The Kohona (hairless) cat ....

[kimlovescats]

Anyone ever heard of these? Donna?
http://belfrysphynx.org/kohona.html

[sasvermont]

I had never heard of this cat (mutation). I hope they do not become popular. I suspect the poor cats get cold easily. I think the breeder should let the mutation alone and not inbreed to make it a popular cat. I am not a fan of messing with mother nature. This reminds me of the munchkin cats and their story.

That's my opinion - doesn't make me right!

[moosmom]

I can't say I have heard of the Kohona. They are beautiful though. Before I got MooShoo, I always thought Sphynxes were weird looking. But Moo's personality and charm far outway his lack of beauty. I have never before met a cat with such a loving, loyal GOOFY personality as his.

SAS,

Please do not mistake a Munchkin for a "Twisty Cat" as they are two very different types of cats (I refuse to call the Twisty Cat a breed). My Shortie Girl is a Munchkin and is very healthy and happy. Munchkins are a fairly new breed of cat and is the result of a genetic mutation. The awful Twisty Cat is the result of some sick, demented backyard breeder who decided to allow her cats to in-breed, screwing with mother nature. I feel very sorry for those cats. As they get older, I'm fairly certain that they will suffer from all sorts of problems.

[catnapper]

Wow, I can't see how it can b healthy for them to have no hair follicles. At least the "regular" sphynxes have some fuzz to help them... and even then they are always cold.

[moosmom]

I have heard of the Peterbald cat. It's just another fancy name for a hairless cat.

[sasvermont]

I just cannot imagine what good things can come of breeding mutations. Just my opinion. Breeding in general, is tricky, just trying to get health to the forefront. But breeding mutated animals just seems a little sick and tempting mother nature a bit much.....I suspect the breeding of "different" animals goes much further than we already know.

[catmandu]

The Sad thing is that these Cats are marketed as Collecter Cats,and they charge very large sums for the Kittens.
When there ae literally Thousands of Unwanted Cats and Kittens that will be PTS,I really dont see the need to mutate Cats,into staus symbols.

[moosmom]

Gary,

You are absolutely right. 2 of my cats came from bad breeders. I'm glad I was able to rescue these kits (MooShoo and Shortie Girl) from these monsters, one of whom is known as "Dr. Death".

[kimlovescats]

I noticed on that website that there are supposedly only about 18 of these cats in the world. However, there were quite a few pictures ... so I am wondering if this breeder has all of them? I think it is a very sad situation as well .... and no telling how far it will go, and how many poor kitties will suffer. Basically they are calling birth defects "mutations"!

[2nakedcats]

I'm new to this forum, and was looking through old threads, and came across this one. I wanted to say some things about these Kohona cats, because from reading the replies to the original post, I can see they are badly misunderstood.

I am good friends with Michelle, the woman who owns these cats. i.e. the breeder/owner of Belfry cattery. She was given the first Kohonas to work with, who were found in a animal shelter in Hawaii. They aren't inbred either. She tried to develop the breed, because well, they are just so darn cute and don't they deserve a chance to be recognized like the other cat breeds??? Anyway, she tried to outcross them with the regular Sphynx and with the American Shorthair, but isn't having much luck with them. The mortality rate is astounding. The Kohona kittens are born with NO nursing instinct, and she has had to tube feed every last one. Her most recent litter (born last summer of 2005) all died one by one. Necropsies showed death of natural causes.

When I last spoke with her regarding the future of these kitties, their future looks mighty dim. There are only THREE entire cats (i.e. not altered) and they are getting too old to be bred. To date, there are only 19 Kohonas in existence, and they all came from Michelle.

Anyway, I had to defend these guys a little bit. Hope I didn't come off on a bad note, being the "newbie" on here, and hope I can get to know you all!

[CathyBogart]

I just cannot imagine what good things can come of breeding mutations. Just my opinion. Breeding in general, is tricky, just trying to get health to the forefront. But breeding mutated animals just seems a little sick and tempting mother nature a bit much.....I suspect the breeding of "different" animals goes much further than we already know.

But without mutation, we would all be the same. Every being in the world has mutations. Some are visible, some aren't. Some are good, some affect us negatively.

Do I feel that this mutation should be perpetuated? Probably not, especially after the last post stating that the mortality rate is staggering among kittens, it just doesn't seem like a good idea to perpetuate that. Then again, Hyacinth macaws have an astoundingly high chick mortality rate and I would love to see that species thrive....it's a tough call.