You can’t stop loving those adorable tiny dwarf cats when you see them. But it’s also true, most people constantly confused between dwarf and munchkin though mini kitties are believed to be separated brunch.
Image Source- Wikipedia
Facts about Feline Dwarfism
I will represent you important fun facts about how can you understand easily between dwarf, Munchkin and teacup kitty. Have fun reading about those adorable fuzzy balls.
Dwarf cat: How it happens and when did start to be well known?
Not only humans suffer from dwarfism, felines can also get this genetic disorder. Dwarfism in a feline is the result of genetic mutation known as Osteochondrodysplasia symptom which affects bone and thicker and shorter legs compared to normal size body. Because of Osteochondrodysplasia symptom, the long bones from front legs do not grow properly but instead, they become thicker, shorter.
Their imbalanced head and legs make them different from other kittens and actual teacup kitty even in kitten age.The owners of pregnant female queen dwarf feline must be very careful about the following facts.The litters can contain mother’s dwarfism but half of the litters can be normal long legged which depends on genetically dominant or recessive nature of dwarfism chromosomes.In that case, the mother cat’s birth canal is not big enough for normal size infants to pass through.Never ignore this situation and emergency need C section with an experienced vet in the clinic.
It is lethal for mother and kittens both if the owner delayed or ignored the condition.In some cases, the infants can die with suffocation while having trouble passing through the birth canal.The dead body of infants may be stuck in the belly and decompose in a couple of days which is extremely cruelly lethal to the mother.If the dead infant was not last born, it can block the way out of the rest siblings from the uterus that make all the rest of the kittens die in suffocating without giving birth in time. Momma feline cannot produce enough milk for her tiny fur balls especially for normal ones even they all survived by C section.Since around 1980, those short legged felines are commercially breeding as ” Munchkin” but though dwarf fur babies were found and documented in history as in 1944 in the United Kingdom, in 1956 in Russia and in 1970 in New England.
Most of the cat associations and some countries against the official breeding as illegal breed due to animal cruelty.Dwarfism is genetic disorder diseases so breeding more defect bones feline is really kind of animal cruelty though they are demandable in pet markets for their cute and adorable features.
Munchkin cat: The descendant of short-legged cats
Munchkins are direct descendants of original from genetically disordered dwarf felines.Instead of calling the primary name, the breeder took the title of” munchkin people ” from “The Wizard of Oz” to create a new unique suitable name with their appearance.The first documented mother of Munchkin breed was a short-legged kitty named blackberry from Rayville, Louisiana in 1980.She was a pregnant feral when she was rescued and adopted. Her owner lets her enjoy outdoor after finding some of her first litters carried mother’s dwarf genes.The owner of blackberry gave one of this extraordinary kittens to her friend.They let their short-legged female felines enjoy outdoor freely.Soon their houses were full of short-legged adorable fur-babies together with normal ones.
For believing that they found new breed, the owners contacted with geneticists from International Cat Association.The geneticist researched the primary characteristic of dwarfism and observed if those cats had any spine or deformity problems.Except for short thick legs, they could not find any disorder in spine and back.At first, this breed was not recognized by cat associations as they thought munchkins are not a specific breed but just some unfortunate litters of genetic disorder dwarf felines.But In 2003, the munchkins were fully registered as new breed although The Cat Fancier Association does not accept.Nowadays some official breeders and owners are trying to get more quantities of munchkin kitties in worldwide even though some still denied the breeding process as animal cruelty.There are 8 new crossbreeds of munchkin cat.
Skookum-This is a result of cross-breeding a LaPerm and a munchkin.It has curly hair, smartness of LaPerm and short legs and sweet behavior of munchkin.
Napoleon-Napoleon is a mixture of a Persian and a Munchkin. So it is sweet Persian kitty with cute short legs.
Bambino-Hairless short legged kitty of a cross between Spinx and munchkin.It is very agile and intelligent just like Spinx and one of the rarest breed.
Dwelf-This is the result of mixing cross between 3 breeds munchkin, Spinx, and American Curl. Dwelf is same like Bambino but with curly ears.
Genette-Genette is the dwarf version of mighty Savannah and Bengal.Though it has shorty front legs like munchkin but possesses the fur coat and personality of Bengal and Savannah.
Minskin– Same like Bambino, Minskin is a fusion of Munchkin and Spinx but it has very sparse hairs instead of being hairless like Bambino.
Lambkin-When another genetic mutated curly coated Selkirk Rex combines with Munchkin, the new adorable shorty kitty with curly fur came out.
Kinkalaw-This is a hybrid between sweet American curl and Munchkin so it must have short think tubby front legs, soft fur and of course curly ears.
Teacup and miniature kitties
They are also inside of Dwarfism but with equally proportion dwarf instead of only front legs.This is possibly because of not only Osteochondrodysplasia effect but also inducing growth hormones.Miniature is unnaturally small in size which is only half of the normal cat.The miniature furry babies will not grow more than 10 inches and 7 lb even they are fully grown to be the adult.Teacup kitties are even smaller in size than miniatures.A general teacup kitty will be only two to four pounds maximum and never be more than 9 inches.Teacup and miniatures normally do not have specific breed record because this full body downsizing dwarf syndrome can appear in every breed. Miniper is a tiny form of Persian which is the exactly mini copy of Persian but in the smaller size. Miniper does not have munchkin legs.
Dwarf cats may have genetically defected but that brings them into a supernatural state of cuteness and popularity all over the world.However, you must be careful some basic important things if you decided to have a munchkin or teacup felines.They are expensive for their rareness so first must have certified disease-free document from breeder or pet store, clinical proof that the kitten had vaccine shot, free from flea and worms, Health guarantee contract of genetic problems free.They are originally mutated for being dwarf so must be free from other congenital problems. After you get the kitty out of seller, must go to an experienced vet for check up and must be spayed or neutered at the proper age.they need yearly booster shot from the clinic. Remember they are delicate and need more care than normal cats but they are great pets with big loving hearts in tiny bodies. Thanks to visiting my meow blog, feel free to like and comment.