Permissible
- All colour varieties and patterns, including those with white
- Any amount of white
No breeder is on record here yet. Portugal’s FIFe member club does not list this breed in its breeder directory at all, so an absence here says nothing about whether anyone breeds it in Portugal.
Medium-sized hairless or partially hairless cat with wrinkled skin, long ears, and almond-shaped eyes. Russian origin hairless breed.
Discovered in 1987 in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. Unlike the Sphynx, the Donskoy hairlessness is caused by a dominant gene. Also called Don Sphynx. Recognized by TICA.
Generally described as playful, affectionate, loyal, social, intelligent and gentle.
That is the breed in general, not a promise about one animal. Ask the breeder what their own line is like, and meet the parents before you decide.
Breed reference from The Cat API.
Drawn from sources, not opinion: FIFe breed standard; The Cat API. An empty column means we hold nothing for that side, not that there is nothing to say.
The Donskoy standard is published by the FIFe (Fédération Internationale Féline), the international federation of pedigree-cat clubs, and it is what show judges apply. This section sums up what it says about coat and colour. It does not assess any one animal: use it to know what to ask the breeder.
Complete hairlessness is preferred.
Short harsh hair on the muzzle, ears and legs may occur.
Notes
Permissible
Shortened from FIFe standard DSP — each label is the standard’s own wording with the verdict lifted into the tag beside it. Read the full clause at source. FIFe lists this standard’s last modification as 2012. Text read on 31 Aug 2026.
The colour varieties FIFe recognises for this breed are listed, with their EMS codes, in the table at the end of its standard. FIFe describes each colour group in the General Part of its standards.
The colours and patterns the standard admits, and what it prefers, discourages or disqualifies in each. An accepted colour says nothing about health. Quotations from the FIFe are in English, as the standard publishes them; the headings are ours.
Known hereditary risks for the Donskoy breed, and the specific documentation to request from any breeder before paying a deposit. A responsible breeder will have these readily available; deflection is a red flag.
1 condition documentedThis is breed-level literature, not veterinary advice about an individual animal — your vet knows the animal.
Health checklist (PDF)Documented in this breed, but no source says how many of its dogs carry or have them. That is a gap in the evidence, not a sign they are rare.
Breed-level information from The Cat API. It describes the Donskoy in general; any individual animal can differ.
Donskoy's hairlessness is a single-gene, autosomal incomplete-dominant trait, catalogued by OMIA as disease-related. It is molecularly distinct from Sphynx hairlessness: KRT71, the gene responsible for the Sphynx mutation, has been explicitly ruled out as the cause in Donskoy, and no causal gene for the Donskoy trait has yet been identified. As the defining trait itself rather than a discrete disease, it carries secondary management needs typical of hairless cats generally (skin fold care, sunburn and temperature-regulation sensitivity), though those have not been documented specifically for Donskoy by a source in the approved list and are not asserted as confirmed findings here.
What to ask for
No DNA test exists or is possible while the causal gene remains unidentified.
Donskoy's hairlessness is a single-gene, autosomal incomplete-dominant trait, catalogued by OMIA as disease-related. It is molecularly distinct from Sphynx hairlessness: KRT71, the gene responsible for the Sphynx mutation, has been explicitly ruled out as the cause in Donskoy, and no causal gene for the Donskoy trait has yet been identified. As the defining trait itself rather than a discrete disease, it carries secondary management needs typical of hairless cats generally (skin fold care, sunburn and temperature-regulation sensitivity), though those have not been documented specifically for Donskoy by a source in the approved list and are not asserted as confirmed findings here.
What to ask for
No DNA test exists or is possible while the causal gene remains unidentified.