Breeding pedigreed cats has long been controversial, but a new trend in cats bred to resemble American Bully XL dogs could be one of the most alarming fads of all time. There is.
The so-called “bully kittens” originated in the United States and are the result of breeding mutations.
Unlike pedigree breeding, which focuses on keeping animals purebred, mutation breeding involves deliberately combining genetic mutations to create cats with a specific appearance. In this case, the gene that causes hairlessness in Sphynx cats is mixed with the gene that causes short legs in Munchkin cats, making the bullish cat a cross between a Munchkin and a Sphynx.
These cats closely resemble bully dogs, a breed group characterized by a stocky build, broad body, and short coat. American XL bully dogs will be banned in the UK in 2023.
Bully kittens recently arrived in the UK and social media accounts have popped up promoting this new mutant breed.
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According to animal welfare and reproduction experts Marjan van Hagen and Geoffrey de Geer from Utrecht University in the Netherlands, these mutations have a serious impact on cats’ health and limit their freedom of movement. It is said that there is a possibility. Kittens already have a limited ability to regulate their body temperature, but losing their fur makes it even more difficult to regulate their body temperature, making them more susceptible to respiratory infections.
In hairless cats, the lack of hair can also cause sunburn and skin cancer. Like the Sphynx, the bully cat also lacks whiskers. Whiskers are relied upon by cats to communicate, navigate their environment, and measure spatial dimensions.
Short-legged cats also face problems. Short legs limit a cat’s ability to jump, putting them at a disadvantage in fights and potentially causing painful health conditions. Breeders claim that Bully cats are healthy and long-lived, but it is still too early to judge their long-term health and welfare.
Some breeders say they test the cats they breed for diseases such as heart disease. Although this can help prevent health problems, it does not overcome all the health and welfare problems associated with breeding mutants.
A May 2024 study by veterinary epidemiologist Kendy Tzu-Yun Teng and colleagues assessed the annual life expectancy of cats in the UK and found that while the average cat lives nearly 12 years, Sphynx cats live only a fraction of the time. It turned out to be the shortest at 6.7 years. Bully kittens are hairless and have short legs, so they can face twice as much trouble as a Sphynx or Munchkin.
In the wild, unrelated species facing comparable environmental challenges often develop similar traits, a process known as “convergent evolution.” These species evolved to look and behave similarly, even though they came from different evolutionary paths.
Take the Australian sugar glider, for example. They look and act very similar to the American flying squirrel, but one is a marsupial and the other a mammal. Both animals faced the problem of how to move efficiently within the forest canopy and evolved the same solution.
Similarly, many domesticated animals share common traits known collectively as “domestication syndromes,” such as increased docility, childish behavior, floppy ears, and small teeth. Traits that helped them adapt to life with humans.
However, the similarity between bully cats and dogs does not result from such a gradual and natural process. Rather, it is the result of selective breeding based on aesthetics.
In a 2018 paper on ethical breeding, veterinarian and animal welfare scientist Wentje Farstad summarized this as breeding for “curiosity and cuteness.” People usually find traits like round eyes and short noses particularly cute, but breeding for hairlessness or short legs is more in line with the concept of breeding for curiosity.
In this case, the similarities between bully cats and dogs are due to human-driven design, where appearance takes precedence. Bully cats appear to have been deliberately bred to resemble bully dogs, perhaps because they are perceived as a kind of status symbol among young men.
Can a bully cat survive without humans?
Mutations that prevent survival and reproduction are usually rare in nature. However, humans circumvent natural selection by choosing which animals reproduce, allowing disadvantageous traits to persist in the wild.
Examples of this can be found in many domestic species. For example, Belgian Blue cows require caesarean section in more than 90% of births due to the muscularity of their calves.
Another domesticated animal, the modern broiler, has been bred to grow much faster than wild chickens. If allowed to live longer than normal slaughter age, many will not survive. Bully cats would also probably have a hard time surviving in the wild without human care.
Cross-breeding programs help increase genetic diversity and reduce deleterious traits in many breeds. However, for mutant breeds like bullies, which are characterized by hairlessness and short legs, this is not a practical solution.
Pet owners should be aware of the risks associated with owning mutant or experimental breeds. Consumers have purchasing power. By refusing to purchase breeds with extreme characteristics, you can prevent breeders from prioritizing beauty over the animal’s health and welfare.
The trend toward ethical breeding could mean that cats of the future will be healthier, happier, and more free to enjoy natural cat behaviors like climbing trees, jumping, and lounging in the sun. There is sex. Cats should be allowed to be cats.
Grace Carroll, Lecturer in Animal Behavior and Welfare, School of Psychology, Queen’s University Belfast
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
