Oh My God. Catlovers, why? Just, why? (new kind of cat, very odd, picts, BEWARE!!!!!)

[uppityperson]

Edited to add warning to title since people have gotten shocked.


Kohona cats

http://belfrysphynx.org/kohona.html (has many pictures)

The 'Kohona' aka 'Hawiian Hairless', 'Rubber Cat'.

You've NEVER heard of a Kohana???

Well, its not surprising, most people haven't.

What IS a Kohana? The Kohana is the result of a mutation
originating in Hawaii and is the ONLY true hairless breed of
cat. It's true! Kohana's have no fuzz whatsoever... no hair
follicles... Where a Sphynx feels like a warm peach, a
Kohana feels more like a warm candle. To date, there are
only 18 of these cats in existence, but they've stirred up a
huge interest for such a small number.

Twice the charm of a Sphynx?? Or
twice as ugly.... You be the judge

Before their eyes open, they look like this...









After they are grown they look like this...

[TOhioLiberal]

1. I'm a cat lover...

...but that is just WRONG! :scared:

[AlCzervik]

2. My eyes!!! It looks like a brain that has arms and legs.

eeeekkkkk.

[fizzgig]

3. oh. my. gods.

that is terrifying

:scared:

[Deja Q]

4. Okay. Put the brains back into the head, knit the skull shut, and give me the ice cream scoop.

Bad, VERY BAD scientists! :spank:

[snailly]

5. God dammit! Put a warning on that in the thread title

Seriously, I just screamed.

[uppityperson]

8. Done, moved the pict down also

[snailly]

14. Thank you

Sorry, that just made me want to cry and barf simultaneously.

[lizerdbits]

6. Yuk!

Those and the sphynx are the only cat's I can't love.

[AlCzervik]

7. I just showed my daughter all the pics "OMG SHUT IT OFF!!"

:rofl: :rofl:

[Akoto]

9. Wow. It looks like a braincat.

[supernova]

10. Feline sharpeis?

That is one FUGLY cat.

That is NOT a cute kitten. I'm pretty sure regular short hair and long hair cats don't look like that under their fur. x(

[Left Is Write]

11. I'm with the brain people. These cats look like brains.

[Nickster]

12. Cool, a cat that this allergic guy could have in the house.

[jmowreader]

13. This one's not too bad

This shot looks lile outtakes from a horror film...



And this one falls into the "so ugly it's cute" class:



But yeah, in general these things are just fuckin' ugly.

[Deja Q]

16. Pics 1 and 3 look like fetuses.

Ewwww.

[uppityperson]

17. I'd name mine Pinky!

Cats need fur. especially mutant wrinkled cats.

[deucemagnet]

15. Awwwww!

What a widdle coodie pie! :loveya:

[jmowreader]

19. All these cats have similar-themed names

Swift, Armour, Smithfield...if you must tie a pork chop around your cat's neck to get other cats to play with it, you really need to name it after a pork producer.

You can't name one Hormel, though, because I already HAVE a cat named that.

[u4ic]

18. That second cat

looks like a grumpy old man.

[InvisibleTouch]

20. The Shar-Pei of the cat world!

I think they're super-cute, but then I have a penchant for the unusual. My only concern would be if they have any kind of health issues. The gene for hairless in mammals is often lethal in a double dose, or it can code for tooth problems.

I've met Sphynx cats and love them - they're wonderfully personable. There are some almost completely hairless Sphynxes, but they're rare. I guess we'll hear more about the Kohona in the future.

[ironflange]

39. I've met a Sphynx only once

But in those couple of minutes, he charmed me like no other cat has ever done. What an amazing personality he had.

[Bjornsdotter]

21. Shit!

Those cats just don't look quite done yet....they need to incubate a bit longer.

PS.....not sure your warning is strong enough, I yelped.

Cheers

[Pithlet]

22. I thought, "How bad can a picture of cats be? I love cats!"

Now I wish I hadn't looked. :scared:

[flamingyouth]

50. My thoughts exactly.

:scared:

[mainegreen]

23. Who! It looks like grandma!

[PassingFair]

30. Funny! That 2nd cat looks almost EXACTLY like my late Grandmother Anderson.

My husband showed me that picture about two months ago, when
my sister was in town. He called me over to his monitor and
asked, "Who does this look like?"

My sister and I both said "Grandma Anderson" simultaneously.

Funny moment. Funny cat.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

24. Just my opinion, but I've always felt cats looked a bit better with fur.

Even so, these guys are so homely I kind of love them.

[Jamastiene]

25. Do they have some Shar Pei genes in them too?

Just saying. I have groomed cats before and some were shaved on occasion (owner's choice). Of course, we never shaved their faces. But, for the life of me, I never remember seeing any cat with that many wrinkles. Oh dear, what have they done to my beloved favorite animal? *shudder*

[GirlinContempt]

26. Brains are awesome. Cats are pretty rad.

Walking brains (or cats that look like brains), super rad.

[ghostsofgiants]

31. It's like Krang with four legs and a pair of ears.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

27. I hope their owners keep them out of the sun in the summer, and

warm in the winter.

[Bullwinkle925]

32. My first thought as well ......skin CA.

Yikes!!

[uppityperson]

43. I'd be worried about skin fungus and sunburn.

Thinking about these overnight, I think it is sad for them. This is one that "I" wouldn't keep breeding. Sphynxes are cool, but this is a bit much.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

52. Fungus?

Like ringworm?

My furry cats had that a number of years ago, and we caught it from them...NOT pleasant!

[Nicole]

28. I hope this is as close as I ever get to one.

Those cats are creepy. :scared:

[Ariana Celeste]

29. i think they are kind of cute

[krispos42]

33. If I found one of those in my backyard...

I'd be calling the Area 51 people about their lost space creature while simultanously grabbing my son and sprinting him away to safety. Pepper spray may also come into play.

[MilesColtrane]

34. A pet only a Wraith drone could love.

[Rabrrrrrr]

35. I'm gonna get a couple for my Nazgul! Seriously, though, I think they're cool.

I wouldn't mind having one at all.

[graywarrior]

36. ET.

I think they're cute.

[TZ]

37. Beware of the alien kitty cat! (especially that first pic!)

Seriously, they look like something George Lucas would dream up....:yoiks:

[baldguy]

38. My... preciousssss!

[BarenakedLady]

40. Ick

:scared:

[fortyfeetunder]

41. That's the cat for me

I am allergic to cat dander, so one of them would be great if I didn't birds inside and outside the house!

They are cute little things though!

[mitchum]

42. The cat in the second picture looks like John Hurt

it really does

[Arugula Latte]

44. I love cats and I despise cat breeders.

Here they are, creating these specialized kitties who will have health problems and skin problems and eyesight problems, and meanwhile, millions of wonderful kitties go homeless or are killed at shelters.

Fuck Breeders.

[hyphenate]

45. I fell very sorry for the poor little

bairns. They will receive rejection and hatred from many who see them, but hopefully they will not be bred any further. I fear, though, that like the short-legged cats, Munchkins, they will be bred without regard to the needs of the animals themselves.

I don't hate ALL breeders. It's not always wrong when a breeder wants to keep a breed alive--too often what made an animal popular needs to be kept going. It's when breeders get dollar signs inside their brains instead of hearts and kisses for their animal companions that the animals get expoited. I think some of the prices for purebreeds are WAY too high, but unhappily, there are more than enough cats (and dogs) around so paying for a purebreed is unnecessary. And many people are just too fucking stupid, lazy and lackadaisical to get their animals spayed or neutered.

I think breeders might have gone too far with this one. There are likely too many litters with stillborns or kittens who do not survive in the process of interbreeding, and that's a mortal sin in my book. Leave Mother Nature ALONE. She knows what she is doing--NOT the assholes who are just satisfying their curiosity by trying to "create" a new breed.

[SammyWinstonJack]

46. A face only a mother could love.

:evilgrin:

[Neshanic]

47. I love cats, but that is just wrong.

[ScreamingMeemie]

48. But, it's wittle teeny pawsies are adorable!

:hi:

[GreenPartyVoter]

49. I have cats BECAUSE I love their silky fur. I do not love my fish for they

are not fuzzy and are terrible lap pets.

[Fire Walk With Me]

51. I didn't know David Cronenberg had taken to breeding cats.

Anyone remember the B/W film "Fiend Without a Face"?

[Lithium Seraph]

53. Omg...they are just so...so..cute ^.^

After seeing those pictures I decided that while they are something different, I wouldn't mind having one as a pet. Ah, brain cats are so cute..who would have thought, eh? ^.^

[I Have A Dream]

59. Welcome to DU, Lithium Seraph!

:hi:

[Lithium Seraph]

64. ^.^

Thx for the welcome, I Have A Dream ^.^

[Ariana Celeste]

61. hehe welcome to DU

bout time you posted something :p

[Lithium Seraph]

65. I sort of figured

that you would end up saying something along the lines of that :P

[Ariana Celeste]

68. like I'm that predictable

:eyes: :P

[SPKrazy]

54. It's Just a Nekkid Cat!

:rofl:

[Arkansas Granny]

63. Naw, I'm sure my kitty would look better than that, even nekkid!

[bertha katzenengel]

55. as long as the cats don't have special health problems due to the breeding

:shrug:

[LynneSin]

56. Well at least you wouldn't have to clean poop out of their butt hair

That was a fun activity this weekend........NOT!!!

BTW, if you go through all the pictures there are actually some cute adult ones

[uppityperson]

57. Yeah, some of the adults look ok, no worse than some dogs or people

[unpossibles]

58. at the expense of good taste

these cats look like ballsacks.

[Rob H.]

60. Not a fan

I don't like those Munchkin cats, either, nor do I like how breeders of Persians have selected for pushed-in faces. Gimme a good old mixed-breed from the Humane Society any day. :)

[KamaAina]

62. I had no idea we had our own cat

or popoki ("dog of the night").

I think I'll stick with the mainland ones, though. I definitely go for the fur...

[EstimatedProphet]

66. Someone forgot to iron the cat again

[KamaAina]

67. Sadly, but not surprisingly, the little guys are not very healthy

http://www.petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=92138

I am good friends with Michelle, the woman who owns these cats. i.e. the breeder/owner of Belfry cattery. She was given the first Kohonas to work with, who were found in a animal shelter in Hawaii. They aren't inbred either. She tried to develop the breed, because well, they are just so darn cute and don't they deserve a chance to be recognized like the other cat breeds??? Anyway, she tried to outcross them with the regular Sphynx and with the American Shorthair, but isn't having much luck with them. The mortality rate is astounding. The Kohona kittens are born with NO nursing instinct, and she has had to tube feed every last one. Her most recent litter (born last summer of 2005) all died one by one. Necropsies showed death of natural causes.

When I last spoke with her regarding the future of these kitties, their future looks mighty dim. There are only THREE entire cats (i.e. not altered) and they are getting too old to be bred. To date, there are only 19 Kohonas in existence, and they all came from Michelle.

:cry:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

69. "Don't they deserve a chance to be recognized like the other cat breeds?"

What an absurd question. I'm sure the cats don't care whether their breed is recognized. And no breed should be recognized if the animals can't be healthy. This is a clearly unhealthy mutation that should never have been encouraged, and this breeder should be ashamed of herself for allowing kittens to be born who have little chance of survival.

It's ironic that we try so hard to prevent birth defects in humans, but actually encourage them in animals because we think they're cute or interesting or whatever. Poor cats.

[hyphenate]

70. I figured as much

As I posted earlier, sometimes Mother Nature really does have the final say. And breeding for a new species with no regard to the high mortality rate of the offspring makes it a losing proposition.

Is there any reason why so many of them have been altered? It would be interesting to know the reason why.

Not to be misunderstood, there are certain "mutations" which are fun and not harmful to the world of cats (like the Devon Rex, for example, or polydactylism), but I always have a problem when breeders try to "perfect" an animal, like they've done to Siamese or Persians through the years. The old-fashioned "apple-head" Siamese are just as pleasing as these super skinny ones with the expressionless faces, perhaps even more so, and the old Persian (what we used to call "Angora") had such sweet faces, unlike the smushed up faced ones now (especially when respiratory problems abound in the current examples).

I know there are clients "out there" that will pay for "designer" cats, but I find that Heinz 57 felines are just as charming, and often MORE charming, than their purebred brothers and sisters. I've also read many times that mutts are more hardy as well, and have less neuroses than purebreds. I've had mostly mutts myself, but had a very neurotic Siamese at one time, who loved to eat every thing he shouldn't. My dad hated him!

[Lord Helmet]

71. I just lost my lunch.

[realisticphish]

72. what the gently caress

seriously, who the HELL would want that *thing*

and I love cats.


the second pic looks like a cyborg