Meet the Munchkin

We Munchkins first developed our cute little legs in 1944 – or at least that's when we were first noticed in Great Britain. After that, cats with shorter legs were spotted again in Russia and New England. But it wasn’t until 1983, in Rayville, Louisiana, when our rare and autosomal dominant short-leg trait was noticed in a cat named Blackberry. She was discovered as a stray, and her litter became the first of the official Munchkin family.

From there, our cuteness spread as cat lovers began to breed more Munchkins. But when we debuted on a televised cat show in 1991, some critics and genetics committees became worried about us. Critics worry even today, as there are ethical concerns with breeding us to have such short legs. And if you do want to breed a Munchkin, you have to be well-versed in genetics. Breeding two Munchkins together will create a gene combination that can be lethal, as Munchkin cats cannot survive if they inherit the Munchkin gene from both parents. However, when one Munchkin cat mates with a long-legged cat who is free of the mutation, the mutation is dominant, resulting in an adorable litter of Munchkin kittens.

Because of all this controversy, some cat associations do not recognize us as a breed; we are still waiting for the two paws up sign from Cat Fanciers’ Association, but we are excited to be recognized by the International Cat Association as a breed of dwarf cat. But while there is debate amongst veterinarians about whether or not creating a cat with short legs and a long body is a good idea – similar to the "hot dog" dog breeds like the Dachshund and Corgi - nearly everyone is in agreement that us sausage cats are incredibly cute.