Lykois are social cats who love lots of attention and a warm lap to cuddle up on, however, despite their social nature they can be wary of new people and new situations. While these cats enjoy the company of their people, they’re just as happy playing with a toy on their own to keep themselves entertained. These cats are known to be quite ‘dog-like’ in some of their behaviours and they can even be taught to play fetch if a toy is thrown for them.

This cat is an experimental new cat breed, created from a mutation in domestic shorthaired cats over the last ten years. In 2010, unusual, hairless kittens were discovered in different feral litters and these were captured for a closer look. Due to their unusual appearance, these kittens were examined for possible health problems, however with time and testing, it was determined that their unique look was due to a recessive gene. As a black coat was favoured by the initial breeders, they chose to outcross these cats with domestic black cats in an attempt to preserve the look of the Lykoi and help prevent inbreeding and subsequent health problems.

Today, it’s still possible to find feral cats with the ‘werewolf look’, and sometimes these cats are even admitted into Lykoi breeding programmes if they’re determined to be healthy and don’t carry the genes associated with other hairless breeds of cats – as while these cats are partially hairless, they’re not related to the Sphynx as their appearance may suggest!