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In today's video, we are going to talk about Munchkin Cats, and all the facts and myths surrounding the breed.

With its short little legs and lowslung torso, some people view the Munchkin cat as the feline version of a Dachshund. Here are seven facts about the stubbylimbed kitty.

1. THE MUNCHKIN BREED AROSE FROM A GENETIC MUTATION.


Like many unusual cat types (the Cornish Rex and the Manx, to name a few), the Munchkin breed arose from a spontaneous genetic mutation. The Munchkin’s short legs are caused by an autosomal dominant gene, which causes the long bones in a cat's legs to grow shorter. A cat only needs one copy of the gene to inherit short legs and to pass the trait along to its kittens.

One warning to breeders: The Munchkin gene is sometimes referred to as the "lethal" gene because if a Munchkin cat embryo receives one of these genes from each parent, it won't survive. That's why breeders don't mate two shortlegged Munchkin cats together. Cats born with long legs can carry the Munchkin gene, and they're often mated with each other, or a shortlegged Munchkin cat, to produce a litter of healthy, stubbylimbed kittens.

2. THE FIRST AMERICAN MUNCHKIN WAS A PREGNANT STRAY NAMED BLACKBERRY.

Throughout the 20th century, various individuals documented sightings of shortlegged feral cats in Great Britain, Russia, and New England. But it wasn’t until the 1980s that people officially began breeding the “Kangaroo cat,” which some people called the kitty because its forelegs were shorter than its hind legs.

The modernday American Munchkin cat is descended from a shortlegged pregnant stray, rescued in Rayville, Louisiana in the early 1980s by a music teacher named Sandra Hockenedel. The cat birthed similarlooking kittens, and Hochenedel gave one of them to her friend, Kay LaFrance. Since LaFrance let the cat roam around outside, her property was soon filled with shortlegged cats.

Hochenedel and LaFrance believed they had a new breed on their hands. In 1990, the two connected with Solveig Pflueger, a cat show judge and chairperson of The International Cat Association's (TICA) genetics committee. Pflueger and other experts examined the cats to evaluate the inheritance and expression of their shortlegged trait.

The geneticists were worried that the Munchkin would have problems with its spine, similar to shortlegged dog breeds. They didn’t find any deformities in the cats’ joints or backbones, but, since the breed was so new, some critics didn’t believe that these studies were definitive.

3. IT'S UNCLEAR HOW THE MUNCHKIN CAT GOT ITS NAME.

The Munchkin cat is presumably named after The Wizard of Oz's munchkins, but there are two conflicting tales as to how they received the moniker. According to one account, LaFrance gave Pflueger a few of the shortlimbed cats, and one of them turned out to be pregnant. Pflueger's daughter named one of them Mushroom the Munchkin, and voila, a breed was born.


But another story states that Pflueger's shortlegged kittens were asked to appear on Good Morning America. The show called her and asked the name of the breed, and Pflueger quickly chose "Munchkin" in honor of the classic film and novel.

4. THE MUNCHKIN CAT IS A CONTROVERSIAL BREED.

In 1991, the Munchkin cat was formally introduced to the public via a nationally televised cat show, sponsored by TICA and hosted at Madison Square Garden. By 1994, the Munchkin was proposed as an official breed, and was accepted into TICA’s New Breed development program.

The Munchkin wasn’t met with outstretched arms, but with unsheathed claws. Some members of the public were horrified over the cat’s physical shape, and one of TICA's judges even resigned, calling the breed “an affront to any breeder with ethics.”

Today, many people argue that breeding the Munchkin is unethical because it perpetuates physical deformities. Experts say that Munchkins are fine, healthwise. However, due to the controversy, the Cat Fanciers Association (CFA) and the American Cat Fanciers Association (ACFA) won't recognize the Munchkin.