by Meg A Wright

Created on: February 11, 2009

The first recorded sighting of a "munchkin" cat was in the early 1940's in the United Kingdom. A veterinarian described seeing several generations of cat with nubby or short legs. During the War, the lines seemed to have vanished, although there was mention of a shorted legged cat seen in Stalingrad approximately 1953.

These cats seemed to vanish, until a woman named Sandra Hochenedel spotted a stray cat under her trailer. This cat was pregnant, but had surprisingly short legs. Half of her kittens had legs the same length as their mother, but the other half had normal length legs. This cat, named Blackberry, and a tomcat from her litter, named Toulouse, are considered the founders of the munchkin breed.

I take great liberties calling the munchkins a breed. Many of the Cat Fancier Associations do not recognize these cats as a breed. The mutation within the breed is considered a defect by many associations.

However, there is proof to the contrary. Owners of munchkins find their animals normal in everyway, and on the same health plane as a cat with longer legs. The lack of length in the legs has no visible impact on the health of the animal.

Also, the breed has their characteristic short legs due to a natural mutation in genes, not from human selection and or manipulation. Owners liken the cats' short legs to those of Dachshunds and Welsh Corgis. These dogs are considered normal and have short legs even for their size. One thing that is pointed out is that often times a Dachshund or a Corgi will have spinal problems. Perhaps due to the difference of the spinal column, munchkins are not noted to have that problem. They are relatively free from spinal problems that should occur with such a mutation.

The trait that causes the short leggedness is sometimes called achondroplasia, but munchkin cats do not demonstrate enlarged heads as do humans with the same mutation. So a more appropriate way to refer to this condition is hypochondroplasia.

Finally, munchkin cats demonstrate the same tactics and habits of a normal cat. They are playful, and run and chase with ease. Sometimes their movements are called "ferret-like" because of the quick hopping movements. The most common habit that a munchkin cat has is sitting up on their hind legs, almost like a dog or rabbit. Other than that, because it is a gene it can be found in any "breed", so personality will depend on the dominating breed in the cat. The munchkin cat is as an endearing cat as can be. They should not be considered deformed, but instead a natural mutation of the cat.

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