Between breeders, inbreeding is a real debate. On one side you can hear: "Inbreeding is bad for the cats' health. They get weaker and flaws appear." On the other side, other breeders say: "Inbreeding is the only way to establish a type, a line. And to improve the breed." According to the saying, inbreeding is both the best and the worst thing together.
The result much depends on the quality of the animals, on the wanted characteristics and on the good sense of the breeders. One could imagine, for instance, an inbreeding selection based on the good health of the cats, by mating the individuals, which would display at each generation the best resistance to the diseases. It is the breeder's responsibility to know what he wants, and to act accordingly. And when this work is performed correctly, it ends in success, of which the Sphynx is certainly one of the most beautiful examples.
Hairlessness has always existed in most of the species, even in humans. The gene responsible for that nakedness is the r gene, recessive, which means that both parents must be carriers so that it be expressed in the young.Today's Sphynx all descend from three hairless kittens found in Ontario in 1978. Breeders were immediately interested in those cats, and two of them were exported to the Netherlands at Doctor Hernandez's. He decided to keep on breeding them, under the affix Calecat, by mating them with Devon Rex. The first registered Sphynx were Q-Ramses (reg.01), Q-Paloma (reg.2) and Q-Ra (reg.4), in the early 80's. Very quickly, the Sphinx amazed, shocked, filled people with enthusiasm, but they just left no one indifferent, especially when Patrick Challain brought a whole litter issued from Q-Ramses and Q-Paloma to France in 1984: Chnoem, Pepi, Ptah, Nofret and Neberet of Calecat. They were given considerable publicity: pictures in magazines, overcrowded exhibitions,, TV sets. Such a phenomenon had never been seen before. A few months later, Aline and Philippe Noël, who had discovered the breed at the same time as Patrick Challain, imported two cats from Holland. The female, Ajahanda's Zendila, called Mogwai, was Q-Ramses and Q-Paloma's granddaughter. And the male, Ajahanda's Timothy Attila, called Gizmo, was their grand, grandson. And to advance in the breeding, there was only one cat: Q-Ra!
Chnoem, Mogwai and Gizmo are almost at the origin of all today's Sphynx. Once he had conquered France, Chnoem left for the USA, where he caused a riot at Madison Square Garden yearly exhibition. Vickie Markstein used this cat a lot with Devon Rex, and so he founded a well established line with Carol Richard's cats under the affix Britanya. On their side, the incestuous couple Mogwai/Gizmo gave birth to Amenophis Clone and Amenophis Cocoon. Clone won the Madison Square Garden exhibition in front of all the best cats of the USA, among which were Cognac, a black Persian, CFA's favourite. "This was utter madness, Aline Noël remembers, the TVs were following us everywhere, we were moving round in a big limo. But above all, this was very emotional." Cocoon also founded his own line in the USA, where he stayed a little while, as a stud. The circle was completed when some of Chnoem's grand granddaughters, issued from Lisa Bressler's cats - affix Rinkurl - such as champion Safram Kaleidoscope for instance, came back to France at Aline and Philippe Noël's, to be mated with Cocoon. Meanwhile, the Q-Ramses / Q-Paloma line kept on establishing itself, but with a bit of new blood. "We needed to open the line a little, Guy Pantigny explains. We had crossed Bagheera des Champs Rotis, a Cornish Rex female, with Ptah de Calecat, one of Chnoem's brothers. The hybrids were kind of ugly and hairy. But when they were mated again with Chnoem, they gave birth to extraordinary Sphynx. Indeed, we wrote the first standard for those cats from those cats, and those of Aline and Philippe Noël's, among which was the very beautiful Clone. It was adopted by the majority of the associations, even in the USA."
Today, the Sphynx is well established, and only Sphynx / Sphynx matings are accepted, even if some Devon, Cornish, Siamese or Burmese were sometimes used to bring in new blood. Let us not forget that this breed would not be what it is nowadays without Chnoem, Gizmo and Mogwai, and the attention of all those who loved them.
Click here to see Amenophis Clone and Cocoon's pedigree
Special thanks to Aline Noël - Amenophis - and MM Challain and Pantigny - Phalaenopsis à Poil - for their help in writing this article.
Top picture: Amenophis CloneSecond picture: Amenophis CocoonThird picture: Chnoem de Colecat in the arms of Catherine Sauvage. She belonged to MM. Patrick Challain and Guy Pantigny - Phalaenopsis à Poil cattery.
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