Minskin
Short legged, and furred only at the points: face, ears, legs and tail, with bare skin between. Developed in Boston from the Munchkin and the Sphynx.
Photo by Paulmcsorley, CC BY-SA 3.0
Overview
The Minskin was developed in Boston from 1998 by crossing Munchkin with Sphynx and then adding Devon Rex and Burmese. The result is a short legged cat with fur at the points, on the face, ears, legs and tail, and largely bare skin between.
That fur pattern is the breed's defining feature and its own name for it is fur points. It is recognised by TICA as an experimental breed.
Temperament
Affectionate, outgoing and consistently people focused. Minskins are sociable with strangers, other cats and dogs, and they seek warmth and contact continuously.
They are active at floor level and playful into adulthood. The short legs mean they climb less and jump considerably less than an ordinary cat, so they operate horizontally.
Care and grooming
Bathing rather than brushing, because the bare areas accumulate skin oil with nothing to absorb it. Ear cleaning and nail bed care are regular jobs.
They chill quickly and they sunburn. The Sphynx and Devon Rex ancestry brings a real burden of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and the shared COLQ muscle weakness variant, and both are worth raising with a breeder directly.
Living and exercise
Indoors, warm, with ramps and steps to anything raised, and heated beds to burrow into.
The breed is experimental, the numbers are very small and there is no long term health record. Anyone buying one is depending entirely on the individual breeder's testing, which is the honest position rather than a criticism.
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