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XL Bully cat. A 'Bambino' in cat fancy parlance. A dwarf Sphynx. |
Sunday, 20 October 2024
XL Bully cat is a dwarf Sphynx (Bambino) and has been around for a long time
Saturday, 15 April 2023
Dog fan falls for a tiny rescue cat 'down a leg, two ears and a tail' but full of love and personality
This interesting looking small cat was bred in China and adopted by a couple in America which is very unusual in itself. It looks like the Chinese breeder is creating Chinchilla Persian-like dwarf cats. She is called Mochi. It is the first time I have heard of a Chinese cat breeder exporting internationally from the country where they eat domestic cats in the south.
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Mochi. Image: Instagram (Greg McDouglas). |
Mochi has become bit of a star because of her unusual appearance. And that has come about because of a very severe illness she suffered after she arrived in America. She developed ischemic dermatopathy.
My understanding is that this was an autoimmune response which attacked her body leading to widespread inflammation which further led to necrosis in parts of her body. That's why her ear flaps were amputated and her tail. She also lost the paw of one leg
But, of course, it hasn't slowed her down one bit. She's made a full recovery and is flourishing in a home where she is deeply loved. The power of love is immense.
Mochi ended up in a shelter where she spent two months recovering.
A Boston couple, Greg and Natalia, were thinking about adopting a rescue cat and they hit the jackpot in adopting Mochi. That "jackpot" description refers to the possibility of them becoming celebrities vicariously on social media because sometimes interesting looking cats can become quite famous on social media.
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Mochi in her nice home. Image: Instagram. |
Greg McDouglas and Natalia have taken super care of her. When she arrived, she weighed 2.5 pounds as a tiny kitten but has grown to a healthy 4 pounds in weight. It is a very nice home. You can feel the love.
She is infectiously cute and people love cuteness. Greg is appreciative of the luck he had in being able to adopt Mochi. And Mochi is appreciative of the luck she had in being adopted by him and his partner.
Apparently, they were selected by the shelter because they had no kids or pets and they were young adults. That's an indication of the kind of profile that you might have if you want to be selected by a shelter to adopt a shelter cat.
The shelter by the way is the MSPCA Angell shelter in Boston.
Tiny rescue kitten with a big personality 😺Down a leg, two ears & a tail but full of love. Link to Instagram page.
Tuesday, 21 February 2023
TikTok vet Ben says 'Dear God, never get a Munchkin cat'. He explains why.
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TikTok vet Ben says 'Dear God, never get a Munchkin cat'. He explains why. Screenshot. |
Here is Ben the Vet on TikTok explaining why people who love cats should shun the Munchkin, the founding dwarf cat.
@ben.the.vet #stitch with @Margie the growing popularity of Munchkin cats is a great animal welfare concern #catsoftiktok #veterinary #animallover #learnontiktok ♬ Puff - Hany Beats
Please note that the video above does not have a super-long lifespan as its presence here depends on its presence on TikTok. If it is deleted on TikTok it disappears here as you can expect and I have no control over it.
There are no studies on these diseases in dwarf cats regrettably. They are very cute cats and are still quite popular despite the potential health issues.
This is because humans tend to place appearance above all other aspects in many walks of life. For example, during Covid-19, in the UK, people adopted French Bulldogs in large numbers in the knowledge (or they should have had the knowledge) that they suffer from health issues.
RELATED: 21 genetic diseases inherited by the French bulldog. Are they always in pain?
And that they were often imported from European puppy mills. They just loved the appearance. There is a bit of a backlash now as they understand that pet health issues are in fact more important than appearance at the end of the day.
Sunday, 5 September 2021
Munchkin cat pretends she's a car and bemuses her tabby friend
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Munchkin cat pretends they are a car. Screenshot. |
Note: This is a video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.
Thursday, 22 July 2021
Are dwarf cats healthy?
This is a perennial discussion. It resurfaces all the time. The health of dwarf cats is a hot topic. It is the reason why the cat associations have not registered the dwarf cats. They are associated with potential if not actual ill-health. And after all, this is unsurprising because dwarf cats "suffer" from dwarfism. This is a serious anatomical deficiency brought about by a genetic mutation (sometimes other causes). They suffer from osteochondrodysplasia. This affects the development of the bones in the limbs so that they have short limbs but normal-sized bodies. It also affects the cartilage as far as I'm aware.
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Lillieput, a Munchkin 10 years-of-age. Picture in the public domain. |
The two known conditions that they can suffer from as part of the dwarfism is lordosis and pectus excavatum. The veterinarian and lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Carole Margolis, said that they have spinal malformations, lordosis and scoliosis and they can be born with ribbed abnormalities. Quite a bundle of health issues.
Interestingly, the respected book Robinson's Genetics for Cat Breeders and Veterinarians, fourth edition, describes the effects of dwarfism as a cosmetic issue. In other words, it is not serious and they just look cute. In effect they are stating that dwarfism makes the cats look attractive to the general public without health consequences but this is an incorrect assessment in my view.
I'm not going to decry dwarf cats of which there are 13 different breeds by the way because they are popular in the eyes of many people. However, adopters should realise that they do not inherently enjoy genuinely good healthy. I don't think these conditions that I have described are a great problem to the cats but they might be sometimes. It's just that you can't describe dwarf cats as healthy as a consequence.
CLICK FOR MANY PAGES ON DWARF CATS
The most famous dwarf cat ever to exist was Grumpy Cat. She died at the age of seven by the way and her facial expression arguably was because of her dwarfism. That's another area where Robinson's appears to have got it wrong because they say that dwarfism does not affect the anatomy of the face. But it appears to have created the downward facing mouth of Grumpy Cat. Wrong? Please tell me.
It is said, by the way, that Grumpy Cat died of a urinary tract infection. So, for the record her dwarfism was not involved but I doubt the record to be perfectly honest. We would not get the full reason for her early death from her owner as she was a controversial cat.
In respect of kids with dwarfism, the experts say that "each condition that causes dwarfism has its own possible medical complications". In other words, certain conditions other than a genetic mutation causes dwarfism and these conditions could have associated health problems.
Saturday, 12 June 2021
Lil Bub and Grumpy Cat both died of bacterial infections at a young age
Both Lil Bub and Grumpy Cat both died of bacterial infections at the age of 8 and 7 respectively. Both were dwarf cats. Lil Bub's infection was in her bones while Grumpy Cat's infection was in her bladder i.e. it was a urinary tract infection.
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Lil Bub and Mike Bridavsky, her human guardian during most of her shortened life. Photo in public domain. |
There were both chronic infections that could not be cured in the usual way with antibiotics. I don't want to say anything untoward or nasty because both these cats entertained millions of people. They made a lot of people happy and they made them smile. They therefore performed a service to humanity but they died very young with lifespans at least half of normal.
It is very unusual for a cat to die a bacterial infection at the age of 8, as happened for Lil Bub. It is impossible not to be drawn to the conclusion that the inherited genetic mutations which made them both money spinning celebrities through their unusual appearance, also killed them.
I would speculate quite confidently that if they had not suffered from dwarfism in the case of Grumpy Cat and Dwarfism in conjunction with osteopetrosis in the case of Lil Bub, they would not have died for these reasons.
Osteopetrosis is a bone disease which causes dense bone which fills the centre of the bone where there should be bone marrow. There are other effects too cats with this inherited condition which cause cats to be prone to chronic bacterial bone infections.
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Grumpy Cat and Rafi Fine at the 2014 VidCon at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. Photo: Gage Skidmore on Wikipedia. |
Dwarfism in felines can have associated conditions which I discuss on another page. If people are interested in why these celebrity cats died at such a young age we have to speculate because their owners have been reticent in disclosing in any detail regarding the cause of death.
In respect of Lil Bub, it seems clear to me that the inherited medical conditions due to genetic mutations ultimately caused her premature death. In respect of Grumpy Cat, the same conclusion, I feel, needs to be drawn. It is likely that she became resistant to antibiotic treatment for a chronic bladder infection and so the infection killed her.
If I'm anywhere near right on this then it does call into question whether people should put on a pedestal and monetise domestic cats who are sadly born with inherited genetic conditions which make them look cute but also which makes them vulnerable disease and a shortened lifespan.
I discuss in a bit more detail the cause of death for both these cats which you can access by clicking here for Lil Bub and here for Grumpy Cat.
Friday, 1 June 2012
Our Munchkins - Arlow, Lowla and Kilow
Nine years ago my sister-in-law moved to Panama. At the time she owned a Munchkin cat that she couldn't take with her. So Arlow joined us. He was our only cat. He can run and jump and accomplish any feat a full size cat can. He is now 11 years old and has had no health problems.
They do not develop the back problems like Dachshunds do. When he turned 10, we decided to bring another munchkin into our family. We drove over a 1,000 miles to get Lowla. She does not jump as high as Arlow can, but she can jump longer distances. While Arlow tends to be shy, Lowla is just the opposite - she loves having company!
This year, we learned of a backyard breeder whose kittens were being removed and placed by a couple of reputable breeders. That's how Kilow joined our family. She's still a youngster - 6 months old, just over 3 pounds. She's a fiesty little thing and the other cats welcomed her into our family. She is a high jumper like Arlow. Even though she is only 4 inches high, she can jump up on the bed and climbs our cat tower all the way to the 6 foot platform with ease.
Munchkins are a naturally occurring genetic mutation. There are dwarf kittens and regular size kittens born in the same litters. Lowla is a Siamese Munchkin mixed with a calico regular cat. She has beautiful blue eyes. Kilow, is a chocolate spotted tabby - I believe she is a Bengal/munchkin cross. Arlow is a lilac tabby and just too handsome.
They don't know they are little. They all play as normal cats and have no health problems. Since we have had munchkins for so long, I believe we are qualified to testify to that.
See more: Dwarf cats and Miniature Cats.
Thursday, 22 December 2011
Mei Toi Munchkin
When bred it seems that the the dwarf kittens have varying length length. Half the litter in fact will have normal leg length as dwarf cats are bred to non-dwarf cats for health reasons.
The Mei Toi is recognised by the United Feline Organisation, I am told. This is a lesser known cat association and they do not list the breeds that are acceptable to them on their site. There are no photographs of this cat that I can find or use. Sorry.
Thursday, 2 October 2008
Dwelf cat
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Dwelf cat - copyright the artist Belinda Woodruff. |
This cat is one of the Dwarf cats. All are founded on the Munchkin, the best known of the dwarf cat family. The Dwelf cat is a hybrid cat, a cross between the Sphynx, the Munchkin and the Highlander or the American Curl.
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Dwelf cat. Photo: Pinterest. |
Dwelf kittens photo by and from Nancy Raber of Lecrislin Cattery |
The Sphynx is an intelligent cat and a cat that may look a bit strange to people outside the cat fancy but this a great cat in fact (see a post on intelligent cat breeds). The Munchkin is a solid looking cat. Both the American Curl and Highlander have curled ears.
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This is an Elf cat not a Dwelf |
(The result is a cat that looks like the Elf cat illustrated above. I had used this picture before Nancy provided me with the Dwelf kittens picture above. The picture immediately above is of an Elf cat, a kitten in fact, which gives some idea what a Dwelf cat would look like if a photograph were available. His name is Kessler. The Photo of Kessler is©copyright Kristen Leedom. See this interesting cat at www.elfcats.com and at http://www.sphynx-cattery.com/elfcat.html and you can contact the creators of this breed from the websites.)
The Dwelf cat is a hairless cat with short legs and curled ears. A very similar cat is the Elf cat. The Elf is also a hybrid cat. A cross between the Sphynx and the American Curl. The difference then is the length of the legs.
The only difference in name is the predix dw, being short for "dwarf".
OK, you can read about some genetics on the dwarf cats on this page: dwarf cat genetics. And although dwarf cats are generally healthy, there are some health issues connected to the genetics (such health issues are not restricted to dwarf cats - see genetic diseases in purebred cats).
As this cat carries three mutated genes that produce dwarfism, curled ears and hairlessness, what about the other two genes, the curled ear gene and the hairless gene? Well according to Robinson's Genetics for Cat Breeders & Veterinarians there are no "reported anomalies" associated with the gene that produces curled ears in the homozygous form. This page says a bit more about curled ears: American Curl kittens.
As the hairless gene this I believe is known to be benign (i.e. no associated anomalies).
So the only associated health issues for the Dwelf cat accompany the dwarfism (see above) it seems therefore. The Dwelf cat is still work in progress and can be registered with the Dwarf Cat Association. This breed is also recognized as an experimental cat breed by TICA we are told.
Recognition
However, in the TICA 2006 Genetics Committee semi-annual meeting the recognition of the Dwelf cat was discussed. Interestingly it was stated that the applicant (author) to TICA had already registered one Dwelf cat. The committee were unclear as to how this had happened.
It would seem that one concern was that the Dwelf's appearance due to a combination of 2 genes that affected the cartilage. The Dwarfism gene affects the growth of the tissue (hyaline cartilage) in the long bones (the legs) while the gene that changed the shape of the ear flaps affected the elastic cartilage of the ears. These are different but they grow from the same embryonic stem cells. How would these two genetic mutations interact?
Secondly, there was concern about the proliferation of breeds (my interpretation). There was a proposal to recognize the Minskin another dwarf cat and the Dwelf was a curled eared Minskin. The committee felt that they were being asked to accept a breed that had as part of its make up another unrecognized breed.
In a comment that is enlightening to outsiders to the cat fancy, the committee proposed that TICA does not recognize new cat breeds that do not show new mutations. The objective is/was to stop the proliferation of breeds such as rexed cats and polydactyl cat breeds. The Dwelf cat does not have a novel mutation. That would seem to be the end of recognition of the Dwelf cat. I don't know what happened about the Dwelf cat that was registered.
Dwelf cat to dwarf cats and miniature cats.
Sunday, 2 March 2008
Difference between Bambino and Minskin

There is then on the face of it a fine difference between the Bambino and Minskin in their heritage. The Minskin is accepted by TICA as a preliminary new breed. The breed can be shown from the beginning of May 2008. The difference is in the coat. The Bambino is a short legged Sphynx

The Minskin can also be hairless. This cat can also have similar hair to the Munchkin. However, these variants cannot be shown in competition.
The classic Minskin coat appearance is "furpointed". This coat is thin and sparse and has fur pointed extremities (see a fuller description here). The furpointed Minskins can be shown at TICA events.
Photographs: top - copyright Helmi Flick, bottom, copyright Jim Child.
From Difference between Bambino and Minskin to Dwarf cats
Wednesday, 20 February 2008
Don Sphynx Munchkin Hybrid
This sweet looking cat is (as I understand it) a brand new domestic cat breed. His name is Willow and he is a cross between a Don Sphynx (a Russian Sphynx cat) and a Munchkin (the founding breed of dwarf cats). He has no breed name that I know of. When I get it I'll post it. All the dwarf cats have the Munchkin cat as a founding cat in the development programme.
Willow is 4 months old.
Here is a picture of Willow a Don Sphynx Munchkin Hybrid.
Here is a picture that shows the comparison between the dwarf cat "Willow" and the normal leg length cats, his long legged 1/2 brothers.
Apparently the coat feels like a soft warm shammy leather. I have felt the coat of a Sphynx and it feels really nice in fact. It's is nice to see what is happening in the dwarf cat world. Being a brand new cat breed it will take many years before it is recognised by the registries. The Dwarf Cat Association are using their best efforts to get their various dwarf cat breeds fully recognized.
You can see all the dwarf cats by clicking on this link.
The photographs are copyright the breeder, Mike, and are embedded links from Webshots a website that works on the basis of allowing visitors to embed code from the site into other websites.
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