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The Devon Misconception
Another misconception that, unbelievably, some people still have is that the Sphynx “came” from
the Devon Rex or is nothing more than a bald Devon.
Not true, as you have already read!
All documented occurrences of the foundation cats for the Sphynx came from domestic cats.
The Devon Rex was used to increase the genepool, and helped with that immensely, but Sphynx are not bald Devons.
The standards describe two different looking breeds.
While there have been Devons born that are balder than some Sphynx, they are bald Devons, not Sphynx.
At first it was thought that the alleles shared the same locus and that the Sphynx gene was dominant, but invariably just about all the kittens from a Sphynx/Devon breeding grew some degree of coat, usually a fully curly coated tail, legs and feet, and
sometimes on the hips or the entire body.
Even the offspring of two half-Devon Sphynx can grow that kind of coat.
The Sphynx and Devon Rex traits are the result of different mutations in the same gene.
The Sphynx allele is incompletely dominant over the Devon Rex allele.
Many breeders now prefer to use the American Shorthair as an outcross breed.
True, there is not the “instant gratification” of hairless kittens (that unfortunately usually get hairy later) that breeding to Devon Rex would sometimes provide.
If at all possible, a homozygous Sphynx should be used when doing an American Shorthair outcross.
All of the F1 kittens from an American Shorthair/Sphynx breeding will be normal coated.
Bred back to a preferably homozygous Sphynx,
the F1’s will (statistically) produce 50% coated and 50% hairless kittens.
The F2 American Shorthair/Sphynx kittens that I have seen have been very typey (Sphynx typey), with very nice degrees of hairlessness.
It takes longer to produce Sphynx that way, but some of the problems inherent in many different Devon lines, such as luxating patellas and inherited myopathy (also known as spasticity) can be reduced by refraining from using Devons any longer.
In
TICA, the allowable outcrosses for the Sphynx are the American Shorthair and the Devon Rex.
There are some breeders who are also using Domestic Shorthairs (aka Household Pets) in their breeding programs, as well as other established breeds such as the Bombay and Russian Blue, and others have expressed their desire to use Tonkinese and Snowshoes.
Over the years there have been incidences of spontaneous mutations that were hairless.
Some of these cats have been compatible with the Sphynx, producing hairless kittens of like type.
The most notable of these, Desert Storm of Gunzhof, was a seal lynxpoint who was found in (again!) Minnesota. In 1991 he came to live with Pat Stevenson of the now inactive Gunzhof cattery.
His name can be found on Sphynx pedigrees in both the United States and Europe, and he was partially responsible for introducing the mink and pointed genes to the Sphynx.
Two other spontaneous mutations used successfully in Sphynx breeding programs are George Burns of Jinjorbred, found in Tennessee, and Misty of Britanya, origin unavailable.
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