Which Cats Don't Shed Hair?

If you want to find a cat that does not shed, you must look at cats that are bald or completely hairless. In the 14th and 15th centuries, hairless cats were bred by the Aztecs, but now those early hairless cat breeds are extinct. Besides hairless cats, there are certain cats with hair that are considered nonshedding cats. Nonshedding does not necessarily mean that a cat does not shed at all; a cat may shed so minimally that you do not notice.

  1. Sphinx

    • The Sphinx, or Canadian Sphinx, is a hairless cat that has a suede-like skin texture. In 1966 in Canada, a black and white cat gave birth to a hairless kitten. The hairless kitten was a result of a genetic mutation, and it became the world's first Sphinx. Although the Sphinx is born with a light covering of fur, a Sphinx loses that fur over time. The Sphinx retains some surface hair on its face, tail and feet, but it is so minute that there is not really a potential for shedding. It is important to keep hairless cats indoors because they can get sunburned.

    Donskoy

    • The Donskoy, or Don Sphinx, is a fairly new hairless cat breed that does not shed. It was first bred in Russia in the 1980s. Unlike the Sphinx, whose hairless feature is determined by a recessive gene, the Donskoy is hairless due to a dominant hair loss gene. The Donskoy is usually born with a short fuzzy coat, but it loses this coat in the first two years of life. If a Donskoy is born with bald spots on its head at birth, this indicates that the cat will lose its hair by the age of two. Donskoys born with no bald spots on their heads may have short coats of hair throughout their lives.

    Peterbald

    • The Peterbald is another cat that does not shed. It was first bred in Russia in 1994 and is a cross between a Sphinx and an Oriental Shorthair cat. Because of the cat's mixed ancestry, it can be born with or without hair. A Peterbald can be completely hairless or it can have curly, downy or velvet-like hair. Peterbalds, like Sphinxes, can be born with hair but it can fall off over time. Besides the Sphinx, Peterbald and Donskoy, there are newer hairless cats that do not shed that have been bred since 1998. These include the Kohana, the Bambino, the Minskin, the Dwelf and the Ukrainian Levkoy.

    Other Nonshedding Breeds

    • Besides hairless cats, there are other breeds of cats that have hair but are known not to shed, or shed very little. The Cornish Rex is a cat with very short and curly hair. A cat can have three layers of hair on its coat: the outer long guard hairs, the shorter awn hairs and the short down hairs that provide insulation. A Cornish Rex lacks the guard and awn hairs, and so it sheds very little. The Devon Rex differs from the Cornish Rex in that the former has curly fur that is more twisted. The Devon Rex lacks guard hairs and is known to shed very little as well.