Pedigree cat breeding has long had its controversies but a new trend for cats bred to look like American bully XL dogs could be one of the most worrying fads yet. So-called "bully cats" originated in the US and are a result of mutant breeding. Unlike pedigree breeding, which focuses on keeping animals purebred, mutant breeding involves intentionally combining genetic mutations to create cats with a specific look.
In this case, they mix the gene that causes hairlessness in sphynx cats with the gene responsible for the short legs of munchkin cats, making bully cats a munchkin-sphynx cross. These cats share a close resemblance to bully dogs, a group of breeds characterised by a solid build, wide body and short coat. American XL bully dogs were banned in the UK in 2023.
Recently, bully cats have made their way to the UK, where social media accounts promoting this new mutant breed have emerged. According to Marjan van Hagen and Jeffrey de Gier, animal welfare and reproduction experts at Utrecht University in The Netherlands, these mutations can have serious health consequences for the cats and limit their freedom of movement. Kittens already have a limited ability to regulate their body temperature and this is made even more difficult by hairlessness and makes them more suspectible to respiratory infections.
A lack of fur can also lead to sunburn and skin cancer in hairless cats. Like the sphynx, bully cats also lack whiskers, which cats depend on for communication, navigating the.