Pet house owners urged to keep away from shopping for feline model of XL Bully

Pet owners have been warned against buying the feline version of an XL Bully over concerns the breed significantly shortens the cat’s life.

The new ‘bully cats’ have spread to the UK after being bred in the US, but experts warn the type is more likely to develop health problems and die at least six years earlier than regular cats.

Breeders have crossed the hairlessness gene in sphynx cats with that which causes munchkin cats to have short legs.

Animal experts have urged pet lovers not to purchase ‘mutant and experimental’ breeds which they say prioritise the cat’s aesthetics rather than their wellbeing.

Dr Grace Carroll, a specialist in animal welfare at Queen’s University Belfast, told the Telegraph that shoppers should look for ethically bred cats which ensure their natural behaviour.

Pet owners are being warned against buying ‘bully cats’, the feline equivalent of the banned XL Bully dog breed

The breed is a cross of both bald and dwarf cats, including the sphynx cat (pictured) with which it shares a lack of whiskers

‘We should let cats be cats’, she said. She added that bully cats are more prone to respiratory diseases due to their lack of fur, which can also lead to sunburn and skin cancer.

The health complications mean the breed is likely to have an even shorter life than sphynx cats – which live an average of 6.7 years, compared with 12 years of an average feline.

Furthermore, the breed has a communication handicap due to having no whiskers, like the sphynx cat. This also affects their spatial awareness and navigation ability.

In fact, the bully breed may face double the number of challenges than the two cats from which it is bred, Dr Carroll said.

The American type is now being traded in the UK via social media and sell for anywhere between £200 and £800.

Britain’s self proclaimed ‘No 1 established breeder’ is Bullycats UK, which has been trading since 2023.

Its director Bella Jones insisted that all its cats are ‘health tested and completely functional’. 

But Dr Dan O’Neill, Associate Professor of Companion Animal Epidemiology at the Royal Veterinary College, described the breeding of bully cats as a ‘heartbreaking’ invention, which he said would lead to many pets leading a life ‘blighted with suffering’.

An Instagram post from Bullycats UK, which claims to be Britain’s ‘No 1 established breeder’ for bully cats

He said: ‘The advice to anyone thinking of acquiring a cat or a dog is to always put the welfare of the animal first and to stop and think before acquiring an animal with an extreme and unnatural body shape that does not exist commonly in nature.’ 

Charity NatureWatch Foundation said it was ‘shocking’ the cats were appearing in the UK, bred by what it branded ‘unscrupulous people’.

It said: ‘Bully cats are an animal welfare disaster unfolding before our eyes and this kind of breeding is just cruel.’