon that the absence of hair was not the result of disease but a natural mutation. The cat was named Varvara and later gave birth to hairless kittens. They and other aboriginal cats became a base of the new breed which was named Don Sphynx. The other name of the breed is Russian hairless. The breed was recognized by WCF in 1997.

 

Temperament and Personality

Don Sphynxs are highly intelligent and loyal to the owner. They say about Sphynxs, "They are not humans beings yet but they are not already cats." They are smart, waggish, very lively and behave themselves rather like children not like cats.

Size and Appearance

The Don Sphynx has a muscular medium sized body. The Don Sphynx differs from Canadian Sphynx by heavier bones. All colour are allowed by the breed standard. The eyes are almond-shaped. The ears are big. The Don Sphynx's paws are of distinctive shape. They have elongated fingers with webs and are able to seize things with fingers.

 

The Donskoy (also known as Don Sphynx or Don Hairless) is a hairless cat breed of Russian origin. This breed started in 1987 with the discovery of a hairless cat in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don by cat breeder Elena Kovaleva. [1] It is not related to the better known hairless breed of cat the Sphynx and its characteristic hairlessness is caused by a recessive gene , whereas the hairlessness of the Don Sphynx is caused by a dominant gene.
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> The Donskoy was first officially recognised by WCF in 1997, TICA in 2005. The standard of points describes the cat as being medium sized and muscular, with large ears, almond shaped eyes and distinctive long, webbed toes. They require frequent grooming, in spite of their lack of coat. Over-bathing can cause the skin to become very oily.