Purr Beauty with babylegs thy name Munchkins

Mighty genesis of dwarfs…
Munchkins are cats with shortened legs. They are naturally occurring breed of cats that were first observed in Germany before WWI. The Munchkin breed evolved from a single cat that was taken home from a garage sale in southeastern United States of America. This cat, a solid black female with short legs, was pregnant, and produced more short legged kittens. Sandra Hochendel called her dwarf kittens ‘babylegs.’ This blackberry is considered as the foremother of this dwarf breed who lived in a small colony of Munchkins at a farm in Louisiana, hence the name.
Teeming of the dwarf realm…
Eventually some of the kittens were placed with Dr. Solveig Pflueger, one of The International Cat Association’s (TICA) geneticists and a couple of other experienced breeders. It was soon determined that breeding a dwarf cat to any other breed of cat would result in short legged kittens.
Dwarf, yet healthy…
At first, these cats were considered to be deformed and unhealthy. Dr. Pflueger herself, who is an expert in dwarfism in human children, became interested in these cats to see if the dwarf genes were the same, and believed that the cats might be unhealthy with multiple problems, however this belief was dispelled. The gene for dwarfism that created the Munchkin breed only affects the long bones in the legs and there are not any other problems that are attached with this breed.
The name babylegs derives…
Many say that they are named after the little people in the Wizard of Oz. The name Babylegs was dropped after a comment was made about how cute these little Munchkins were, by Dr. Plueger’s daughter. The breed name stuck.
Struggle for recognition…
Munchkins struggled for recognition as an accepted breed as many breeders feared that they were crippled. In 1995 the cats began appearing as new breed and colour, exhibition only, not allowed to compete for championship at cat shows. Championship status was achieved in February 2002 and the breed began competing for titles later on that year.  Several Munchkins have gone on to achieve TICA’s highest title available, Supreme Grand Champion.
Now, the cynosure of the world…
Today Munchkins can be found in many countries around the world.  The traditional breed of Munchkin is competing in Championship in a few registries. There are new breeds being created with Munchkins as the foundation, such as Kinkalows, short legs and curled ears, Lambkins-short legs and curly coats, and Napoleons which are Munchkins crossed with either Persians or Exotic Shorthair cats.  Munchkins do not stay the size of a kitten forever, but their personalities are friendly and outgoing forever.
(Terri Harris is an authorized breeder of Munchkins. Her cattery, Munchkinlane, is registered with TICA in 1993. For more info, visit : www.munchkins.com)