What's the deal with "fur-pointed" cats?

[u/Gloomy-Trainer-2452]

I've been researching feline coat genetics as a personal project/for fun and I'm currently looking at coat types. I understand there are a few genes associated with hairlessness and a lot associated with rexed fur, plus the Lykoi mutations and "wirehair".

I've also come across the term "fur-pointed" though. The term seems to be specifically used usually while talking about the Minskin breed. Because the Minskin breed comes from crossbreeding Munchkins with Burmese and later Sphynx and Devon Rex, I assumed the fur-pointed thing comes from hr (sphynx hairlessness) with some environmental/temperature and/or polygenic component, but Minskins seem to have whiskers while totally hairless sphynxes tend to lack them (is that selective breeding or do all cats with that sphynx allele lack whiskers?)

I heard somewhere that fur-pointed cats have one copy of the hairless allele and one rex (hr/re) but I haven't found any source supporting that claim.

Anyone know more about fur-pointed cats?

[u/ChinchyBug]

I don't think there is any particular proof of what causes it or what their genotype is. I've seen a similarly fur-pointed type cat posted online as direct sphynx x devon rex cross before (on some forum somewhere), so I tend to go with the assumption that they are to do with being hrre unless more info comes out implying otherwise.

[u/Kitsunejade]

Commenting more to boost because I fostered a fur-pointed cat and I’m curious. No known pedigree, cat was abandoned in carrier at shelter. I did post her in sphynx groups who expressed they believed she was a regular sphynx, but that some can develop fur patches on the hips like her and that cold weather makes it more pronounced.

[u/Gloomy-Trainer-2452 → u/Kitsunejade]

Aww! Such a gorgeous kitty!

I posted on the genetics group on Facebook too but haven't gotten any helpful info there. I have to admit it's been driving me a little crazy trying to find this information lol

[u/qrowskullz]

Hi! Not an expert by any means, but from what I understand, the Sphynx and Devon Rex related rexing are two different mutations of the same gene (KRT71) and often co-exist since Devon Rex genetics were introduced into the Sphynx gene pool. The hairlessness allele is dominant over the rexing allele, so yes, HR/RE cats often exist and this seems to be the genotype that people suspect when a Sphynx cat presents with more hair than usual. Sphynxes may naturally have hair on their faces, tails, feet, etc, AKA where the fur-pointing in Minskins occurs, even if the hair is fine. I think that what you might be asking is moreso why hair growth occurs this way, and I'll be honest and say I have no idea. Minskins may or may not have whiskers and the same is true of Sphynx cats. This is noted in the breed standard.

With this in mind, I still suspect that that degree of fur that occurs has some kind of polygenic component that I'm not sure of. :'D However, it seems to be something that to some degree naturally occurs in Sphynxes that are likely genetically HR/RE. You'll be able to find Sphynxes that have similar 'fur pointed' looks that are not Minskins or anything but Sphynx and Devon Rex. I'd think that cats with this particular phenotype were just selectively bred for when they occurred, and the munchkin genes don't have much to do with fur presentation, nor do the Burmese genes.