Archive | May, 2009
Sphynx Cat Luna has a funny trait. Well actually she has a couple of funny traits, but on of them is she never learned how to jump.
It all started when Luna was delivered to our house. She was small and cute, yet very very ill. We are still not sure if she was having a reaction to her immunisation shots she had that day, or whether she had picked up cat flu from the breeder or her friend who delivered her. Still it meant that within 48 hours Luna was in feline intensive care and we almost lost her.
When she had recovered enough to come home it was like we had a completely different kitten to the one we first met. She was bright, bubbly, hungry and grooming herself. Being the first hairless cat child in the house, she also was terribly spoiled. So spoiled that she hardly ever was on the ground if there was a human about.
She’s an incredibly smart girl and realised that all this carrying around meant she only had to put her arms out and she would be placed on the high point she wanted to get to. Her favourite place was the top of the computer monitors and she would con her skin person owner into putting her there while he played computer games and other fun stuff.
The months went by and we noticed that Luna preferred not to jump anywhere if she could help it. Long distance jumps were out of the question, and shorter ones were undertaken after minutes of study, with false starts and wiggling. If she wanted to get up high, she would reach up the nearest skin person’s leg and ask for a pick-up. Just like a toddler.
She is not very co-ordinated at all come to think about it.
Compare that to Sphynx Kitten Pierre who should be a circus acrobat. From the minute we opened his carry cage from the trip from the airport he was leaping nimbly from lounge to lounge, going to places that Luna would never have even thought of trying to get. He delights in climbing, and luckily this house does not have curtains, but I have the horrible feeling where we are moving to does! Amazing what a couple of weeks difference makes in developement.
I think we can all agree that Sphynx Cats and Sphynx Kittens are verrrrry different to the average feline. The following pst is made in light-hearted humour so no hissing if you are an average cat owner.
1. Sphynx Cats give more love. Sure that “love” might just be us humans anthropomorphizing our hairless cat’s need for heat, as affection. Whatever it is, we get more kisses, hugs, lap sits, hair snuggles, face rubs, hiding up shirts than the owners of hairy cats.
2. You can rub a Sphynx Cat backwards and forwards and they still will love you. Those hairy cats hate you rubbing their fur the wrong way, but when you have no fur that is not an issue. Rubbing tail to snout, or up and down is much appreciated by Sphynx cats. The more, the better.
3. There is no attack button in Sphynxes. While Sphynxes do get the cat crazies every now and then, they aren’t going to go medieval on your face. They are smart enough to know that would lead to no more affection (heat). Everyone knows that furred cats are always plotting the demise of the human race and should not be trusted…ever.
4. Sphynx Cats are always there to help. No matter what it is you are doing, your Sphynx will want to lend a paw. Washing vegetables, cleaning the shower, folding warm clothes out of the dryer, they are there and looking to join in. Some Sphynxes refuse to do vacuuming, this is a choice thing, not because the noise frightens them.
5. Sphynx cats are smart(er than hair cats). Yes Sphynxes can fetch ball, open doors, intuitively know when you are going shopping. But did you also know they can do your taxes? Also when they are sitting on that book you are trying to read, they are absorbing the words through their skin. Haired cats are illiterate because the hair gets in the way.
Yes this IS comfortable (note the paw prints on the screens for helping with the cursor)
Got any other (funny) ways Sphynxes are different to haired cats?
You probably found this post by searching for Sphynx Cat Clothes and that is great because I want YOUR opinion on that subject. I have created an online 6 question survey that should take no more than 2 minutes and requires no signing up to participate (don’t you hate those surveys that make you do that!?).
I would REALLY appreciate if you could fill the survey out, and if you want some incentive, you can leave a note in the comments that you did and you will go into the draw to win a copy of an ebook I am releasing next month…on…wait for it…Sphynx Cat Ownership and Care.
see more Lolcats and funny pictures
Somewhere along the line people get strange ideas about Sphynx Cats and their temprements. I recently saw a Tweet from a person asserting something I had seen or read somewhere in the past. They said “Sphynx Cats don’t do well in loud boistrous households”. Total myth.
Do I look scared to you? (Luna extreme closeup)
Our house swings between dead silence apart from computers and fish tank, to loud music, teenagers and action movies and games. Our two Sphynxes don’t care one little bit, as long as it is warm, they are happy.
Now there is a definite difference in personalities between Luna and Pierre. Luna has always been fearless. She is the one to run outside, if the front door is open, and actively seek a sunny spot. Pierre, while totally into the crazy kitten stage, is more cautious when something new is presented.
There may be some Sphynxes who have a nervy personality that may be disturbed in an active household. They would be in the minority though, the breed is known for its inquisitiveness and activeness and not fear of loud noises.
It is possible that this myth has come about as a result of the Sphynx “shiver” which could be misconstrued as fear. Shynxes shiver for the same reason humans shiver, to generate heat. We will look at that in another post.
Sphynx People Say…