She was looking for a cat.She found a very shortlegged & very pregnant black female who was named Blackberry.
When Sandra found Blackberry she was living under an old abandoned pickup truck. She took Blackberry home where she later had her kittens & passed her trait on to about half of her kittens.
But Blackberry wasn't the first shortlegged cat ever found.
Cats with short legs were known in England as far back as the 1930's & 4 generations were described in Veterinary Records in 1944.They were known as Kangaroo Cats because they are well known for sitting up on their hindlegs & using their front paws to bat & grab.This line disappeared during World War II.A Munchkin was later seen in Stalingrad in the Soviet Union in 1953,but it is unknown what happened to this cat.
The Munchkins were introduced to the public for the first time at the Madison Square Garden INCATS TICA show in March 1991.They gained their popularity for that point on.
Munchkins are being shown in TICA New Breed & Color Class effective May 1,1995.
Munchkins are a creation of nature-- Not Man!
They have short legs because of a spontanous mutation,which does not hamper their ability to do anything an average cat is capable of doing.They can get on the counters,they can climb the curtains,& they can jump fairly high even on those short little legs.
I have had cats all of my life & I have been raising Munchkins since the spring of 1997.I have never seen an average cat do anything that these Munchkins are not capable of doing.
Their legs very in shortness so some are not able to jump as high as other,but they have the will & they always find a way!
So far they have not found any health problems in this breed as a result of their short stature.They do very well in the litter when they are born,they hold their own well with their longlegged siblings & momma cat does not push them away because they are different.
After working with this breed for this long,there is not dout in my mind that they could make it just fine in the wild!After all mother nature creatated them,she will certainly take care of them!Around here it is,
ALL RIGHT TO BE "LITTLEBITTY"...(song playing)
I have to say I love taking my Munchkins for car rides & to the vet,they love people & are always purring.The vet says it is always a pleasure to see a cat that is happy to see her!
How many average cat owners can actually say their cat is happy to get out & see people let alone a vet visit??
I can answer that,NOT MANY!
So don't be afraid to get to know these cats just because they are different.After all if you are that afraid of change you won't know what you are missing!
