History of the Peterbald

In 1988 Irena Kovalyova rescued a cat that appeared to have some type of disease. The cat was losing its hair. No matter how much she was treated with anti-fungal medications, she continued to lose her hair. It was soon very obvious that this cat was meant to be hairless and was not ill at all. Varya was soon to become the foundation cat of a new wonderful breed. The first thought, of course, was that this mutation was the same gene that caused the hairlessness in the Sphynx. For that reason, you will see the name “Don Sphynx” used in some descriptions. That proved to be untrue and it was soon discovered that these were two totally different breeds. The Sphynx gene is a recessive gene. After breeding the “Don Sphynx” the gene was found to be dominant. The difference in these types of genes means the following: · If you breed a Sphynx to a normal coated cat, you will get normal coated cats in the first generation. · If you breed a cat with a dominant gene for hairlessness, you will get hairless kittens in the first generation. Varya went on to be the foundation cat for two wonderful, but different breeds. Some of Varya’s kittens were bred to European and Domestic Shorthairs. This produced a very stocky built cat. This breed became known as the “Don Hairless”. In 1993 a very oriental looking brown mackerel tabby Don Hairless male, Afinguen Myth, was mated to a tortie Oriental female, Radma Von Jagerhof. These oriental type hairless cats were called Peterbalds. They were unpopular in Moscow, but became very popular among St. Petersburg breeders. In January of 1994, this new more refined look of the Don Hairless became known as the Peterbald. Breeders from the United States have increasingly become very interested in the Peterbald. Several were shipped over from Russia to be used in breeding for this wonderful new breed, including Magnolia Cattery’s own Fanya. As of October 2008, Fanya is still just as strong as ever and still living with me here at Magnoliachat There are still allowable outcrosses to the Oriental Shorthair and the Siamese allowed in the breeding of the Peterbald. This is to increase the gene pool and keep the intended look of the breed. TICA has accepted registration of the Peterbald few years back and, after many years of us working so hard, the Peterbald is now accepted for full championship.