I just approved some comments from a Janelle who has pointed out her distaste for the breed. She argues that because Sphynxes have no hair and therefore cannot live outside they should not continue as a breed, and that breeders are only breeding them for greed and money.
I have let the comments through even though I usually nuke troll-like comments with extreme prejudice because I can see why she is arguing this, but I do disagree.
Firstly the assumption that Sphynx cats are completely hairless* does seem to add to the confusion here. Canadian and Don Sphynx cats are not completely hairless**, in fact their closest analogue I think, are humans. Humans too were once heavily furred (see chimps and gorillas for examples of what we looked like a long time ago) and now have very short hair, the same as Sphynxes have very short hair. Both humans and Sphynxes have the same amount of hair follicles as their relatives…just much, much shorter hair where they have it. I am not saying the same evolutionary forces are involved that converted humans from shaggy pelts to smooth skin but should a Sphynx be born in a warm equitorial region there is no reason why it cannot survive outside. Just like humans did in the same sort of climate (who went for a million years naked*** before figuring out how to make clothing).
Then we have the fact that this “short haired” cat mutation pops up very regularly in nature. That is, they appear without any special breeding to ensure they are have short hair. While breeders do breed to makes sure the best chance for short-hairiness (it doesn’t always happen), if they stopped breeding today there would still be hairless cats popping up every now and then around the world from otherwise normal looking cats. If hairlessness was great for survival of the feline species then all cats would be hairless, but nature keeps trying in case conditions make it so (think global warming…maybe all cats will be hairless one day!)
Lastly I do agree that breeding animals willy nilly so that physical issues appear is wrong. Unfortunately breeders that breed for MONEY and not the love of the breed do this. All of those people that want a $100 Sphynx are contributing to that issue. If no one wanted a cheap Sphynx, unscrupulous breeders would be breeding something else to make their dirty money. Caring breeders who breed to the standard are trying to avoid physical deformities through careful selection of the parents, and out-crossing with experimental licenses to strengthen the breed.
So in conclusion, thanks for the comments Janelle and I hope that this will somewhat change your opinion of the breed and of reputable breeders. Feel free to continue your crusade against any kitten-mill type Sphynx breeder you find. We need more angry people pointing them out so less knowledgeable buyers are saved from making a terrible mistake.
* Hairlessness in this post actually mean’s “extremely short haired”…but that’s too much to type over and over so it will be intermingled with mentions of short haired
**The exception here is the REAL hairless cat the Kohana that has no hair follicles at all and does have other genetic issues because of this
*** Dr. Mark Stoneking of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany
During the webinar about Sphynx cat HCM, Dr Katie Meurs answered a question about whether a raw diet was of any help to HCM. Dr Meurs pointed out that diet does not have any effect on HCM but did mention her concerns about how a raw diet can introduce bacteria and other nasties if not handled properly. I agree whole heartedly and mention several times in my posts and my Sphynx cat book that you must be very mindful of food handling practices when creating raw food for your cat.
As a reminder I include the following points
Use meats fit for human consumption
Cats in the wild kill and eat their prey within minutes of each other. They do not store food, nor do they scavenge from carcasses. Unlike dogs, cats do not have the gut design and flora to break down spoiled foods; so eating anything that is not fresh will give your cat a nasty tummy or worse.
Buy your cats meat of the same quality and freshness that you would eat yourself.
Bacteria is your enemy
At all times when preparing food you should be avoiding introducing bacteria, or creating an environment where bacteria can grow. This means ensuring that you wash your hands and wear gloves (use powderless food preparation type) so no bacteria you have picked up enters the food. The same for ensuring cutting boards, knives and storage containers are thoroughly cleaned after each use. Also be aware that any used kitchen clothes or dish towels contain bacteria and should not be used on clean utensils.
Keep your cool
As bacteria grows in warm conditions you should be looking at keeping everything as cool as possible during the preparation of a raw diet.
Make sure where you are preparing is cool
Bring food out of the fridge only when it is is being cut or going into the grinder
after cutting into suitable sized pieces put it into the fridge to cool before going into the grinder
after grinding put the meat back into the fridge to cool before bagging up
don’t handle the meat too much while bagging. Using a large spoon to ladle into bags will reduce the heat you transfer from your hands to the meat
Friction causes heat, and bacteria loves heat
In the last bullet point there was a lot of moving the meat back to the fridge, but why?
Your refrigerator should be set at a maximum of 3 degrees centigrade. Even at that temperature bacteria can still grow, but much more slowly that room temperature. Your freezer is cold enough to stop bacteria growing but it is impractical to put frozen food through your domestic grinder. If you did though you would notice that the meat would come out thawing quicker than if you left it on a kitchen bench. Why?
Grinding (or cutting) creates heat from the friction of the blade against the meat. I was watching world class chef Heston Blumenthal make sausages on a TV program and he showed that meat coming out of a grinder can increase in temperature to 10 degrees centigrade which is why there are food poisoning outbreaks affecting hamburger mince, sausages and pies made with minced meat. We need to make sure that if we are using a grinder we get the meat back down to under 3 degrees as soon as possible or we are growing a whole garden of bacteria that can cause serious illness for your cat..or indeed you!
Freeze once and only once
As mentioned above, your fridge does not halt the growth of bacteria, so if you are re-freezing and thawing your meat then you are growing large loads of bacteria with each thawing. You are creating a sickness time bomb that can go off at any time. Always buy fresh and only freeze once.
If you follow these simple steps then you will have very little chance of causing any bacterial issues and have a happy and healthy Sphynx cat!
In the last couple of weeks Sphynx cats Lucy and Luna and my partner and I moved house. The house is somewhat familiar to them as we have been coming up here for the last two years on holidays and now it is our permanent domicile. Sphynx cat Pierre stayed with his “mum” my daughter back at our old house. Even though the cats are familiar with this house we did strike a problem which is worth looking out for next time you move.
We had been moved in 5 or so days and Lucy and Luna had settled in well. Luna has been coming her for a year longer than Lucy and loves being here. Lucy has only been here a couple of times in her 1 year of life and also has enjoyed her visits, running around doing kittenish things like attacking the lounge and “hunting” wallabies. In the first 5 days Lucy was happy to do all of those things again. Even so, what could not be seen was the change in stress levels from being out of her normal environment.
Firstly her herpes flared up and her eyes became very red and sore (conjunctivitis) but as her appetite was good and there was no coughing or sneezing we kept an eye on it (no pun intended) and planned to get some drops should it continue into the new week. The weather was very hot for a week and it was hard to tell if she had a temperature , but again eating and drinking were fine so we just monitored.
Then came Thursday afternoon when I was on my computer and Lucy was asleep on her sheepskin (very important to bring things familiar to your Sphynx to the new home) which I had put on the printer beside me on the desk. Also on the printer was my laptop which had a USB stick in the side with a lanyard attached so I don’t lose it (see picture)
I noticed that Lucy was cramped next to the laptop so I slid it towards me with the intention of putting it under the desk. At that moment Lucy, hearing the sliding sound that went something like “ssssssssssssss” woke up. She saw the lanyard moving along the sheepskin and all of her ancient instincts kicked in. She jumped at least a metre in the air and fled the room.
Naturally I followed her and gave her big cuddles telling her not to be so silly that it was nothing to worry about. I tried to carry her back into the room and she resisted going, something she never does apart from going near a running shower or vacuum cleaner that’s turned on. I put her on the ground and let her go off for a sleep elsewhere. It was after that she started to really act in a bizarre manner.
Firstly she wouldn’t cross any doorway without leaping in the air. Then any cable she spotted, electrical cable computer cable and the like was to be approached like it was alive and dangerous. She would reach out a paw from the furthest she could reach and tentatively pat it to make sure it was not dangerous. Lastly any sound that was vaguely “ssssssss” like would have her bolting from the room. Instead of getting over her fright, she actually got worse, and everything seemed to frighten her. I was concerned she was losing her eyesight because of her increasing anxiety. The vet wasn’t open till Monday and I made an appointment, I rang the nearest emergency vet (2 hours drive away) and talked to them about it. Being “country” vets they didn’t seem overly concerned and said to monitor..which I did, obsessively.
Most of the next 3 days had her sitting in the middle of the floor in a small unhappy ball, being super vigilant for anything that was threatening. Nothing we could do would seem to alleviate her fears.
Come Saturday afternoon she threw up, a long snake of a vomit that looked to be all the food she had ingested that day. It’s the first time that she has even vomited and this added to my worry that she was very sick. The weather was still very hot and I chose to give her a cooling (not cool or hot water, but tepid) bath to see if her symptoms were because she had an elevated temperature. Amazingly, after the bath she became more responsive and less fearful.
I took her outside to play in the cooler night air (when I say cool it was still about 30c) and she became more curious and looked for flying insects to try to catch. She has continued to improve and the vet appointment I booked for Monday afternoon was cancelled as she was almost back to normal.
I suspect she was feeling unwell from the stress of the move and combined with her natural anxiety for a new place ended up with her freaking out. Make sure you are super vigilant when you move house for any kind of weird behaviour from your Sphynx that could signal something similar.
Usually people are looking for how to keep their Sphynx cat clean. But what if yours is like our Luna and loves to roll in warm sand?
It’s dusk when we take her out so no sunburn issues, and she always stays close by (unlike naughty Sphynx kitten Lucy who loves to run into the bush) so we can’t resist when she “asks” to roll in the warm sand. She absolutely loves it… and then it is shower time because no sandy kitty is getting into bed with us!
Phew what a mouthful that title is, but I have to talk to you about the addition to the Sphynx Cat raw diet that I have recently made. Firstly my guys aren’t particularly finicky eaters. I would hazard a guess and say that most Sphynx owners are aware of the ravenous chowing down that Sphynxes get into when they are hungry. As owners we have to be careful that food intake doesn’t get out of hand and we end up with overweight Sphynxes. It is quite possible that a Sphynx can become overweight from a fresh raw diet so be careful, Luna has packed on a kilo since us going raw and we are “rationing” her. Even so, there may come times when your Sphynx will start to turn their nose up at food that they have been eating for a long time, so changing food type at least once a week, or for a week, can keep your crew happy.
Remember that we are trying to emulate as closely as possible the diet of a cat in the wild which would be eating whole small rodents, reptiles and birds when we create a raw diet. Feeding single food items like raw chicken breast for a long period of time is not sufficient to maintain a healthy balance, but as a supplement is fine. Which brings me to beef hearts.
Beef hearts are high in taurines. Taurine is an essential nutrient for cats that they cannot create themselves (unlike dogs). All diets for cats must include meat that includes taurine, or a taurine supplement.Animal muscle meat contains taurine and heart muscle is particularly high in it, that is why in the Sphynx cat raw diet recipe chicken hearts make up a good percentage of the mix. Taurine deficiency will lead to degeneration of the retina and irreversible blindness within 2 years as well and/or heart issues such as feline dilated cardiomyopathy which can be reversed with a change to the diet.
One of the things about a ground raw diet is that your cat will lose the desire to chew on bones and lose jaw muscle tone because “mince” is not really chewable. Because the raw diet recipe I use is mostly chicken, giving my three a chicken wing or two to eat can be an exercise in futility, so I looked around for an alternative and tried them on beef hearts.
Beef hearts are large, bigger than the size of your hand and should be available from your butcher, or supermarket. In Australia I pay $5 a kg (2.2lbs) from a local supermarket that vacuum packs them, which is on the steep side price-wise and I am sure you can get them cheaper where you are. They have had the vein and artery materials removed and look like slabs of dark red meat with a marbling of fat on the outside.
Beef heart has a bit of a bad reputation in places on the internet because of the myths that it contains “worms”. You will find websites telling you to avoid hearts but giving no real reason, and there is certainly no scientific evidence that I can find that would lead me to worry about feeding it to my guys. It’s not to be used as the sole meat in a diet, but no one meat should be either…which goes back to the emulating of a wild diet which must have muscle, bone and innards.
I use a heavy sharp cleaver to cut into long strips so that my three Sphynxes have to do side-to-side chewing to swallow them. I leave the fat on the outside to add to the energy input. DO NOT cook or heat the heart as taurine is broken down by heat and will be lost.
I have to say that my cats absolutely love this meat. Pierre appears to have enormous amounts of “extra” energy after eating heart and seems to spend the whole day finding things to play with as well as running around and yelling to everyone about how good he feels.
I heartily (pun intended ) recommend adding heart to your cat’s diet whether it eats raw or not.
Sphynx cats Luna, Pierre and Lucy go om-nom-nom on beef hearts
) recommend adding heart to your cat’s diet whether it eats raw or not.
Sphynx People Say…