**Magic's Angel**

My name "Magic's Angel" shows what the Sphynx represents to me - Angel Hearts ! To me they are Angels coming from heaven.

We are situated in Houtain-Le-Val in Belgium.

Our Sphynx live with us and our Chihuahua, Guess. They live and sleep with us from the first day.

They are very special creatures, to me they are precious stones, they are intelligent, extremely sensitive and they have a great need for human contact.

I have had the luck to live together with my Sphynx for more than 6 years soon.

It all began when buying my first pet Sphynx, Urby, which was love at first sight and later on wanting a second one was natural. Having thought it through for several months I decided to contribute to the the Sphynx by starting breeding. I started by buying my first female, Arwen.

That's how it all began..

Urby & I...
The beginning of our story.

My cats are tested for HCM before each litters for my females, and every 6 month for my males, and my lines are tested too for PKD, Fiv/Felv.

All of our kittens leave at the age of 16 weeks. This is to ensure that the weaning and their socialization are completed. We rarely sell kittens for breeding purposes and this only to persons we know and respect and with whom we share the same vision of breeding. Those kittens are sold with contracts with restrictions.

Buffy and her first babies

Our primary goal is to breed pet kittens who are neutered before leaving home in order to make sure they will get the quality of life they deserve (to read the article on early Sterilization) . This however doesnt mean you cannot have a very beautiful cat which can participate and obtain great results when showing it.

Our kittens leave home with :

The passeport(vaccination certificats, de-worming etc.),
A copie of HCM test parents,
The Pedigree,
Current health certificate made by our cattery veterinarian,
Adoption/sales-contract,
A kitten-KIT to ensure a smooth installation in their new families,
A leaflet with good advice,
An impregnated cover of the odor of the phratry,
Some toys which he likes to play.

Every kitten leaving our home is guaranteed a lifelong follow-up and we are always available with counseling and guidance and most importantly we wish to be informed about the well-being of our kittens. It is an important point for us and a promise that we make with each kitten which comes in the world to the cattery, after having been at its side during several months, having to help them to come in the world.

This is why its important to us to have a very good contact and a very good feeling with the future parents of our kittens. And that thus their new family feels in confidence with us and knows that they will be able to always count on us!

History :

The Sphynx is one of the most loveable and unusual feline species that I know of.

The Sphynx is not the result of genetic manipulation, but rather of a natural mutation due to the presence of a recessive gene called hereditary alopecia or hypotrichosis congenita. Therefore both parents must be carriers.

It was in 1966 that the first real breeding program of the Sphynx started, in Ontario, Canada, when an ordinary domestic cat gave birth to a hairless kitten, called Prune, which aroused interest among the breeders.

In 1975, Jezabelle, a farm cat, similarly gave birth to two hairless kittens, subsequently acquired by a breeder. Many of todays Sphynx are descendants of Jezabelles kittens.

In 1978, the Dutch Dr Hugo Hermandez started the most important breeding program to date, in acquiring two hairless kittens, descendants of Prune. In order to broaden the breeds genetic pool, he crossed the kittens with the Devon Rex. Some kittens coming from the cattery of Hugo Hermandez left for the USA; then for France. It was Patrick Challain, in 1983, who imported the first specimens and worked to a large extent with American breeders, followed by Aline and Philippe Noël (affix Aménophis, known throughout the world).

It is the famous Aménophis Clone who served as the basis for drawing up the official standard for this breed, which is today recognised by the greatest of the international federations.

Look :

Angelfire Von Dutch (retired)
Photograph : Ludivine David

The sphynx is robust and agile.
Its skin has a texture similar to chamois leather and is warm to touch. As a kitten the sphynx is all wrinkled and as an adult he must keep as many wrinkles as possible, especially around his head.
His body is of average size, firm and muscular, especially the male.
He has long thin legs with thick paw pads. His head is angular and his skull flat.
His ears are large and broad at the base.
His nose is fairly short with a slight break in the profile called “stop”, his chin is firm.
His eyes are large and shaped like rounded lemons.
The sphynx should be as hairless as possible. The muzzle, tail, feet and testicles can be covered with fine down. Whiskers and eyelids may be present or totally absent. All skin colours are recognised.

Character:

The sphynx is very intelligent.

He passes the time in playing, climbing everywhere, stealing (food, corks, ballpoints,…), every little thing amuses him.
He has a very expressive look. It is impossible to say no to him. He listens to you, speaks to you and loves to cuddle up to you. He is attracted by everything that gives off heat: radiators, covers,… He loves to snuggle into you or another cat...

And to finish, don’t believe that his lack of hair makes him more fragile. On the contrary, he is robust and resistant.

Looking after the sphinx :

The Sphynx does not require any particular care compared with other cats.

He sweats as we do. He therefore needs to be bathed but not too often, two baths a month are sufficient. Between baths, you can use baby wipes or cleansing milk; preferably for babies (ideally neutral pH), which avoids all risk of allergic reactions.

Under the summer sun, his skin tans and his colours become more vivid. Use a sun cream for children to avoid sunburn when he’s sunbathing.

His ears secrete a lot of wax. Use a cotton bud soaked in a mild solution (e.g. mild almond oil). Once a week is sufficient.

His eyes - wash them from time to time with the help of cotton wool (make-up removing pads) soaked in eye solution (e.g. Cornflower Water). Always wash them from the exterior towards the interior.

And to finish, for his food, I always advise giving dry cat food, which provides a rich and balanced diet, important for keeping him in shape and healthy.

I would like to talk to you about outcross, something which I think is very important for the sphynxbreed.

As you already know, the sphynxbreed is a rather young breed in Europe. It's not easy to find new lines; many catteries are using related lines. Luckily some breeders have done some outcross in the past, otherwise we al would be using the same lines. I have been talking to other breeders about this issue and we are convinced that is important for the future of the breed. Thanks to the outcross you can create new lines, enlarge the genepool and by choosing a suitable cat you can improve the type of the sphynx.

As I told you before, one of my goals is to enlarge the genepool. I have added new lines to my cattery by importing cats from the USA. In May 2006 Miki Sanuki's Dreamy (breeder Wil Olfers) came to join my cattery. She is an F4 (double outcross ASH x DSH). I would like to thank Wil for trusting me and I would also like to thank An Van Landeghem (Doontje) for helping me in this proces.

My goal is to add new genes to the breed and next time I will add other bloodlines coming resulting from outcross.
In the future I would love to create a new line of my own, starting from the beginning with a DSH or ASH.

It takes a lot of time and patience, but I hope to succeed thanks to the help of Wil Olfers (cattery Miki Sanuki's). She is my mentor and gives me advice.

Magic's Angel Hancock F1

WHAT DOES OUTCROSS MEAN ? ?

First of all, you need to select a suitable breed to start the outcross with. We have decided to work with the ASH (american shorthair) and the DSH (domestic shorthair).

The ASH has qualities we can use to improve the type of the sphynx: big head, short nose,....

The cats which are used for the outcross are tested for HCM, FIV, FeLV, ......

You need to go through several steps before you become a new sphynx:

Miki Sanuki's Desired Dreamy Double F4

* ASH /DSH x sphynx = F1 (all the kittens will be hairy).
* F1 x sphynx = F2 (some will be hairless, some will be hairy).
* F2 x sphynx = F3 (hairless)
* F3 x sphynx = F4 = pure sphynx

As you can see it takes 4 generations before you become a pure bred sphynx.

If you have questions, feel free to contact me.

Early spay/ neuter means that the operation is done before puberty.We spay/ neuter our cats sold as pets before they leave home heading for their new families. This is done at the age of 3,5 months.

Why spay/ neuter young kittens?

Many veterinarians refuse to do this due to various wrong reasons. They will often explain that castration/ sterilization will stop their growth or that the operation itself is dangerous for a kitten etc.
They simply look for excuses not to do it.

Today we have several motifs for spaying our kittens :

The younger the cat is, the quicker it’s going to recover from the operation, kittens already play like mad a couple of hours after having had surgery.
Neutered males don't spray.
Further more there’s less risk that your cat will run away.
It also avoid having unwanted pregnancies.
It reduces the risk of tumours and in order to reduce the risk as much as possible the operation should take place before the female’s first heat. This is not always the case when the female is spayed at the age of 7 - 8 months. It also reduces the risk of cancer in the testicles for the males.
For us, the breeders, it gives a certain security and allows us to ensure our kittens a future with lots of love and it shows the real desire and motivation of the future owners of our kittens

If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact me, I will be more than happy to reply.

Long live the sphynx !

Important

It's important to know that the body-temperature of a sphynx drops quickly during surgery.
It’s therefore wise to keep it warm during every operation where it’s necessary to anesthetize. Ideally it should be operated on a heating plate.

It’s also important to know that Ketamine should NEVER be used to anesthetize a Sphynx because years back the Sphynx was out-crossed with Devon Rex and this breed has passed on the fatal genetic illness “spasticity” which attacks the nerve system, paralyses and strangles the cat, and cats with this illness do not tolerate Ketamine.

Should you have any questions what so ever please do not hesitate to contact me.

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