Coats
Sphynx cat coats
People hear hairless and picture one look. I see five coat types in my cats. This is what each one looks and feels like.
They are not all naked
They are not all completely naked. I see 5 coat types in my cats: hairless, flocked, velour, brushed, and straight.
A fully hairless Sphynx is less common. The cat you are picturing is probably one end of a range. The rest of that range is just as much a Sphynx.
This is the part that surprises people when they finally meet mine in person.
I fell for the look and the elegance. I also fell for how the skin and coat feel in my hands.
Jennifer, Unfur-gettable owner
Hairless
Hairless is the look most people search for. There is almost no visible coat. The skin can feel like a warm peach or a bit of suede.
Some still have a little fuzz on the face, the ears, or the tail. That does not make them a different breed. Fully hairless is less common than the word hairless makes it sound.
Flocked
Flocked is a short peach-fuzz coat. From across the room they can look naked. In your hands they feel like a peach or a very short velvet.
This is a coat I see often. If you came in expecting glass-smooth skin and you meet a flocked cat, you are still looking at a Sphynx.
Velour
Velour has more coat than flocked. It is a short, soft covering. You often see more of it on the legs, the tail, or the face.
It can look like a thin velvet. It is still short. It is not a regular house-cat coat.
Brushed
Brushed is sparser and more textured. The hair can feel wiry or brush-like. You can see and feel individual hairs more than you do on velour.
People sometimes think brushed means the cat is mixed. In my cats it is still a Sphynx coat type.
Straight
Straight is the most coat of the five. It is a short, ordinary-looking cat coat. It is still a Sphynx.
This is the end of the range people are least expecting. I do not treat it as a lesser Sphynx. It is one of the five coats I see.
Coat is not color
Color is pigment. Black, blue, tabby, mink, and the rest. Coat type is how much hair they have and how it feels.
A flocked cat can be any color. A straight-coated Sphynx can be too. If someone sends you a color word as if it were a coat type, ask them which of the five they mean.
What the coat means for care
Oil and skin care are a week, not a coat name. Some cats need more baths than others. I do not treat coat type as a medical chart. The week I keep is on Sphynx cat care.
A little more coat does not mean you skip the ears or the nails. A little less coat does not mean you bathe them every weekend. Watch the cat in front of you.
What is not a coat
Odd-eye is eye color. It is not a coat.
A Bambino cat, an Elf cat, and a Dwelf cat are body types, not coats. Short legs, curled ears, or both. They can still have any of the five coats above.
Keep reading
Why Sphynx cats are hairless: the mutation, and why they are not all naked.
Sphynx cat care: baths, oil, and the week I keep.
Sphynx cat clothes: warmth, without treating a coat as clothing.
Sphynx personality: the feel is part of why I fell for them.