Munchkin (cat)
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The Munchkin cat is a relatively new breed created by a random mutation that produced a midget cat with extremely short legs. Munchkins have short or long coats in a wide variety of colours. Because of their small stature, munchkins are not particularly adept at climbing or jumping and they are ONLY suitable to be indoor cats, although they are reported to be extremely active, agile and fast runners. The mutation only affects the legs, and otherwise the cats are perfectly normal and healthy.
The breed was begun in 1983 when Sandra Hochenedel found an extremely short-legged black cat living under a trailer in Louisiana. The cat, Blackberry, was pregnant and half of her kittens were born short-legged. One of Blackberry's kittens, a tomcat named Tolouse, became the father of a breeding program and helped establish the breed in North America.
The Munchkin breed is not recognised by all registering associations and is specifically banned by the Fédération International Féline FIFe and other European registries, but it is accepted by The International Cat Association (TICA). Because the munchkin gene is a dominant one, approximately half the kittens with a munchkin parent will be 'standard' munchkins. The remainder have normal length legs, but they can be used to pass the gene on to the next generation. This genetic anomaly is called hypochondroplasia; it is not the same as the mutation that causes achondroplastic dwarfism in humans.