The werewolf cat: how this bizarre and adorable animal was born

    The werewolf cat: how this bizarre and adorable animal was born

    It shouldn't scare the almost total absence of hair or the gaunt and thin appearance: it is a genetic mutation that makes this cat so similar to a werewolf.

    He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him

    It shouldn't scare the almost total absence of hair or the gaunt and thin appearance: it is a genetic mutation that makes this cat so similar to a werewolf.





    Last May, a woman took her kitten to the vet thinking it was a seriously ill animal: the cat had lost most of its fur and looked haggard and wasted. Luckily the animal was fine - only it was a cat-wolf.

    The cat-wolf suffers from a rare genetic mutation that causes hair loss to the point of making it look like a werewolf. This is why it is also called Lykoi, which in ancient Greek means precisely 'wolves'. The new species appears to have first appeared about twenty years ago in Tennessee, but was only officially recognized ten years ago. The DNA test carried out on two specimens of the species confirmed the presence of a genetic mutation.

    Being a rare species that causes few allergies in humans, the cat-wolf has become quite popular in recent times - and also quite expensive to buy. Indeed, to take advantage of the current fashion, some breeders are trying to carry on the genetic mutation by giving birth to wolf cats.

    Everything we know about this bizarre animal comes from a recent study conducted on the species: according to the researchers, the cat-wolf would show the symptoms of a congenital lack of hair caused by the reduction in the number of follicles (a condition called hypotrichia); moreover, even the few follicles that the cat is equipped with do not have the same ability to support the hair of the follicles of normal cats, therefore the hairs appear faded and tend to fall out. Because of this, many wolfcats have little fluff and can become completely hairless.

    Crossbreeding and new species in the cat kingdom are not a rare phenomenon, according to the researchers. As for the cat-wolf, however, the human being is intervening to carry on this genetic mutation that otherwise would soon have become extinct by natural selection.



    It is not yet clear whether these animals suffer from any disease or health problem, but the possibility is not excluded. For example, Sphynx cats, which have no hair at all, are more exposed to lung infections or other respiratory problems precisely because of the lack of fur; for the same reason, they can develop forms of skin cancer if they spend too much time in the sun.

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    Source: Genes


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