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Peterbald   Flashy *Kahlua* Buggsey All the
Peterbald photographs on this page are by Helmi Flick
© Helmi Flick - please respect copyright. All except one photograph is a thumbnail leading to great large format photographs - enjoy. Kahlua the cat in the middle photograph is THE INTERNATIONAL CAT ASSOCIATION'S 2006 "1ST SUPREME GRAND CHAMPION - WORLDWIDE" BEST PETERBALD INTERNATIONALLY IN TICA 2006 - 2007. The Cattery is Klazeekats owned and managed by Gail Becher (see below). IntroductionThis is a recent and rare breed coming from St. Petersburg in Russia. St. Petersburg was formerly Leningrad until 1991 when communism collapsed. The city was first name St. Petersburg in 1703 after Saint Peter. The name of the breed must be an amalgam of St. Petersburg and bald (hairless or a small amount of hair).Origin The Peterbald
breed is the result of the hybridization of the Russian Don Hairless
(Don Sphynx, Donskoy) and Oriental Shorthair cats in 1994. The breeder
who mated
these cats either lived or worked in St.Petersburg at the time, hence
the name. The
mating resulted in four Peterbald cats. These four cats are
the
founding cats of this breed. This breed was apparently created to be a
different version of the Don Sphynx.The Don Shynx is a cat created as a result of a natural genetic mutation that made the cat hairless. There is no breeding connection between the Don Sphynx and the Sphynx (Canadian Sphynx) but as I understand it, in each case it is different alleles of the same gene that has mutated¹. If you cross a Peterbald with a Canadian Sphynx, kittens with fur result because the mutated gene is different in each parent cat. Mutations of genes affecting the hair of a cat have happened (and continue to happen) all the over the world and not just in Russia and Canada. There are numerous examples dating back to the early 1800s from countries such as Mexico, France, Australia,, England, Canada, USA, Morocco, the Czech Republic, Russia and Hawaii, Austria. Also Laperm cats are bald at birth and the Devon Rex's fragile hair occasionally leads to baldness. Character and Appearance The appearance of this cat is captured
in the fine photographs by Helmi
Flick on this page.Perhaps the first point to note is that hairless cats lose a lot of heat through their body as their is no natural barrier, other than the skin, to the loss of heat. This makes them warm to touch. It also means a loss of energy resulting in the need to increase intake of food as energy. The world energy in this instance is used in the scientific sense as opposed to the "running around" sense. In short the Peterbald is a good eater. The Peterbald is, it seems, a well balanced and nice cat. There is nothing exceptional to report on character, which is a good thing as normal cats are really nice companionable animals. Provided the cat that you adopt is well socialized, all will be well. Their skin feels like warm Chamoise leather. Peterbald cats look much like hairless Oriental Shorthair cats. Not all Peterbald cats are completely bald. Although, apparently, when they are bald they are balder than Canadian Shynx Cats. There is a range of coat types getting progressively more hairy:
Bald (ultra bald, hairless born) 100% hairless: A bald cat is born with wrinkled, soft, warm skin and without whiskers and eyebrows. They feel like warm rubber apparently and are therefore a little "sticky" to the touch. There is speculation (cat genetics generally is still being researched) that a completely bald cat is homozygous in respect of the mutated hairless gene². However, there is evidence that suggests otherwise. Flock (Chamois, Shammy) 90% hairless: short down-like hair and sparse. The feel of flock is smoother than the sticky or gummy hairless Peterbald. This category can be sub-divided into "usual flock" (as described) or "extra short flock" that is a one step up from totally bald. Velour 70% hairless: The hair is from 1 mm to about 3-5mm long. This fur is more easily seen than flock which is almost invisible at a short distance. You can feel some hair and the light reflects of it, which is not the case for flock length hair.  Brush: Curly wiry hairs and the longest hair length. Hair can be seen and felt. Whiskers are always curly. The cat opposite has a brush >>>>>>>>>> - this photo links to a very large photo - click on it and see... The hair varies in length. It is longer than 5mm in length. Cats born with a light brush can lose it over the first 2 years. A light brush is not velour apparently. Length of hair: this varies in length over the body. At the points (extremities) and tail the hair is longer. Sometimes there is hair loss over the first 2 years of the cat's life. You might have brush on the points and velour on the body, for example. Note: Although the hair lengths have been categorized, the spectrum of various lengths is continuous. Hairlessness is desirable for show purposes (TICA). The brush coat is accepted in all divisions. The Peterbald is an elegant, slender cat. Note: being hairless a Peterbald can get sunburned if allowed to go outside. Some catteries may insist that the cat is kept inside. Peterbald CareHere is a note on the care of this rare cat. A good breeder will recommend that you bathe your Peterbald regularly (but they need less bathing than a Canadian Sphynx, for example). Bathing is required more frequently than cats with hair. Their skin becomes dirty if not bathed. The bald variety needs more frequent bathing than a brush haired cat. Ideally bath every 2-8 weeks.Hypoallergenic?Allergy to cats is caused by the saliva deposited on the cat after grooming so is not strictly dependent on whether the cat has hair or not. However, it seems that bald cats groom themselves less often than haired cats and on this basis they may cause less of a reaction to people who are allergic to the protein in the dried saliva deposits, as there will be less of it.History
 Photograph ©
Helmi Flick - Click on this link to read more about the appearance of
this cat in reference to the breed standard.
These are the notes made in reference to the numbered items in the text above:- 1. Wikipedia says that it is the same gene. If so the following must be the scenario. Genes come in pairs. One gene of each pair is called an allele. In the case of the Canadian Sphynx the recessive allele mutated and for the Don Sphynx it was the dominant allele. Messybeast author Sarah Hartwell says that they are different genes that have mutated. 2. Every gene in a cat has two alleles at gene's locus (position on the chromosome). When a gene's two alleles are both dominant or both recessive, that specific gene is homozygous. If one allele is dominant and the other is recessive, the gene is heterozygous. (source: Pavel Kirillov) BreedersKlazeekats"Klazeekats is a CFA and TICA registered cattery, established in 1984. We are located 35 miles SW of Houston Texas." This is quoted from the website - great opener - no problems knowing where they are. Gail Bercher owns and runs the cattery and is the TICA Breed Chairperson. Start here if I were you. Shamira Cattery This is a new website replacing an earlier one hence no Google PageRank or Alexa Traffic Rank. These are nice intelligent well informed breeders of this cat, in my considered opinion and on the face of it. I would recommend it as a good start with Klazeekats above. I can't see where they are located however. Believed USA. Bemisu Cattery Believed located in Allen, Texas, United States although not immediately clear from theor website which is listed on first page of Google search. Atlantis Cats Don't where they are located as it's not clear from the website - probably USA. TICA registered. TICA Peterbald Cat Member Website Not a breeder but you may find this link useful. Breeders want to be listed here? - please tell me. Source:
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