Understanding your Sphynx’s behavior

What defines them

A hairless cat born of a natural mutation, the Sphynx has a fast metabolism, a solid appetite and a constant need for warmth. He is extroverted, a clown, extremely close to people and often described as “a dog in a cat’s body”. His bare skin shows everything: redness, pimples, oil. He sweats, gets dirty and needs regular baths. His expressiveness is maximal, the wrinkles and huge ears make his emotions very readable.

What matters when you read them

• He presses against you under the duvet or on the radiator: his normal functioning. Isolation is the change.
• He scratches or rubs his chin: think skin, feline acne or allergy before saying “he is nervous”.
• He trembles: he is cold, simply. A sweater or a warmer room.
• A Sphynx who stops eating or eats less: a major change in this big eater.

Three things that help

Keep him warm. A blanket, a gentle radiator, a sweater in winter, a heated bed. The Sphynx has no coat.

Clean skin. A warm cloth often, a gentle regular bath. Without fur, the oil stays and irritates.

Protect from the sun. He burns. No prolonged sunbathing behind unfiltered glass.

Young, adult, senior

As a kitten he is hyperactive and ravenous: several small meals and lots of play. As an adult, watch the heart, with screening for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy strongly advised in the breed, and the teeth. As a senior, skin and heart dominate. A Sphynx who gets winded or hides somewhere warm without playing must be seen.