In July 2010 a black Domestic Shorthair queen in Virginia (US) produced a little with a pair of sparsely haired kittens - one male and one female, who were placed with Patti Thomas at approximately 8 weeks old in September 2010.
The generally accepted telling is that Thomas surrendered ownership of these kittens to Brittney Gobble and Dr. Johnny Gobble at the suggestion of a mutual friend but other accounts report that a co-ownership was entered into. Regardless, in April 2011 the Gobble’s were given possession of the kittens.
Another pair of cats with a similar phenotype had been born in Tennessee (US) in September 2010 and the Gobble’s were informed of them and able to acquire them shortly after getting the first two.
Various genetic testing and health evaluations were carried out to determine first if these cats had a Devon Rex/Sphynx gene responsible for the appearance, then to see if the unique appearance could be due to a medical issue and assess if there were any glaring health concerns with the (soon to be) foundation cats.
The gene was determined to be an entirely new, recessive natural mutation unrelated to the Sphynx/Devon Rex gene and that “some hair follicles lacked all the necessary components required to create hair. They also found that the follicles that were able to produce hair, lacked the proper balance of these components to maintain the hair.”
In September 2011 the first deliberately-bred Lykoi was born.
TICA accepted the Lykoi for registration in 2011 and champion status in 2017.
The CFA accepted the Lykoi for registration in 2018 and champion status in 2023.
Breed History by Brittney Gobble
The Uncensored Origins of the Lykoi
The world was soon smitten with these charming little “werewolf cats” and their strange appearance, entirely unlike any other breed - and those involved in the development of the breed were quick to vouch for their health, while it might be alarming for an ordinary cat to look such a way it was natural for the Lykoi and they were no worse for wear due to it.
And in the first years on the breed this was the truth to the best of their knowledge.
But when you have an animal that routinely lives into their mid-teens and can make it into their early-twenties, the first couple years of life are not a guarantee of overall health… and sure enough, as the first Lykoi cats entered full adulthood, definite problems began to arise.
The abnormal skin of the breed devolved into craterous nightmares of acne, blackheads and cysts. Those from the original Gobbles’ line seemed to suffer the worst and some eventually faced euthanasia due to poor quality of life.
The first clinical description of the Lykoi’s unique phenotype was published in The Japanese Journal of Veterinary Dermatology in November of 2016, around the time these first cats would be experiencing maturity and when these problems tend to start occuring.
Clinical and Histologic Description of Lykoi Cat Hair Coat and Skin
I do not recall it being “big news” at the time and I still do not see it brought up during discussions of the breed and their skin issues.
Lykoi were observed to have significantly fewer hair follicles than Domestic Shorthair cats, and the follicles they do have tend to be more shallow as well as significantly more sebaceous glands.
“Unlike DSH, Lykoi had mild to severe perifollicular to mural lymphocytic infiltration in 77% of observed hair follicle groups, and follicles were often miniaturized, dilated, and dysplastic.”
So what does all of this mean, functionally, for the Lykoi cats?
The proper term for their condition is “lymphocytic folliculitis,” most often present in localized spots on the affected cat associated with infectious skin conditions but may also occur on a wider scale due to a number of other ailments.
Here “Lymphocytic” refers to a high presence of lymphocytes involved with the inflammatory response, these being a type of white blood cell involved with the immune system.
While “Folliculitis” just means infection or inflammation of a follicle which causes a painful pustule to develop - this can be due to any number of reasons, think cystic acne or sebaceous cysts.
A Case of Diet-related Lymphocytic Mural Folliculitis in a Cat
Lymphocytic Mural Folliculitis Resembling Epitheliotropic Lymphoma in Tigers (Panthera tigris)
Once affected the goal is typically palliative care - medication and grooming routines to manage a condition that is lifelong and incurable. Approaches to the issue are highly variable- duoxo s3, laser treatment, immunosuppressants, retinoids, steroids, topical antiseptics, more bathing, less bathing, sweater/onesie, etc.
Breeders and fanciers often report that these blemishes bother their people more than they bother the cats themselves but this is a bold statement with little to support it - we know cats tend to disguise their pain very well, they’re not able to verbalize to us “I’m in pain, this is painful.”
There are certain behaviors and signs we know correlate with pain but the absence of these symptoms isn’t necessarily indicative of the absence of pain.
But personally… I would consider these to be painful.
A Final Note: The Future of the Breed
To what degree this is an issue may be contested but it is undeniable that this is an issue - cats riddled with oozing growths is not what fanciers of the breed strive for and so there is discussion on how to breed this problem out of the breed while retaining their unique appearance.
I am of the opinion that this isn’t feasible.
There are breeds where we can phase out their issues with careful selection… and there are ones where the problem is so intertwined with the definition of that breed that we cannot. The Lykoi - much like the Munchkin or the Scottish Fold - is the latter.
The Lykoi is a sparse-coated breed but the sparse-coat directly causes dermatitis - so the only way to cure the dermatitis issue in the breed is to get rid of the genetics for the sparse-coat, changing the standard of the Lykoi into something entirely new and different (which wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing).
But if we could, in theory, resolve the issue while maintaining the current aesthetic through careful breeding overtime - to what end? What is the justification? We know this is a painful condition, one that can impact quality of life to the point of euthanasia, it isn’t just a minor inconvenience. Is “they’re cool, I want one” a sufficient justification to produce however many animals knowingly and willingly meant to suffer for a distant goal?
Side Note: This is not an opposition to the breeding of companion animals as a whole, “companionship” a legitimate purpose to breed for and as valid as any work or sport. The issue here is producing harmful traits for the sake of aesthetics.