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Breed guide · Cats
He's under my duvet before I am. I keep him warm, and out of the sun.
Last updated 13 October 2026
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What they brought with them.
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At home
Under the duvet, on the laptop, across your shoulders: wherever is warmest, and wherever you are.
What's going onIt is affection, and it is also heating. With no coat they lose heat fast, and you are warm. A covered bed away from the air conditioning gives them somewhere warm to go when you are out.
At home
Stretched out in the one bright patch by the window, moving with it all afternoon.
What's going onBare skin burns, and sun through a window is still sun. Shade their favourite window and keep them off the balcony. Never put human sun cream on them; ask your vet what is safe.
At home
A faint print on every cushion they use, and brown build-up in the creases of their skin.
What's going onTheir skin makes oil that a coat would normally soak up. Without one, it stays on the skin, and yeast and skin infections can follow. A regular bath, as their vet advises, keeps their skin healthy.
At home
Every meal finished, and still lean.
What's going onKeeping warm with no coat takes energy, so their vet sets their daily amount, rather than the guide on the bag. Weigh their food and weigh them monthly, because extra weight can still creep on from their mature years.
At home
Races round the flat, sleeps it off, and looks perfectly well.
What's going onHypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM, a thickened heart muscle) is on their health record at every age. Their plan includes listening to their heart as a kitten, a baseline heart scan in their junior years, and repeat scans after that.
At home
Follows you from room to room, has plenty to say, and rides on your shoulders through the video call.
What's going onSphynx cats are outgoing and very people-focused, and they do not do well left alone for long. Let them join in, and give them a hunt to finish with a wand toy a couple of times a day.
The bit nobody tells you.
The sun
Built for: No coat to keep the sun off.
In Dubai: Strong sun at the window, on bare skin.
The cold
Built for: No coat to hold the heat in.
In Dubai: Cold air from the vents, all summer long.
Their skin
Built for: No coat to soak up the oil the skin makes.
In Dubai: Oil on their skin, and on your cushions.
You do the coat's job for them, every day.
Much of what looks like personality, the burrowing and the shoulder-riding, is them keeping warm. Warm beds, shade at the window and a bath on a routine do most of what a coat would, and their heart needs its scans on schedule. The ten things below are how.
Your plan is built around what a Sphynx is prone to at every age, from their heart to their skin, and the care that goes with each one.
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Ten things that make their life better.
With no coat they lose heat fast, kittens and older cats most of all.
Every age, most of all kittens and older cats
Why
With no coat they lose heat fast, kittens and older cats most of all.
What to do
Warm, covered beds away from the air conditioning vents, in more than one room, with a fleece inside. A kitten with no coat chills fastest, so keep their room warm. Older cats feel the cold more, so add a second warm bed. Advice on keeping them warm is in your plan from their junior years.
Bare skin burns, and sunburn is a real risk for a Sphynx from their junior years.
Every age, most of all from 7 months
Why
Bare skin burns, and sunburn is a real risk for a Sphynx from their junior years.
What to do
Shade their favourite window, and keep them off the balcony. Never put human sun cream on them. Ask your vet what is safe for their skin. Sun protection advice is in your plan from their junior years.
Without a coat to soak it up, oil builds up on their skin, and yeast and skin infections can follow.
Every age, start as a kitten
Why
Without a coat to soak it up, oil builds up on their skin, and yeast and skin infections can follow.
What to do
Bathe them as often as their vet advises, in a warm room, with a cat-safe wash, and dry them fully straight after. Keep it short and calm, with a treat at the end. Start a kitten with a warm, damp cloth for a few seconds at a time. Their vet will set the routine with you, and it is part of their plan from their junior years.
Oil and wax build up in the creases of their skin, around their claws and in their ears.
Every age, start as a kitten
Why
Oil and wax build up in the creases of their skin, around their claws and in their ears.
What to do
Once a week, wipe their skin creases and around their claws. Look inside their ears for brown wax or redness, and clean only the part you can see, as their vet shows you. Red, sore or smelly patches are worth telling your vet about. Ear cleaning and skin-fold care are in your plan from their junior years.
They are busy, sociable hunters, and a hunt with an ending settles them.
Every age, slower games from 11 years
Why
They are busy, sociable hunters, and a hunt with an ending settles them.
What to do
A wand toy moved like prey along the floor, five to ten minutes, two or three times a day. Let them catch it, then feed them. Teach a kitten early that hands are not toys.
Keeping warm with no coat burns more food, and obesity still appears on their health record from their mature years.
Every age, portions reset after neutering
Why
Keeping warm with no coat burns more food, and obesity still appears on their health record from their mature years.
What to do
Their vet sets their daily amount, rather than the guide on the bag. Weigh it, and ask for it to be reset from the day they are neutered. Once a month, step on the scales holding them, then without them, and note the difference. Body condition scoring (a check on whether they are the right weight) is in your plan from kittenhood.
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM, a thickened heart muscle) is on their health record at every age, and cats hide heart disease well.
Every age, start as a kitten
Why
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM, a thickened heart muscle) is on their health record at every age, and cats hide heart disease well.
What to do
Their plan includes listening to their heart as a kitten, a baseline heart scan in their junior years, and repeat scans after that. Between visits, notice if they hide more. Fast or shallow breathing while resting should be discussed with your vet immediately, within the same day. Breathing with their mouth open, or struggling for breath, is an emergency: contact your vet now.
Heart scans and skin care mean regular visits, and a cat who travels calmly finds every visit easier.
Every age, start as a kitten
Why
Heart scans and skin care mean regular visits, and a cat who travels calmly finds every visit easier.
What to do
Leave the carrier out, door open, with a fleece inside, so it is somewhere they sleep. Once a week, touch their paws, ears and mouth for a second, then give them a treat. On the day, warm the blanket and cover the carrier with a towel.
Gum disease is on their health record from kittenhood, and cats keep eating with sore teeth.
Every age, start as a kitten
Why
Gum disease is on their health record from kittenhood, and cats keep eating with sore teeth.
What to do
Lift their lip and look at their teeth and gums. Start brushing as a kitten, a few seconds at a time, with cat toothpaste. Tell your vet if they drop food or chew on one side. An annual dental evaluation (teeth and gum check) is in your plan from their junior years.
Cats hide pain, and osteoarthritis (worn, painful joints) is on their health record in old age.
Every age, most of all from 11 years
Why
Cats hide pain, and osteoarthritis (worn, painful joints) is on their health record in old age.
What to do
Once a month, notice whether they still jump up and play. Film anything that looks stiff, and show your vet. Add steps to their favourite high places as they slow down. A joint and mobility evaluation (joint and movement exam) is in your plan from 11 years.
Eight of these are in your plan. The rest you can do at home.
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Their health, at every age.
How old are they?
Their age
the first six months
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
7 months to 2 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
2 to 6 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
7 to 10 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
11 to 14 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
15 years and over
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Breed predispositions indicate an increased risk rather than certainty of disease. What is right for them always comes from their own history and an evaluation.
Before they come home.
Hairless, or nearly
Most Sphynx cats are not completely bare. Their body is covered with a soft down, almost too fine to see or feel, and many have a little short hair on the nose, ears and tail. The breed was built from hairless kittens crossed with coated cats, so how much down a cat has can vary.
Colours
They come in every colour and pattern a cat can have, from solid black and white to tabby, tortoiseshell and pointed. Whatever the colour, their skin needs the same warm bed and the same shade.
The first months
A few seconds with a warm, damp cloth, then a treat. A kitten who learns it now is an adult who lets you bathe them, and their skin will need it all their life. Keep their room warm too: a kitten with no coat chills fastest.
Getting the home ready
A covered bed or a fleece away from the air conditioning vents, in more than one room, and shade on the sunniest window. Keep the balcony door closed. A wand toy and a cat tree with a fleece on top give all that energy somewhere to go.
Before you commit
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM, a thickened heart muscle) is on a Sphynx's health record from kittenhood. Ask your vet to listen to their heart at the first visit, and to talk you through an early heart scan. If you ever choose another Sphynx, ask the breeder whether the parents have had heart scans, and what they showed.
Before the clinics open
AED 1,999 of essential care for AED 199. No payment now.
If it's a kitten: First 30 days with a new kitten · Kitten vaccinations in the UAE
When it is not behaviour.
He'll still beat you to the duvet. If he stops coming to find you, call your vet.
Before they were yours.
1966
A black and white house cat in Ontario, Canada, had a hairless kitten called Prune. Breeders tried to build a line from Prune, but it did not last.
What they still carryProof that a hairless kitten can turn up in an ordinary litter.
The mid-1970s
More hairless kittens appeared in ordinary litters, two of them in Minnesota. Breeders built the Sphynx from them, crossing in coated cats to widen the gene pool.
What they still carryA hairless gene that has to come from both parents.
1998 to 2002
By 1998 the Cat Fanciers' Association had accepted the Sphynx as a breed, and by 2002 they were in the championship show ring.
What they still carryA popular breed, still drawn from a small base.
Today
Popular in the UAE, and kept indoors, out of the sun and away from cold air.
What they still carryA cat with no coat, between fierce sun outside and cold air inside.
The ones you type at midnight.
If the Sphynx suits you, so might these.
Devon RexThe same kind of cat: another warmth-seeking shoulder-rider, in a thin, wavy coat that needs only the odd bath
Cornish RexThe same kind of cat: another unusual coat, short, fine and curly, on a slender, long-legged body
BurmeseThe same devotion, chat and play, in a short satin coat that needs no baths
Russian BlueA similar size and a coat that sheds very little, in a quieter, more reserved cat who needs a brush, not a bath
