Special Needs
Keeping Sphynxes causes no special needs, however, some peculiarities of this breed should be taken into consideration. Their energy metabolism is very high therefore the body temperature is 0.5-1 degree higher than that of ordinary cats. Seeking to maintain it, the Sphynx must eat a lot to produce the warmth the hair is normally providing. In order to produce that extra energy to heat and held the higher body temperature they practically eat almost everything. The food should contain vitamins and minerals; it is important to provide them excess to the food and fresh water all the time in oreder to cover the need to produce its own body warmth. If offering quality food, they eat little but often; they do not tend to overfeed.
All hairless cats require more frequent bathing than normal coated cats. The typical Sphynx will need to be bathed most often at least once a week. The Peterbald is generally less oily than the Sphynx, and therefore doesn't need to be bathed as often; maybe every two to eight weeks, depending on your cat's coat typ. All hairless cats also need to have their ears cleaned regularly, as they have a tendency to develop an oily buildup.
Breed History
Peterbald breed was founded in the end of 1995 as a result of experimental mating of Don Sphynx male called GICH Afinogen-Myth and WCH Oriental female Radma von Jaegerhof. Afinogen–Myth was chosen as the male parent because it was of a somewhat lighter type of build than it is common to the Don Sphinxes, had long extremities and a long tail. Though its head did not distinguish itself for a particular length, its cheekbones were flat, and the profile was smoothed. There was no clear passage from the bridge of the nose towards the part of the scull. In its turn, its partner was an excellent expression of the oriental subtlety.
 |
 |
| GICH Afinogen-Myth |
WCH Radma von Jaegerhof |
The breed was created by a well known Russian felinologist Olga S. Mironova. First two litters gave four peterbald kittens: Mandarin iz Murino, Muscat iz Murino, Nezhenka iz Murino and Nocturne iz Murino. All the kittens of the first generation were not only hairless but they were also of a clearly expressed oriental type. It was the structure of the coat characteristic of the cats of the Oriental group that determined a better structure of hairlessness in the Peterbalds, which, contrary to the Don Sphinxes, can produce “well undressed” hybrids of the first generation. These four Peterbalds were the founders of the breed.
Mandarin iz Murino |
Muscat iz Murino |
Nezhenka iz Murino |
Nocturn iz Murino |
In 1996 breed was adopted in Russian Selectional Feline Federation with a standard and an abbreviation PBD. In 1997 it was adopted in The International Cat Association (TICA) (PD), and in 2003 in World Cat Federation (WCF).
Used handles of the breed are: PBD, PTB, PD and PSX.
Associations: The Peterbald is accepted for championship status in its native Russia. They are accepted in WCF, TICA and from 2011 in FIFE.
The Peterbald was accepted for Championship class competition, effective May 1, 2009, in the American Cat Fanciers Association (ACFA) in August 2008. Effective May 2008, TICA recognizes the "brush coat" Peterbald for Championship competition.
Permissible outcrosses - see the
TICA breed standard
FIFE Breed Standard
WCF Breed Standard
Inbreeding and the Necessity of Outcrossing
To produce cats which closely meet the breed standard, breeders commonly mate together animals which are related and which share desirable characteristics. Over time, sometimes only one or two generations, those characteristics will become homozygous (genetically uniform) and all offspring of the inbred animal will inherit the genes for those characteristics (breed true). Breeders can predict how the offspring will look.
Most cat breeders are well aware of potential pitfalls associated with inbreeding although it is tempting for a novice to continue to use one or two closely related lines in order to preserve or improve type. Breeding to an unrelated line of the same breed (where possible) or outcrossing to another breed (where permissible) can ensure vigour. Despite the risk of importing a few undesirable traits which may take a while to breed out, outcrossing can prevent a breed from stagnating by introducing fresh genes into the gene pool. It is important to outcross to a variety of different cats, considered to be genetically "sound" and preferably not closely related to each other.
How can you tell if a breed or line is becoming too closely inbred? One sign is that of reduced fertility in either males or females. Failure to conceive, small litter sizes and high kitten mortality on a regular basis indicates, that the cats may be becoming too closely related. The loss of a large proportion of cats to one disease indicates that the cats are losing/have (see for example - tasmanian devil >>> follow this link) lost immune system diversity (see also http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3jy3mzrEe4)If 50% of individuals in a breeding program die of a simple infection, there is cause for concern.
One formula to reduce inbreeding and slow down the loss of vigour is to line-breed for 2-3 generation and then out-cross to an unrelated line (or occasionally another breed) to get back hybrid vigour and genetic diversity. However with the emphasis on breeding for type and competitiveness on the showbench, the typey studs get used more and more often and there is less and less chance of finding a truly unrelated line.
|
PROS |
CONS |
INBREEDING
(Mating of closely related individuals) |
Produces uniform or predictable offspring.
Hidden (recessive) genes show up and can be eliminated.
Individuals will "breed true" and are "pure."
Doubles up good genes.
Eliminates unwanted traits. |
Doubles up on faults and weaknesses.
Progressive loss of vigor and immune response.
Increased reproductive failures, fewer offspring.
Emphasis on appearance means accidental loss of "good" genes for other attributes.
Genetically impoverished individuals. |
LINE-BREEDING
(Mating of less closely related individuals) |
Avoid inbreeding of very closely-related cats, but cats are still "pure".
Produces uniform or predictable offspring.
Slows genetic impoverishment. |
Require excellent individuals.
Does not halt genetic impoverishment, only slows it down. |
OUTCROSSING
(Mating of unrelated individuals within the same breed) |
Brings in new qualities or reintroduces lost qualities.
Increases vigor.
Cats are still "pure". |
Less consistency and predictability of offspring.
May have to breed out unwanted genes accidentally introduced at same time.
May be hard to find individuals which are true outcrosses. |
HYBRIDIZATION
(Mating of unrelated individuals of different breeds) |
Brings in new qualities or reintroduces lost qualities.
Increases vigor, may improve immune system and reproductive capacity.
Introduces totally new traits e.g. color. Fur type.
May result in new breeds.
The offspring are considered "impure" for many generations. |
Unpredictable - new traits may not all be desirable.
Must choose outcross breed whose qualities complement or match own breed.
May take years to eliminate unwanted traits/loss of type.
May take years to get consistent offspring.
Produces many variants not suitable for use in breeding program. |
Inbreeding is a two-edged sword. On the one hand a certain amount of inbreeding can fix and improve type to produce excellent quality animals. On the other hand, excessive inbreeding can limit the gene pool so that the breed loses vigour. Breeds in the early stages of development are most vulnerable as numbers are small and the cats may be closely related to one another. It is up to the responsible breeder to balance inbreeding against crossings with unrelated cats in order to maintain the overall health of the line or breed concerned.(Among rare breed livestock breeders, the 7th generation offspring of an outcross is considered purebred if each generation of offpring have been backcrossed to a pure bred animal following the initial outcross.)
All breeds began based on phenotype which is what they looked like. For example, naturally occurring cats with a particular "look" might gathered together and called a breed e.g. the British Shorthair or Maine Coon. These are considered natural breeds. Even where the foundation cats are pedigree members of different breeds, the new breed is selected for, and refined, according to its appearance. In the early days of a breed it sometimes becomes necessary to accept cats of unknown ancestry but appropriate appearance into the breed to expand the bloodlines and prevent a dangerous level of inbreeding. All breeds have to start somewhere - and that somewhere has a phenotypic basis.
The more that inbreeding is used to get rid of undesirable traits or to fix a desirable trait, the more likely it is that individuals will also inherit the same set of genes for the immune system from both parents, and be born with less vigourous immune systems. The immune system problem is compounded over successive generations as the animals become genetically more uniform. According to one theory, immunodeficiency may be caused by a simple lack of heterozygosity in the genes that control the immune system. This is why random-bred cats are generally so robust.
When creating a new breed from an attractive mutation, the gene pool is initially necessarily small with frequent matings between related cats. Selecting suitable outcrosses can reintroduce healthy genes, which might otherwise be lost, without adversely affecting type.
Explanation:
Homozygous means having inherited the same "gene" for a particular trait from both parent e.g. for fur length. Barring random mutation, 100% of the offspring of a homozygous individual will inherit that gene. Inbreeding increases homozygosity by "fixing" a particular trait. Purebred animals display a high degree of homozygosity compared to mixed breeds and random-bred animals. The idea of purebred animals is that they should "breed true". When one purebred is mated with another of the same breed, the offspring will have uniform characteristics and will resemble the parents.
Heterozygous means having inherited a different gene for a particular trait from each parent. For example one gene of long fur (recessive) and one gene for short fur (dominant). 50% of a heterozygous individual's offspring will inherit one form and 50% will inherit the other. Carefully controlled "out-crossing" increases heterozygosity for selected traits by introducing new genes into the hybrid offspring.
Outcrossing is when the two parents are totally unrelated. In pedigree animals, this often means where a common ancestor does not occur behind either parent within a four or five generation pedigree. In animals with a small foundation gene pool, this condition is difficult to meet.
Phenotype is any observable characteristic or trait of an organism, such as its morphology, development or pshychological properties or behaviour. Phenotype result from the expression of an organism's genes as well as the influence of environmental factors and possible interactions between the two.
Genotype:The genetic constitution of an organism with respect to a trait. For a single trait on an autosome, an individual can be homozygous for the dominant trait, heterozygous, or homozygous for the recessive trait.
Cat allergy in humans is an allergic reaction to one or more of the five known allergens produced by cats. The most common of these is cat glycoprotein Fel d 1, secreted by the cat's sebaceous glands. Fel d 1 is mostly found in the cat's skin and saliva. An allergic reaction is a histamine reaction that is usually characterized by coughing, wheezing, chest tightening, itching, nasal congestion, rash, watering eyes, sneezing and similar symptoms.
A hypoallergenic cat is a cat which is less likely to provoke an allergic reaction in humans. There has been a disputed claim based on antigen research that the Siberian and Russian Blue breeds may be naturally hypoallergenic. Similarly, cat breeds such as the LaPerm, Sphynx, Devon Rex, and Cornish Rex, which lack some of the normal layers of cat fur, are generally held by mild allergy sufferers to be significantly less likely than other breeds to provoke an allergic reaction. However, as more people are allergic to the cat's saliva rather than the fur itself, the benefit of a hairless breed may be limited.
souce:
Sarah Hartwell
genetics vocabulary
wikipedia
web
