By Lily Feinn
A litter of fluffy tuxedo kittens recently arrived at PAWS Chicago — but one sibling was surprisingly different.
Besides a smattering of peach fuzz on her wrinkled little body and gray sideburns, the kitten, dubbed Craisin, was hairless. And everyone who laid eyes on her was immediately smitten.
Craisin and her siblings were surrendered by their owner after the number of cats in the home became unmanageable. “There are at least 30 cats in the home, which we are taking into our program gradually,” Allison Wunder, senior digital media manager at PAWS Chicago, told The Dodo. “As of now, 12 of them have come to PAWS — one adult and 11 kittens. More will be coming, of course!”
“Of the 12 cats we’ve seen so far, Craisin is the only hairless one,” Wunder added. “It was definitely a surprise to us.”
Why Craisin “showed up in her birthday suit” is anyone’s guess. After a thorough veterinary exam, Craisin doesn’t appear to have demodectic mange or any other medical conditions that cause hair loss. She and her siblings seem remarkably healthy and social.
“We’re not sure if any of the remaining cats in the home are also hairless, but a few of the comments we’ve received on social media say this can be a recessive gene, so maybe we wouldn’t see it in Mom or Dad?” Wunder said.
Hairlessness in cats is a result of a genetic mutation in the KRT71 gene, which has been used to develop breeds such as the Sphynx cat. However, some of PAWS Chicago’s social media followers have suggested Craisin could be a Lykoi or “wolf cat” — partially hairless cats with coarse-looking fur and a werewolf-like appearance.
Or, her baldness could have nothing to do with genetics: “There’s a possibility it’s stress-related and her hair will grow back someday,” Wunder said.
Like most hairless cats, Craisin is sensitive to temperature, and you can often find her wearing a sweater and hat combo made from a cut-up sock.
But her favorite thing in the world is to stay toasty by cuddling with her siblings.
“She definitely prefers to get her warmth from mooching off her fluffier siblings,” Wunder said. “She’s a big snuggler (we usually find her underneath one of the other kittens), but she’s the most chill of them all. She’ll engage with the kitten Wrestlemania from time to time, but they’re a little more wild than her. The other kittens don’t treat her any differently!”
Craisin has won quite a few hearts since her arrival, but she and her siblings are still searching for the perfect forever homes. If you live in the Chicago area and are interested in adopting one of the kittens, you can learn more about the process on PAWS Chicago’s website.
It’s impossible to tell what Craisin’s future might hold, but cuddles will never be in short supply.
