Cats on Tuesday: Sphynx Colours

This week I will provide you all with a short primer on Sphynx colours.

Sphynx can basically come in any colour that other cats come in, except those colours that are determined by the placement of colour on the shaft of the hair itself, since we have no fur.

Most Sphynx will have hair on the bridge of their nose. By checking out the colour of the fur on a Sphynx' nose, you can determine at least one of their colours.

I am a black and white Sphynx. You can see these colours on the fur on my nose. For the rest of my body, where I have pink skin, I would have white fur, if I had fur; and where my skin is grey, I would have black fur, if I had fur. My pattern would be considered a tuxedo pattern, because the white/pink colour is concentrated on my neck, chest, and belly, as well as on my lower legs.

For solid Sphynx colours, such as white, black, blue, red, cream, etc., the cat has one level tone of colour from the nose to the tip of the tail. The Cat Fancier's Association Sphynx breed standard indicates what colour the nose leather and paw pads should be.

With classic tabby patterns, mackerel tabby patterns, and spotted tabby patterns, the markings should be clearly defined on the legs and tail of the Sphynx. A tabby Sphynx will have the tabby "M" on their forehead and will have chest necklaces and body markings as defined by the breed standard. The tabby pattern does tend to fade on the hairless body. My sire, Champion HairNSkin Obi Wan Kenobi, is a Brown Classic Tabby and White. You can view some photos of him on my breeder's website, HairNSkin.

Sphynx also come in pointed colours, like Siamese. Point restricted colours show little or no colour contrast between the body and the points in the mature Sphynx. Although born very light in color, the pointed Sphynx will darken and appear solid in color as an adult. The eye colour of a pointed Sphynx will be vivid blue. The nose leather and paw pad colour will be the appropriate colour for their coat (ie. dark brown/black for seal points, brown or cinnamon for chocolate points, blue for blue points, etc.) My dam, New Taj Mahal Sherazade of HairNSkin is a blue point. The photo to the left is of my dam. It is courtesy of my breeder, HairNSkin.

Sphynx can also be tortoiseshell and calico in colour. Like with other breeds, normally only females will be tortoiseshell or calico.

Bi-Colour Sphynx can be the combination of almost any colour and white, such as a solid colour and white, tabby and white, tortoiseshell and white, pointed and white, etc. Van Bi-Coloured Sphynx have the colour confined to the extremities: the head, tail, and legs.

Sphynx also come in mink patterns, and in sable, champagne and platinum colours.

(Click any of the photos above to view a larger image. On my breeder's website, click any of the small thumbnails to view a larger image.)

Any questions about Sphynx or Sphynx colours? Feel free to ask them in your comments, and I'll try to answer them in a future edition of Cats on Tuesday.


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Tags: Sphynx, Canadian Sphynx, Canadian hairless, cat, kitten, hairless cat, hairless kitten, Cats on Tuesday