History

The founding female cat of the two Russian Hairless Breeds  which are known under the name "Don Sphynx or Don Hairless" and  also as "Petersburg Sphynx or Peterbald". She was a blue tortie cat which was called Varya.  She was rescued by Irina Kovalyova. Irina was concerned that Varya was ill because she had  lost nearly all of her coat. Irina treated the cat with anti-fungal medication but the cat did not seem to get better and continued to lose her coat. Irina came to the conclusion that this was a new genetic occurance.

In 1989 Varya was mated to a domestic cat and healthy kittens followed.  Several kittens were hairless.  Irina sold one of the kittens, a black female to Irina Nemykina who started the Russian Hairless cats line. The first breed was called Don Sphynx or Don Hairless.  According to these documents it was determined that the new gene for hairlessness is dominant to the gene for normal coat. This was evident because when heterozygous hairless cats were mated to normal coated cats, a number of hairless kittens always resulted in the litter. The hairless cats of Myth Cattery were bred exclusively to European Shorthairs and Domestic Shorthairs.

First matings of Don Hairless cats with Oriental/Siamese cats were started in St.Petersburg and in Moscow in 1993. These oriental type of hairless cats (named "Peterbalds") were unpopular in Moscow, but became very popular among St.Petersburg breeders. The first Peterbalds were born in January of 1994. They were the result of outcrossing a very classy tortie oriental female (Radma von Jagerhof) with a brown mackerel tabby Don Hairless male (Afinogen Myth), whose bone structure was a bit light, but who had a wedge-shaped head. All in all, he was a good choice for breeding with Oriental cats. This male was also mated with Russian Blues. The litters from such matings were considered to be Don Hairless, but some of the kittens were rather elegant, and we used them in our breeding program for Peterbalds. The irst Peterbalds were sold to other clubs in various parts of Russia. And they have become the founders for developing Peterbalds throughout Russia.

Type and characteristics

Peterbald are graceful oriental type cats appearing to be hairless with  firm, fine bones, body and feet, and with warm chamois like skin.

Coat

The cats skin is thin and fine, with pigmentation in hairless places, and with a "drawing" in the places with residual coat. The skin is wrinkled, slightly moving along the body, the neck and under the feet and in the groin.

Head

The cats head is long and wedge-shaped with high cheek-bones and a flat skull. The muzzle is strong without any pinch. The cat has a strong but not protruding chin. Several vertical lines or wrinkles on the forehead diverge before the ears nearly at right angles. The cats whiskers and eyebrows are wavy or broken off near skin.

Body, neck, legs and tail

The Peterbald is a sturdy and lean cat.. The cats body is long, muscular with a deep groin line. Legs are long with firm, fine bones and straight vertical forelegs.  Paws are oval with long toes.The Cat has a long straight and strong tail.

Eyes

The eyes are small, oval shaped.. The eye color is green-gold.  Blue in pointed cats

Ears

are large, broad at the base, high on the head, straight set, following the line of the wedge, opening forward.

Temperament  

The Peterbald cats are friendly, outgoing, and intelligent cats and get along well with other cats.

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