The Peterbald is the cat breed named for St Petersburg and first developed there in 1994.
The breed was created in St Petersburg by Olga Mironova. Its foundation pairing involved a Don Hairless, now commonly called the Donskoy, and an Oriental Shorthair. The first kittens were born in 1994, combining the Oriental type with a variable hairlessness gene inherited from the Don Hairless parent.
Peterbald coats can vary considerably. Some cats are completely hairless, while others have a flock, velour, brush, or straight coat. A kitten’s coat may also change as it matures, so a Peterbald’s adult appearance is not always predictable from its early coat.
The Peterbald is distinct from the Donskoy, even though the Donskoy supplied the hairlessness ancestry. It is also not a hairless version of the Russian Blue: Peterbald breeding emphasizes an Oriental body, long lines, and large ears. The name combines Petersburg with the English word bald.