SPHYNX
A cat resembling the modern-day Sphynx was exhibited in the early 1900s as the New Mexican Hairless cat. Though cats without hair had appeared as spontaneous mutations in South American before that and in North America and Europe afterward, efforts to gain championship recognition for this breed were not made until hairless cats appeared in Ontario, Canada, in the 1960s. The Sphynx reached provisional status in the Cat Fanciers’ Association by 1970, but progressed no further because the CFA board was concerned about the breeds’ genetic difficulties, i.e. its failure to develop an adequate immune system because of decreased T-cell function. The Sphynx was accepted for championship competition in 1971, however, by the now defunct Crown Cat Fanciers Federation.
