Size: Small to medium.
Coat Length(s): Short hair, long hair.
Body Type: Semi-foreign.
Grooming Requirement: Every few weeks (shorthair); twice a week (longhair).
Talkativeness: Average.
Activity Level: Average.
Affection: Affectionate.
Usually Good With: Adults, seniors, and children (6+).
Time Alone: More than 8 hours per day.
Attention: Needs average attention.
Handling: Moderately docile.

The mutation that created the low riders of the cat fancy has occurred before; domestic cats with short legs were seen in Great Britain in 1944, Stalingrad in 1953, New York in the 1950s and New England in the 1970s. (Most likely other instances have occurred as well, but were not documented.) All of these lines apparently died out without being developed. Only the short-legged cats found in 1983 in Rayville, Louisiana went on to engender the Munchkin breed accepted today.

Music teacher Sandra Hochenedel discovered two cats cowering under an abandoned truck, where they had been chased by a neighborhood dog. She rescued the cats and took them home, noticing three important details: both were female, both were pregnant, and both were shortchanged in the leg department. She kept the black cat, who she named Blackberry, and gave away the gray cat, Blueberry.

What became of Blueberry is unknown, but Blackberry passed on her unique genes to her offspring, becoming the foundation cat of the Munchkin breed. When Blackberry produced her first litter, Hochenedel gave one of the short-legged male kittens to her friend Kay LaFrance, who lived in Monroe, Louisiana. Blackberry vanished after having only a few litters, but her genetic legacy continued. Since LaFrance allowed Blackberry’s son, Toulouse, to wander around unaltered, in short order a good sized population of short-legged cats lived on LaFrance’s property. Since cats in heat care little about their partners’ leg length (or much of anything else), Toulouse and his short-legged offspring had no trouble competing for mates with their longer legged rivals.

Thinking they might have a new breed, in 1990 Hochenedel and LaFrance contacted Solveig Pflueger, MD, PhD, an allbreed judge and TICA’s genetics committee chair. Pflueger and David Biller, D.V.M, Head of Radiology at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University, conducted a study to evaluate the inheritance and expression of the trait. They found that an autosomal dominant gene caused the long bones of the legs to be shorter than normal. That means a cat only needs one copy of the Munchkin gene to have short legs and to pass the trait directly along to offspring; if a cat doesn’t have short legs, she doesn’t possess the Munchkin gene. Concerned that these cats would have spinal problems like the short-legged Dachshund, Corgi and Basset Hound dog breeds, the spine was examined. At that time, no problems were discovered. However, at the time the breed was so new and the bloodlines so limited that the studies were not considered definitive.

The breed was named for the little people of Munchkinland from the classic 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz. Other breeders soon established Munchkin breeding programs. In 1991, the Munchkin was introduced to the public at the INCATS TICA show at Madison Square Garden in New York. In 1994 TICA accepted the breed in the New Breed and Color (NBC) category. UFO and AACE soon accepted the breed as well. In 2002 TICA accepted the Munchkin for championship competition.

Like many new breeds, the Munchkin faced resistance and opposition—and still does today. The hissing over the Munchkin has been particularly heated because the breed’s acceptance raises questions about the morality of breeding mutations that might be considered deformities, despite the fact that the mutation occurred spontaneously. Some people believe that encouraging these kinds of mutations through a deliberate breeding program is unethical.

Munchkin fanciers believe otherwise, and point out the numerous cat breeds that came about through spontaneous mutation. They say Munchkins are healthy cats who are not hampered by their unique genetic makeup and point out the jaguarundi, a South American wildcat with a slender, elongated body and short legs, which is thought to be the most adaptable of the New World felines.

Cat lovers have been debating this issue since the cat fancy began. After the first modern-day cat show in 1871, our universally accepted and well-loved Siamese was described as an "unnatural, nightmare kind of cat." Some say that describes the Munchkin to a T. Time will tell if this breed finds universal acceptance as the Siamese did.

Happily unaware that they’re different from their long-legged relatives, Munchkins are self-assured, curious, confident and outgoing. Nor do their feline friends treat them as though they’re disabled. Cats are realists and adapt to whatever life gives them without self-consciousness or self-pity. Only humans view Munchkins as odd.

Personalities vary, since the gene pool is still open to random-bred cats to keep the gene pool diverse and healthy. However, in general Munchkins are people-oriented, playful and love their human providers. These motorized dust mops are playful long after kittenhood and enjoy any game in which you take an active part.

Despite the short legs (or maybe because of them), Munchkins bound like ferrets and corner like sports cars. They can climb trees, scratching posts and curtains with the same agility as other cats. However, they can’t jump as high because the shorter back legs don’t provide as much boost. Munchkins can jump onto most beds and chairs, but the kitchen counter is not always accessible—which, depending upon your point of view, may be a good thing.

Munchkins are sometimes nicknamed "magpies" for their tendency to take small objects and hide them in secret stashes. The shorter legs don’t significantly reduce their proficiency as mousers, but breeders strongly recommend keeping them inside—as do the majority of reputable cat breeders. In addition to the usual hazards, theft of this rare and expensive breed is always a possibility.

Some veterinarians are concerned about lordosis, a downward curvature of the spine that gives the affected cats swaybacks. In severe cases, lordosis can compress the heart and lungs. Many breeders deny that this is a problem in the Munchkin. More research needs to be done before possible health issues can be completely ruled out, particularly since the breed is relatively young. Another problem sometimes seen is pectus excavatum, which also affects the chest, although the prevalence of this and lordosis are not yet known. Some fanciers deny these are problems for the breed.

Munchkin litters are often smaller than average feline litters, possibly due to some embryos dying early and being reabsorbed by the mother. It’s possible this occurs when the embryo inherits two copies of the Munchkin gene, although this has not been well studied.

Dr. Leslie Lyons of the University of California, Davis, as part of the Feline Genome Project is studying the Scottish Fold, Manx, and Munchkin to determine why some bloodlines have health problems associated with their unique autosomal dominant traits and others do not. In the future, this research may help breeders keep their lines healthy and free of defects.

Partly because of their uniqueness and partly because of the controversy surrounding the breed, the Munchkin is in great demand, which always exceeds supply. Waiting lists can be long. Munchkins are not as expensive and rare as they once were, however if you are flexible about gender, color, and pattern, your wait will be shorter.

One of the problems with breeding Munchkins is what to do with the long-legged offspring produced in breeding programs. Some breeders specialize in popular colors and patterns, such as the pointed pattern, so it's easier to find homes for those long-legged cats.

The Munchkin resembles a normal domestic long- or shorthaired cat in all but leg length. The body is semi-foreign, medium sized, and medium long with a well-rounded chest and firm hips. Boning is medium, with medium to substantial musculature. Male Munchkins weigh 6 to 9 pounds; female Munchkins weigh 4 to 8 pounds.

The head is a broad, modified wedge with rounded contours, medium in size with high cheekbones. The muzzle and nose are medium in length; a slight nose bump is acceptable. In profile a slight stop is allowed. The neck is thick and medium in length. Ears are medium to medium large, broad at the base, slightly rounded at the tips, and placed as much on top as on the side of the head. Eyes are medium large, walnut-shaped, placed rather wide apart and at a slight angle toward the base of the ears.

The legs are short with the hind legs slightly longer than the front legs. Upper and lower forelegs are equal in length; the hind legs thigh and lower legs are approximately equal in length. Munchkins may have slight bowing of the long bones, but the round, compact paws should not turn in or out. The tail is medium thick and tapers to a rounded tip; length is in proportion to the body. Excessive bowing of the legs, protruding sternum, and foreign type is penalized; a swayed back causes disqualification.

Munchkins are accepted in long and short hair lengths. The longhair has a semi-long, silky coat, shaggy britches and may have a slight to moderate ruff. Ear furnishings should be long. The tail has a full plume. The shorthair’s coat is plush, lustrous and medium in length. Both coat types are considered all-weather. All coat colors and patterns are accepted, including the pointed pattern.

Allowable outcrosses are domestic longhairs and shorthairs who are not members of recognized pedigreed breeds. Long-legged offspring of Munchkins can be used in the breeding program if they possess useful traits or attractive colors and patterns, but they cannot be shown as Munchkins.

Since the gene pool is still open to random-bred longhair and shorthair domestic cats, a variety of different body, head, coat types, colors, patterns, and personality traits will be added to the bloodlines. It will take time for the breed to achieve a consistent appearance similar to the one outlined in the breed standard. The standard is an ideal for which to strive, and may change as the breed develops.