Mei Toi Munchkin

The Mei Toi Munchkin cat is a very short legged dwarf cat. Apparently they are the Munchkins with the shortest legs. For people who don't know dwarf cats, there are 13 breeds and the Munchkin is the founding breed.  Dwarf cats are normal sized domestic cats with short legs.

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.

What does raised underfoot mean?

ANSWER: Companion animals socialized at the breeder's home. If you visit a cat breeder's home you are likely to see small kittens scurrying around the living room getting under the feet of the people who live there and even visitors. This is generally good for the cat as it gets them used to being around people and other animals. However, it can be dangerous for the kitten because they are literally under the feet of people. Kittens are liable to chase around and can get hurt (trodden on for example). But it is a very important, necessary step in raising a kitten purebred or otherwise.

Photo: Michael at PoC. F2 Savannah kitten.

A1 Savannahs in Oklahoma, USA, a Savannah cat breeder have very expensive Savannah kittens (see above - an F2) running around the living room being raised underfoot literally. On one occasion a tradesman trod on one and killed him. $10,000 up in smoke. Financially: no problem. They were coining it. Cat welfare: as catastrophe and very sad indeed.

Are Maine Coons Talkative?

ANSWER: It depends on the individual cat. You shouldn't brand every Maine Coon with one character. Maine Coon were originally farm cats in the USA from 1600s onwards. They were random bred cats. Breeding the Maine Coon from the mid 1800s would not necessarily make the cat more or less talkative or vocal. Unless you crossed the cat with a Siamese!

Cats vary in character and talkativeness is a character trait. Also the amount a cat talks is dependent to a certain extent on the environment the cat lives in. If you have created a nice, warm, friendly environment and a close relationship he will talk to you. If the opposite is the case he won't - he'll run from you. That said Maine Coons are known for their trill vocalization, in which case they can't be said to be particularly quiet. The two Maine Coons I met were slightly quiet. The Cat Fancy Magazine says they are fairly quiet. The major books on the cat breeds do not mention whether they are talkative or not.

Are domestic cats the same species?

The answer is YES. In fact, all domestic cats including feral, stray, household and purebred cats are all a subspecies of the wildcat: Felis silvestris. The domestic cat is Felis silvestris catus. There must some dispute as to whether the domestic is, in fact, a subspecies of the wildcat as it was domesticated 9,500 years ago. Perhaps the domestic cat should be a separate species of cat rather than a subspecies of the wildcat? One day it might be as the classification of the species is for ever evolving as is the domestic cat. However at 2011, the domestic cat is a cat's whiskers away in terms of behaviour from the African wild cat its wild ancestor.

Cat Shelter Euthanasia Encourages Poor Cat Ownership

About 2.5 million cats are euthanized at cat shelters in the USA yearly¹. Of these 35% are relinquished cats. This is the percentage of cats at cat shelters that are from owners relinquishing their cats². It follows that 875,000 cat companions (pets) are relinquished and killed at cat shelters each year in the USA. I say "killed" because I speculate that these are most often healthy, well adjusted cats and therefore the word, "euthanasia" does not apply. They are just unwanted cats, plain and simple.

In killing them the shelters take away the problem of relinquishment. It is dealt with. It is as if a cat is piece of rubbish to be discarded. Out if sight and out of mind is the motto. In destroying these unwanted cats we make it easier for people to relinquish their cat. We also send out the wrong signal to cat caretakers that a cat's life is not worth that much. This encourages further relinquishment. The mass slaughter - and it has to be called that - also numbs the senses. It has become an accepted routine. I find this astonishing and very sad. This problem should be dealt with before all other issues relating to the domestic cat.

I will further speculate that in the vast majority of cases the reason for relinquishing the cat is unjustified or the arguments for it are weak. People can always find a reason for doing something but is the reason soundly argued? In killing relinquished cats shelters are indirectly endorsing and supporting the process of relinquishment. This is not done deliberately but it is happening. Also cat shelters are undermining their objective as "shelters" and almost exclusively reacting to the problem.

Shelters do a lot of good, sometimes great work, of course they do, but I think it is time to change the way they work. Funding should be redirected from clearing up the mess to preventing the mess occurring. I'll let people with imagination and drive work out how to take proactive steps to curb the killing.

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Note:
(1) Estimated from Social Compassion in Legislation, 2009 figures
(2) National Council on Pet Population, 2009