TORONTO - One of the most peculiar and polarizing pets -- the hairless sphynx cat -- can be traced back to Canada's largest city.
The wrinkled cat with large, bat-like ears provokes strong reactions. To some, the sphynx is a grotesque, alien-like creature that barely deserves to be called a cat. To others, it's an affectionate companion whose personality belies its looks.
The controversial cat dates back to the 1960s, when breeders say a hairless cat named Prune was born in Toronto in a litter of otherwise normal, furry kittens.
Riyadh Bawa, a University of Toronto student at the time, has been credited by breeders as the first to identify the hairlessness as a result of a recessive gene. Bawa, in partnership with other breeders, bred Prune with his mother, producing several more hairless kittens.
A brief 1966 article by the Associated Press says Bawa hoped to "develop a hairless line" of cats for allergy sufferers.
While the lack of a full furry coat means sphynxes don't shed, they aren't a totally hypoallergenic breed, since people often react to a protein in cats' saliva rather than the hair itself. And although the cats don't need to be brushed, they have to be bathed every week or two to deal with the oil that builds up on their skin, experts and owners say.
