Munchkin cats, any info?

Question

My biggest question, and the one that voids all of the others, is: Are munchkin cats in the same ball park as teacup whatever dogs? I've done some research, not at all extensive, but it seems to be nothing more than a simple mutation likened to people having green eyes or what made weanertype dogs the way they are.

And then: Where could I get one? I would have no issue trying shelters, but I am more than possitive that not one person in this area knows that cats have breeds beyong fluffy and standard.

And last but so far from least: How expensive? By the time I'm ready to adopt one, money shouldn't be an issue, but I'd like to have it saved up by then.

Much thanks.

For the record, I know about the teacup dogs being nothing but an unhealthy runt with a different name thrown on them in order to charge more for a dog that'll wind up costing more in vet care than a normal sized, normal priced dog. I used it as a term of refference, but apparantly not as well as I had innitially thought.

Thanks to everyone, though.

Answer 1

Hi Mandy...here's a breeder listing for Munchkin cats: http://www.breedlist.com/breeders/mun.html
Prices will vary from each cattery.

More about munchkin cats: http://www.messybeast.com/shortlegs.htm

Answer 2

1 Yes it is a genetic mutation, and no it has not been shown to have any negative health affects as of yet, but its a fairly new breed. They may not be able to jump as high as other cats, but they can still jump. They just have shorter limbs so they can't jump as high.
2 If you can't find one in a shelter(rare by the way, since they are so expensive owners tend to make them inside kitties) then you can find a breeder online, google munchkin kittens near me
3 the price is generally in the 1000's because it is a difficult breed to get. If you know anything about genes, then you know some are Dominant(like brown hair in people, you see it everywhere) and some are recessive(like red hair, its very rare) The munchkin gene is recessive, so both parents have to have it, and there is still a 50 50 shot the baby won't have it. Therefore the price is very high for them. if you find a seller with a low price be wary, the kitten might be stolen, or sick in someway.

Answer 3

I am a breeder of Munchkin cats, I have had them since the very beginning of the breed. Of interest, they were first called "baby Legs" Price and expensive are relevant, Munchkins are still relatively hard to locate, one of the reasons being because not all kittens are born with the shortened legs, some litters produced kittens with all normal sized legs. They are very healthy kittens and I would recommend them for several types of families or surroundings.

Munchkins come in varying sizes as well, from Teacups to tubbies. LOL You can expect to pay more for a smaller one, like with Yorkies.

Answer 4

There is no such thing as a teacup dog. It's a term made up by "some" breeders when they have dogs that don't meet standards but yet they feel they can charge a great deal for them.

Here is a article about munchkin cats: It appears that is it a natural mutation and other then the shorter legs, they are just like any other cat.

http://cats.about.com/cs/breedprofiles/p/Munchkin.htm

Answer 5

Well my calico is a small cat. I dont know if she is a munchkin or not but she is about the size of a normal four month old kitten and she is going on 2 years old. she weighed 5 lbs last month at her vet visit (she is kind of fat for her size). She is small but has a big personality. We got her at Petsmart when she was about 4 months old. So you might check places like that, but like I said I dont know if she is actually a munchkin cat or just really small.

Answer 6

Munchkins are a deformed breed that has been bred over and over again to come with a cat with abnormally short legs. It isn't cute- just pitiful.

Answer 7

I use to show cats for six years and talked to many Munchkin breeders at these shows.

The Munchkin is said to be the Daschund of the cat world. It has **nothing** to do with a diminutive/teacup-sized cat. Munchkins are an average size to large cat, with short legs. The biggest difference is that the Munchkin cat has none of the physical back problems associated with long-backed dogs. That's because cats in general are more limber then dogs.

You're right, the Munchkin breed came about as a natural mutation, just as Scottish Folds, and American Curls came about. Someone had a short-legged kitten in a litter and ran a trial breeding with the mutation, and came up with more short-legged cats.

One would think that a Munchkin cannot do everything other cats can do. They can't jump the same heights, they look like a slinky toy going up and down stairs, they do not have that lithe, graceful, look that we expect to see in cats, they waddle like a weiner dog.

And you would think that they couldn't run on those short legs...............DON'T YOU BELIEVE IT...........
At one of these cat shows, a huge, black Munchkin became terrified of the crowd and escaped the judge's podium. What a commotion trying to catch that cat. When he came around to my benching area I caught him with a football tackle.

Munchkins are a "rare breed" and therefore would be pretty pricey at this time.

Munchkin Breeders:
http://search.yahoo.com/search?search=Munchkin+cat+breeders&ei=UTF-8&fr=ks-ans&ico-yahoo-search-value=http%3A%2F%2Frds.yahoo.com%2F_ylt%3DAnYM54NvMNPtXBeKUqFf2zcazKIX%2FSIG%3D111gjvvgj%2F*-http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch&ico-wikipedia-search-value=http%3A%2F%2Frds.yahoo.com%2F_ylt%3DAs6qPmKbEGuHV570VYkOMTkazKIX%2FSIG%3D11ia1qo58%2F**http%253a%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSpecial%253aSearch&p=Munchkin+cat+breeders

Sorry for the spelling mistakes. The "Check Spelling" feature is not working.

spazrats

Answer 8

In my opinion they are an abomination of cat-ness. I have two friends that have them....both rescues...and they cannot jump like other cats, one of them seem to also have a carpal deformity, which can be linked to the "munchkin gene". There has been more recent information on the conditions that can go along with this "breed". They are not like "teacups" , because in those, the entire dog is small, these cats are more like Doxies, or Bassets. They are an average sized cat on shortened legs.

There are actually many of us who know a thing or two about cats and cat breeds.