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Friday, 31 October 2008
Munchkin kittens
Munchkin kittens - This is an offspring of "Milton" a fine solid Cinnamon, longhair, male Munchkin dwarf cat. Milton is a TICA Champion. This cat is a chip off the old block. Photo published with the permission of Terri Harris. Photo copyright Terri Harris. You can see Milton one of this cat's parents and a lot more on the Munchkin on this page: Munchkin -- founding dwarf cat.
You might like to read this page and click through some of the links before thinking of adopting Munchkin kittens. First things should be first. What is a Munchkin cat? A lot of us might know that the Munchkin is a dwarf cat or a small cat.
There is, of course, a difference between a dwarf cat and a small cat. A dwarf cat is a normal cat with abnormally short legs due to dwarfism. A small cat, such as a miniature cat or a teacup cat is simply a very small cat. A cat breed that is not is neither a miniature cat nor a teacup cat but which is a the smallest cat breed is the Singapura cat.
What gives Munchkin kittens their short legs? This is caused by a dominant genetic mutation. Sometimes the presence of mutant genes can result in defects in a cat that go beyond the the outstanding characteristic that distinguishes the cat from others. The classic case is the Manx cat. The gene that makes the tail short or eliminates the tail can also produces some health concerns: see Manx cats health.
In the Munchkin and for all dwarf cats there are potential health concerns caused by the mutant gene, but dwarf cats are generally healthy. See dwarf cat health issues.
The Munchkin is the founding member of the dwarf cat family of which there are at least eleven (11). Yes, a large number. All of the dwarf cats have been breed from the founding cat the Munchkin. This is the full list of 9 dwarf cats with Munchkin genes in them (the link to the Munchkin is above):
Bambino -- a cross between a Munchkin and a Sphynx
Dwelf -- a cross between a Munchkin, Sphynx and an American Curl
Genetta a cross between Munchkin, Bengal, Savannah, Domestic Short Hair and Oriental SH
Minskin a cross between Munchkin and Shynx, Devon Rex and Burmese
Knooks a cross between a Kinkalow and La Perm
Lambkin a cross between a Munchkin and Selkirk Rex
Napoleon a cross between a Munchkin and Persian
Skookum A cross between the Munchkin and LaPerm. Appearance - short legs and curly coats and an interesting origin to the name
Kinkalow A cross between the American Curl and Munchkin - curled ears short legs
You might like to see pictures of them and read about these rare cat breeds before going further? Click on this link to read about dwarf cats and miniature cats generally.
And if you want a short cut to see all the dwarf cat breeds (bar one that I hadn't seen before, Fantasy cats) before buying Munchkin kittens, here is a video on the dwarf cat breeds. The video contains one deliberate error (actually it was not deliberate just what could be called "brain fade"). The first cat, the Elf cat, is not a dwarf cat - sorry:
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