Grooming

The Sphynx breed is not a breed that is free of grooming and care obligations-hairfree does not mean carefree! Sphynx require a bath on a regular basis and each cats and kittens skin type and frequency of bath needed differ. Most of our cats here only need a bath about every three weeks when they are not being shown and we recommend the use of a gentle face or body wash, such as Dove Nutrium, for bathing your sphynx. One of the mistakes that is commonly made is bathing sphynx TOO often or with a cleaner that is too harsh or has improper pH for skin care. This causes your cat to get dirtier faster, and makes them more likely to develop skin problems after a while. Nails and ears should be cleaned weekly, and nails should be trimmed weekly or every other week. We recommend an ear cleaner called Cerulytic and this can also be put on a cotton pad and used on the nails as well to help break up the waxy buildup that can occur. It is VERY important that you clean not only the nails, but around in the fleshy parts of the toes around the nails and between the pads. If you don't, wax can build up there and cause abcesses or other problems.

Feeding

We recommend a few different brands of food, and I find that Proplan is available for most people, and our cats love it. Some Sphynx, just as other cats, do have special diet requirements, and if your breeder recommends a certain food it is usually because they have had good results with it, and it is often best to stick with what your cat/kitten is used to. We free feed - dry food is available at all times for both adults and kittens. We also feed canned and raw. If you are interested in raw feeding, please be aware that it is a substantial commitment to do correctly and should only be undertaken by those that are willing to do it properly. If you are interested in raw feeding, please mail me for information and links. I will say that raw feeding has given us wonderful results - both in and out of the show ring!

HCM

Please visit Mystras Page

HCM means Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. This is a heart disease that has been shown to be in all breeds of cats and , in that respect, sphynx are no different than other cats. HCM has been shown to be a genetic illness that is caused by a dominate gene with variable expression. That means that only one parent has to have the gene to pass on this problem, and that cats with the gene may or may not test positive with the current methods available. The best current testing method available for HCM in sphynx and most breeds is by ultrasound with color flow doppler by a cardiologist--this allows the best visualization of the heart as well as the flow of the blood. This is often refered to as "scanning" by breeders and vets. The condition of the heart can change over a period of time, so this is not a "forever test." It is important that breeders test their breeding cats, and due to this testing MANY cats with HCM in all breeds have been elminated from reproducing. Do not make the mistake of assumeing that only purebred cats can develop HCM--it is most often diagnosed in mixed breed cats. It is best to get a cat from a breeder that scans all breeding cats annually. We scan all whole cats here at Suedekitty yearly, and recommend that other breeders do as well. Efforts are underway to develop a genetic test for HCM in Sphynx. For more information on this, please click here.

Early Spay and Neuter

All pet kittens are spayed and neutered prior to leaving Suedekitty. We have had no problems with early alters and find that the cats recover from surgery much quicker under our care and when the surgery is done by our vet whom knows the breed and our cats. We do not place cats until they are altered, vaccinated and wormed. This is in your best interest as well as the cats.