Cat Breed: Mexican Hairless

One of the biggest trends in cat breeding is for hairless animals. Ever since the development of the Sphynx (or Canadian Hairless), there have been several other bald breeds to emerge based on the Sphynx. One of those is the Mexican Hairless (also called New Mexican Hairless), which is basically a Sphynx, but with a ridge of short fur covering the spine and the top of the tail in wintertime. The rest of the bodies are not entirely hairless, but are usually covered in fuzz. They also were known to be much smaller than the average housecat.

However, this is not a recognized breed and is thought to be extinct. Whether the breed actually exists today is a matter of much dizzying debate among cat fanciers. The general consensus seems to be "No." This doesn't stop cats listed as "Mexican Hairless" or "Pyewacket Hairless Cats" from being sold to gullible buyers.

History

Although there is some information about claiming this breed was hundreds of years old, it's highly doubtful. There is some evidence that a hairless cat breed called the Aztec did live in Mexico - or at least, a few extraordinary bald cats did in 1903, when they were written about in such publications as "The Book of the Cat" (Frances Simpson, 1903). Sphynx Owners.com notes that there were letters by Johnann Rudolph Renegger in 1830 describing a "scant haired cat" that lived in Paraguay.

This breed, if a proper breed did exist instead of the odd bald kitten born every now and then, soon became extinct. Any cats now called Mexican Hairless are a recreation of that lost breed. There was some news that some of these cats appeared in feral groups in New Mexico in 2006, but this writer has not been able to find any updates to that news.

Modern Times

The only known living cats of modern times that could possibly be recreated Mexican Hairless cats are Pywacket and his sister, which were both adopted from a shelter. It is unknown who the father was, but the mother was a regular-looking alley cat. Pyewacket became an Internet celebrity after his adopted owner, Tricia James posted his photos on LiveJournal. His sister wound up growing more fur than he did, but both cats remained smaller than the average cat.

Pyewacket was not a good looking cat. (After clicking the link, scroll down the page until nearly the bottom to see a picture of him). The sparse coat stuck out, and, combined with his large ears and pink skin giving him a bat-like appearance - which works great on bats, but not necessary on cats. There was something about him that looked sickly, even though he probably was healthy. Neither Pyewacket nor his sister was bred, which is probably a good thing.

References:

MessyBeast.com: "Hairless Cats." Susan Hartwell. http://www.messybeast.com/curly-cats-bald.htm

Traditional Cat All Breed Association. "Traditional Sphynx FAQ: History, Health, Personality and Care." http://www.breeds.traditionalcats.com/BreedInfo/FAQTSphynx/FAQ_Traditional_Sphynx_cat.htm

Paws Online. "Mexican Hairless Cats." http://www.pawsonline.info/hairless_cat.htm