A hairless cat from Canada with skin like soft suede, huge ears and an affectionate, chatty nature.
The Sphynx looks bald, but feels like a soft peach. The breed began in 1966 in Canada with one hairless kitten and was later bred on in the Netherlands too. It is a real cuddler and a chatterbox, and always looks for the warmest spot: your lap, under the duvet or in a ray of sun. Good to know: since 2026 you may not take on a new Sphynx in the Netherlands, because a cat without fur and whiskers has a hard time. Cats that were already there may stay.
Very affectionate. It always wants to be close to its people.
A true lap cat that seeks your warmth and likes to sleep with you under the duvet.
Often a playful clown. Some even learn to fetch.
Very lively: it jumps, climbs and likes to sit up high.
Chats along with you all day, but usually not very loudly.
Clever and quick to learn tricks. Some even walk on a harness.
Not shy at all. It often greets visitors at the door.
Good with children who are gentle with its bare skin.
Usually gets on with a friendly dog, if they get to know each other slowly.
Loves the company of other cats, ideally another Sphynx.
Does not like being alone. Better with someone often at home, or with a second cat.
Made for indoor life: without fur it needs shelter from sun and cold.
A Sphynx is hypoallergenic.
No. What people are allergic to is in saliva and skin, not in fur. Many people with a cat allergy react to a Sphynx just as they do to other cats.
A Sphynx is completely bald.
Usually not. Most have a very fine down, like the skin of a peach, and some short hair on the nose, ears, feet or tail tip.
The Sphynx is an ancient Egyptian cat.
No. The breed began in 1966 in Canada. The name only refers to the Egyptian sphinx statue, which it looks like.
Now and then an ordinary cat has a kitten without hair, because of a small change in a gene. That gene is recessive: a kitten is only hairless when both parents pass it on. Breeders crossed the first hairless cats with the Devon Rex and other cats, so the breed grew large and healthy enough.
In Ontario, Canada, a black-and-white house cat has a hairless male kitten. He is called Prune.
On a farm in Minnesota (USA) a hairless kitten called Epidermis is born. Her sister Dermis follows a year later.
Breeder Shirley Smith finds three hairless kittens on the streets of Toronto.
Two of those kittens go to Dr Hugo Hernandez in the Netherlands. He pairs them with a Devon Rex: the start of the European Sphynx.
British fans start a Sphynx club, after Britain's registry GCCF first turned the breed down.
America's CFA accepts the Sphynx for registration.
The European federation FIFe and America's CFA fully recognise the Sphynx.
Scientists find the gene behind the hairlessness: a change in the keratin gene KRT71, which helps hairs grow firmly.
The Netherlands bans keeping hairless cats such as the Sphynx. Cats chipped before 1 January may stay.
Medium-sized, muscular and surprisingly heavy for its size, with a round belly as if it has just eaten. Its colour is in its skin.
A Sphynx with a normal coat. The hairless gene is recessive, so litters with a coated parent also have kittens with fur. It is not a separate breed.
Recognition: America's CFA registers them for breeding, but they are not shown.
Cat registries write colours as an EMS code. The letter is the colour (n black, a blue, d red, f tortie), s means silver or smoke, y golden, and the numbers tell you about white (01–09), shading (11, 12), the tabby pattern (22–25) or colourpoint (33).
Black(n)
Blue(a)
Black tortie(f)
Black and white(n 03)
Seal point(n 33)
Seal mink(n 32)FIFe registers every tabby as 21, without naming the pattern. CFA does name the patterns, but says they fade on the bare skin.
Not in FIFe's colour table, although the standard says all colours are allowed. Other registries accept it.
A Sphynx may come in any colour. Only FIFe rules out a few colours for all its breeds: amber is only for the Norwegian Forest Cat there, and FIFe recognises caramel and apricot in no breed at all.
The first hairless kitten of 1966 was named Prune because of his wrinkled skin.
Two of the first Sphynx cats from Minnesota were called Epidermis and Dermis, after layers of the skin.
That is how tall a Sphynx's huge ears can grow.
A Sphynx feels warm like a hot-water bottle, because heat leaves its bare skin directly. Its temperature is quite normal.
A Sphynx's colour is in its skin, and just like ours, it gets darker in the sun.
No study has measured how long a Sphynx lives. Breed profiles most often say 12 to 15 years, some less. Take it as a rough guide.
The heart muscle thickens, so the heart pumps less well. In a French study about 1 in 5 Sphynx cats screened had it, often while still young. Many cats show nothing for years, and medicines help. There is no DNA test for it yet.
How it is found: A heart scan by a specialist, usually every year for breeding cats.
A heart valve is formed wrongly from birth, so blood can leak back. In the same French study about 1 in 8 Sphynx cats had it.
How it is found: It shows on the same heart scan as HCM.
Between 3 and 23 weeks the kitten's muscles grow weak: it tires quickly, lets its head hang and swallows with difficulty. At about 9 months it usually stops getting worse. It is rare, and a kitten only gets it when both parents are carriers.
How it is found: DNA test of the parents. Two carriers are not mated with each other.
Without fur, skin oil stays on the skin, in folds, ears and under the claws. Yeast grows there easily. In a small Swedish study 4 in 5 Sphynx cats had yeast on their skin. It is mostly a matter of care.
How it is found: No test: regular baths and cleaning of the folds, ears and claw beds.
No fur, but still work. The skin gets oily, so it needs regular baths, from weekly to monthly. Clean the ears every week, wipe the eyes and clean the claw beds and teeth.
It loses heat quickly. Keep the home warm, give it cosy spots and a jumper in winter if needed. Keep it out of strong sun: its skin burns, and a lot of sun raises the risk of skin cancer.
Give it scratching posts, places to climb and a play session together every day.
Staying warm gives it a big appetite, so it easily gets too heavy. Give two to three measured meals a day.
A Sphynx is not hypoallergenic. What you are allergic to comes from saliva and skin. Some people react a little less, and just after a bath it helps for a while, but do not count on it.
Checked on 20 October 2026
Since 1 January 2026 you may not take on, breed or show a Sphynx or any other hairless cat in the Netherlands. A cat that was chipped before that date may stay with you for life or go to a new home. You must then be able to show the chip date in writing, for example with the chip database record or a note from the vet.
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