šš»šFirst of all let me state this disclaimer: This post is completely based on my experience and personal opinions. I always recommend you do your own research and come to your own conclusion on the way you care for your pets and what's best for them.
So with that being said... now that we've talked about what its like to live with a sphynx, lets talk about their extensive care and the slave you will become to your new hairless creature.
We can start with their eating habits. As mentioned before sphynx cats eat A LOT. The reason behind this is because they have a higher metabolism then most cats. I have also found that they have a more sensitive stomach then most other cats. Out of all 5 of my boys, about 3 of them have had some sort of stomach or allergy issue. Rok being the worst. When I first brought Rok home I had NO IDEA of the financial burden he would become. I had never seen a cat with such bad skin issues in my life. We found it was mainly because he was allergic to poultry. Not just poultry, but it was a huge factor in his allergy issues. He was so bad off that we would have to get him a depo shot monthly just to allow him to be comfortable throughout the day.
Due to Rok's food allergy I decided to look into the not so popular choice of Raw feeding. Most veterinarians do not support this diet for pets. So be warned! They will tell you cats will get E.coli or other issues. But in my opinion its a load of crap. I feel like vets get commission from the food they sell from big brand distributors so why would they want to slow that income? Cats have a short and acidic digestion tracts that doesn't allow them to get sick from the raw foods. You can control what goes into their food so that there aren't any added preservatives, which is another reason I chose to make the switch(since I didn't know everything Rok was allergic to). Cats are predators. If you've ever seen a stray cat or owned a barn cat you will know that they enjoy hunting for their food and eating their raw prey. There isn't anything wrong with it!
Benefits of feeding your cat a raw diet is not only improved digestion, but it will also make your cat go to the bathroom less and have less stinky poop! Who would be mad at that?! It will help with their skin issues, coat health, weight, dental, and urinary health! Due to their higher metabolism their body processes more of the food and uses it for energy. So they will go less, it will be harder, smaller, and less stink! Its incredible the difference it makes all around. So we ventured into the raw diet lifestyle for our hairless itchy boys.
It was a little overwhelming at first, but I found a few good Facebook groups to join and gathered a lot of information on where to begin. I started off by making my own mix. I would buy human grade foods such as ground beef, beef liver, beef heart, sardines in water ( you can't use the ones in oil or flavors) chicken, chicken livers and hearts with gizzards. I bought different supplements to add to the mix as well. When making your own cat food the ratio should be 80% muscle meat, 10% bone, 5% liver and 5% other secretory organs.
I found it was more difficult to make a beef mix at home since I don't have a grinder to grind up bone. It was easy to make the mixture of chicken for my other boys because they could easily eat the bones in the wings. So because Rok couldn't have chicken bones and beef bones were too hard to grind with my little baby grinder (you could purchase a big boy grinder if you can afford it) I decided to look for a business that sold pre-ground meats specifically for pets on raw diets. That's when I found Hare Today.
This site changed my raw feeding life! They have every meat you can imagine. Pre made raw diet, whole prey, freeze dried products, food for dogs, cats, even ferrets! They also have a raw food feeding/ratio calculator on their site to help you figure out how much to feed your pet. I decided I was going to try different meats for Rok. We started with lamb and it was a great choice for him. It helped stop his breakouts. When I felt it was a little boring I would add venison to his diet from friends and family who hunt. It was also a great choice for him. Also it was nice to get free meat that was left over.
So once I would have all my ingredients I would mix all the meats together depending on what type of batch I was making, I'd mix in my supplements and then I would use my kitchen scale to measure out 2 1/2 ounce portions (which will vary by weight of cat) in sandwich bags and flatten them into little patties and throw them in the freezer. Some people suggest that you freeze human grade food for at least a few days before feeding your cats, but I've never done this myself, at least not intentionally. I've never had a problem with not freezing the food for a certain time before feeding it. Every morning I would take out all food portions for the day and let it defrost before giving it to my boys. I saw a difference pretty quick in their behavior and health. Rok was no longer breaking out and blistering up from his allergies (at least not as bad).
I would suggest this type of diet for any pet owner, if you can afford to maintain it. I do not judge people who use dry food as I still use this type of food myself. The benefits of this diet far outweigh any possibility of my cats getting sick from it.
Now lets move onto bathroom and grooming habits. I used to have a cat named Poe. He was one of those picky cats that hated a dirty litterbox. So I once again I found myself in a position where I had to convince Chris into letting me make a huge purchase. It was tax return time and once I made my case and got the approval I made the jump and got on the Litter Robot bandwagon. A Litter Robot is this rocket ship looking litter box that senses when a cat goes in and automatically cycles a few mins after a cat goes to the bathroom. Since it only uses clumping litter it only removes the waste and not access litter. They even have a newer one that also connects to an app where you can monitor the usage and when it needs to be changed, which is also helpful when its in a room that's not always in sight.
Honestly I had no Idea how much of a great investment I was making at the time. I realized I was saving not only time but money as well! I no longer had to scoop every time a cat went to the bathroom, but it would only remove the waste since it uses clumping litter. Not only was I saving money, but I was even making money!
That's right stay at home moms! I was MAKING money after I bought the Litter Robot. First I was sent an email which was an invitation to join their referral program. So I did. For every customer who purchased a new Litter Robot through my link the new customer would receive $25 off and I would get that $25! Soon I upgraded my account to an influencer account and now I make 10% of every purchase made through my link... The Litter Robot was about $500. I've made over $900 since joining the affiliate program (I joined the influencer program February 2019)! So I'm needless to say I'm never going to complain about my Litter Robot. Nothing beats free. Even if you have to invest to get there.
Now onto care... Sphynx don't normally have large amounts of hair. So their bodies get dirty quick. They need constant baths, but too many will make it 10x worse so don't over bathe them! Some prefer to bathe their babies once a week. sometimes once every 2 weeks. I prefer once every few months. I use baby shampoo to wash my cats. It's gentle on their skin and if it accidentally gets into their eyes it wont burn. I usually fill the tub up to their knee with nice warm water. 4 of my 5 boys aren't exactly keen to having a bath. A few tolerate it more then the others. Lestat was my only boy who would voluntarily jump into the tub to enjoy a bath. Which made the kids bath time fun! After bath time I will wrap them up in a towel clean out their ears with q-tips (which get dirty quick and need attention more often then once a month.). Once I'm done with their ears ill move onto cleaning their nails. Their nails get so nasty. Poop gets caked up in their toe folds and nail beds. I clip their nails and use q-tips to wipe away the nastiness. They don't always like this part either and sometimes I need to enlist the help of the hubby to hold them in their kitty burrito while I clean.
*IMPORTANT NEED TO KNOWS*
Dirt Stains.
One thing you will not read on websites is that when you are bringing a sphynx cat you will want to invest in dark bedding and blankets for all the rooms your cat will frequent. If you love your furniture you will want to get either slip covers or lots of blankets because sphynx cats leave dirt stains!!!!
Yes, DIRT STAINS! On every surface they lay on.
Eye Boogers
Eye boogers are another thing you wont read about. These cats are super eye booger producers and they will end up everywhere! On your walls, on your floors, maybe even on your ceilings. It's DISGUSTING!
Skin Cells
Yep! Skin smudges on all your clothes. Skin cells mixed with dirt and there is no way around it. No matter how much you wash them. This is your life now.
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