An Overview
A Peterbald is a breed of hairless cats, the most rare in the world and very recently developed. There are three** other hairless breeds of cats and Peterbald is distinguished from Don Sphnyx with more elegant boning, long and fine legs with firm musculature, Oriental head and large set apart ears. Peterbalds have sweet temper and are peaceful, curious, smart and energetic. Since they have some Oriental blood in their veins, they inherited from Orientals dog-like attachment to their owners. They love to communicate with people and do not belong to an independent kind of cats. They make friends easily with their human companions and other cats and animals, especially dogs. They will greet you whenever you come home. Peterbalds like to snuggle next to you and they like to sleep under the covers.
Breed Description
The Peterbald cat's head is wedge-shaped with oval eyes and high cheekbones. The whiskers are wavy or broken off near the skin. The slightly wrinkled body is long and lean with strong fine bones. The tail is long and straight. The pointed ears are large, broad at the base, and set straight. The Peterbald's skin is soft like a chamois cloth or a peach. The Peterbald comes in several different "coat types." The Peterbald kitten can be born bald or with a little hair. Those born with hair will normally loose the hair between the ages of 1 to 1-1/2 years old. There is also a "brush coat" Peterbald. The brush coat is usually more permanent. It is a non-shedding wiry feeling coat. Balding begins from the head, neck, and upper back. If any coat remains, it is very soft, short, and wavy. This will be on the muzzle, base of the ear, forelegs, feet, and the last 1/3 of the tail.
Breeding Aim
These days the breed develops in the direction of modern Oriental type, that is long muzzle, set apart ears, flat cheek bones, elegant body on long legs. This is why all standards for this breed encourages mating with Oriental and Siamese cats. They are unrelated to the Sphynx, as the gene that causes the hairlessness is different. They are found in a wide range of colors and patterns, including colorpoint and bi-color. Cats younger than two years of age may have a soft, wavy coat along any or all of the body. True baldness begins from the head, neck and upper part of the back. If any coat remains it is short, soft, and wavy on the extremities - the muzzle, base of ears, forelegs, feet, or along some or all of the tail.
It should be noted that the introduction of blood of the new oriental breeds into the population of the Peterbalds has undoubtedly improved their type, however, at the same time the number of “coated” individuals has increased considerably. It was noticed, that from one and the same hairless male parent, when mating it with different representatives of the oriental group, the offspring, which differ greatly in the degree of hairiness among them, could be born. It is most likely that the groups of the Siamese and Oriental cats have different bloodlines with different gene modifiers, which have an effect on the appearance of the gene of hairlessness.
Special Needs
Keeping Sphynxes causes no special needs, however, some peculiarities of this breed should be taken into consideration. Their energy metabolism is very high therefore the body temperature is 0.5-1 degree higher than that of ordinary cats. Seeking to maintain it, the Sphynx must eat a lot to produce the warmth the hair is normally providing. In order to produce that extra energy to heat and held the higher body temperature they practically eat almost everything. The food should contain vitamins and minerals; it is important to provide them excess to the food and fresh water all the time in oreder to cover the need to produce its own body warmth. If offering quality food, they eat little but often; they do not tend to overfeed.
All hairless cats require more frequent bathing than normal coated cats. The typical Sphynx will need to be bathed most often at least once a week. The Peterbald is generally less oily than the Sphynx, and therefore doesn't need to be bathed as often; maybe every two to eight weeks, depending on your cat's coat typ. All hairless cats also need to have their ears cleaned regularly, as they have a tendency to develop an oily buildup.
Breed History
Peterbald breed was founded in the end of 1995 as a result of experimental mating of Don Sphynx male called GICH Afinogen-Myth and WCH Oriental female Radma von Jaegerhof. Afinogen–Myth was chosen as the male parent because it was of a somewhat lighter type of build than it is common to the Don Sphinxes, had long extremities and a long tail. Though its head did not distinguish itself for a particular length, its cheekbones were flat, and the profile was smoothed. There was no clear passage from the bridge of the nose towards the part of the scull. In its turn, its partner was an excellent expression of the oriental subtlety.
Afinogen-Myth 
Radma von Jaegerhof
The breed was created by a well known Russian felinologist Olga S. Mironova. First two litters gave four peterbald kittens: Mandarin iz Murino, Muscat iz Murino, Nezhenka iz Murino and Nocturne iz Murino. All the kittens of the first generation were not only hairless but they were also of a clearly expressed oriental type. It was the structure of the coat characteristic of the cats of the Oriental group that determined a better structure of hairlessness in the Peterbalds, which, contrary to the Don Sphinxes, can produce “well undressed” hybrids of the first generation. These four Peterbalds were the founders of the breed.
Mandarin iz Murino |
Muscat iz Murino |
Nezhenka iz Murino |
Nocturne iz Murino |
In 1996 breed was adopted in Russian Selectional Feline Federation with a standard and an abbreviation PBD. In 1997 it was adopted in The International Cat Association (TICA) (PD), and in 2003 in World Cat Federation (WCF).
Used handles of the breed are: PBD, PTB, PD and PSX.
Associations: The Peterbald is accepted for championship status in its native Russia. They are accepted in WCF, TICA and from 2007 january in FIFE.
The Peterbald was accepted for Championship class competition, effective May 1, 2009, in the American Cat Fanciers Association (ACFA) in August 2008. Effective May 2008, TICA recognizes the "brush coat" Peterbald for Championship competition.
Permissible outcrosses - at this point: Oriental Shorthair, Siamese and Donskoy- see the Valid breed standard - by TICA.
* The breed was given its second name "Peterbald" – Peter the Bald – in the memory of the founder of Sankt Petersburg.
** Don Sphynx (Donskoy), Sphynx (Canadian Hairless) & Ukrainian Levkoy
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