Wikipedia: Sphynx (Canadian Hairless)

This article is from Wikipedia.com

The Sphynx (aka Canadian Hairless) is a rare breed of cat. The Sphynx appears to be a hairless cat, although it is not truly hairless. The skin should have the texture of chamois. It may be covered with very soft, fine down, which is almost imperceptible to both the eye and touch. On the ears, muzzle, tail, and feet, a short, soft, fine hair is allowed. Lack of coat makes the cat quite warm to the touch. Whiskers and eyebrows may be present, either whole or broken, or may be totally absent. Their skin is the color their fur would be, and all the usual cat marking patterns (solid, point, van, tabby, tortie, etc) may be found in Sphynx too. People are surprised by how different their personalities are. Many describe them as part monkey, pig and human because of how intelligent, extroverted and affectionate they are.

Many people with typical allergies to furry cats find that they tolerate the Sphynx breed. This may be due to the fact that the proteins in cat saliva are often the culprit. Because Sphynx lack hair and do not leave it behind, many have fewer difficulties living in harmony with the breed. There is no guarantee, however, and allergies vary greatly between individual people.

Sphynx cats are not maintenance-free. Their lack of hair results in increased body oils. Regular bathing is often necessary. Care should be taken to limit the Sphynx cat's exposure to outdoor sunlight at length, as they can develop a sunburn, similar to that of human exposure. In general, Sphynx cats should never be allowed outdoors unattended, as they have limited means to conserve body heat in colder temperatures, and their curious nature can take them into dangerous places or situations.

The Sphynx breed is known for a sturdy, heavy body (many cats of this breed also develop a pot belly), a wedge-shaped head, and an alert, friendly temperament. Although hairless cats have been reported throughout history (hairless cats seem to appear naturally about every 15 years or so), and breeders in Canada have been working on the Sphynx breed since the early 1960s, the current American and European Sphynx breed is descended from two lines of natural mutations:

Dermis and Epidermis (1975) from the Pearsons of Wadena, MN, USA and
Bambi, Punkie, and Paloma (1978) found in Toronto, ON, Canada and raised by Shirley Smith.

Other hairless breeds might have different body shapes or temperaments than those described above. There are, for example, new hairless breeds, including the Don Sphynx and the Peterbald from Russia, which arose from their own spontaneous mutations. The standard for the Sphynx differs between cat associations such as TICA, FIFE and CFA.

It has been theorized that Sphynx hairlessness might be produced by an allele of the same gene that produces the Devon Rex (re), with the Sphynx allele being incompletely dominant over the Devon allele and both recessive to the wild type. However a different genetic symbol (hr) is given to the Sphynx gene and it is more likely that these are different genes interacting with each other. Sphynx were at one time crossbred with Devon Rex, but unfortunately this led to the introduction of some genetic diseases and is now forbidden in most breed standards associations. Hereditary spasticity and Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (a genetic heart defect) were introduced by the Devon Rex breed. The only allowable outcross breeds in the CFA are now the American Shorthair and Domestic Shorthair. Other associations may vary and the Russian Blue is a permitted outcross in the GCCF. In Europe mainly Devon Rex has been used for outcrosses.

In 1999 SGC Apophis Nordstrom of Classical Cats won the TICA International Alter of the Year. In 2006 SGC Classical Cats Valentino won the TICA International Cat of the year. In the Cat Fancier's Association, GC, RW, NW Majikmoon Will Silver With Age was Cat of the Year for 2006. The following year, GC, RW, NW Enchantedlair NWA Cornflake Girl was Kitten of the Year. These awards are handed out for the highest scoring cats, across all breeds.

Mr. Bigglesworth, appears in the Austin Powers movies as Dr. Evil's cat.

In the Friends episode 'The One with the Ball', Rachel Green buys a Sphynx cat named Mrs. Whiskerson ("What am I gonna call her, Fluffy?") due to her grandmother owning one Rachel was very fond of when she was a little girl and hence she's always wanted one. Both Ross ("Why is it inside-out?") and Joey ("It's not a cat!") think it's hideous.

Mr. Bigglesworth

Mr. Bigglesworth is a fictional cat belonging to Dr. Evil. He was originally similar to Blofeld's cat, a typical white Persian cat from the James Bond movie series.

He was forced to escape hastily with Dr. Evil in a cryogenic capsule, but lost all of his fur owing to an error in the unfreezing process. Because of this, Dr. Evil explained that he was "very angry, and when I'm angry, Mr. Bigglesworth gets upset. And when Mr. Bigglesworth gets upset, people DIE!" Mustafa eventually was killed because of his error.

Mr. Bigglesworth has since that time been bald, played by a Sphynx cat. Dr Evil's miniature clone, Mini-Me, has a tiny cat called "Mini Mr. Bigglesworth", presumably also a clone of Mr. Bigglesworth. One of Doctor Evil's lines in the movie to Mini Me is "No Mini Me, we don't gnaw on our kitty." However, in the third installment of the franchise, Austin Powers in Goldmember, Mr. Bigglesworth is not seen once in the entire length of the film, except for promotional shots, the school flashback to when he still had hair, and in the film within the film, Austinpussy. He was, however, in a deleted scene in which Dr. Evil describes what it's like to hold a cat.