THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 5, 1994 TAG: 9407050063
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KERRY DOUGHERTY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines
Don't tell Penny Squires her stubby-legged cats are freaks.
``They are not deformed,'' she insists, rolling one of the queer-looking kittens over in her lap. ``They are just the new kitty on the block.
``The Munchkins are a normal mutation, no different from Persians with their squished up faces, or the Manx with no tail or the Scotch Fold with its folded ears.''
Squires has a tiny but growing colony of cats that look like a dachshund mated with a cat. She calls them Munchkins. And for about $350, she'll sell you one.
``Believe you me they're conversation pieces,'' says Squires, cuddling Scamper, an Abyssinian/Munchkin mix with front legs about 3 inches long.
Squires says the Munchkins are speedier than normal cats.
``You know how a regular cat will have to stop before it runs under a bed?'' she asks. ``Well, the Munchkins are so low they don't have to slow down. They're as fast as a ferret.''
Breeding faster cats has not been a goal of cat fanciers, but Squires sees another advantage to Munchkins.
``They can't jump onto kitchen counters,'' she says. ``Their legs are just too short.''
However, at least one local veterinarian worries that the same gene that keeps Munchkins off countertops could produce unforeseen health problems.
Paul D. Rowan, who had an all-cat practice in New York before opening a general animal hospital in Virginia Beach, says short-leggedness in animals is usually chondrodystrophy, a genetic condition accompanied by premature aging of the discs in the spine.
Rowan cautions against deliberately breeding animals with genetic mutations.
``Recessive genetic characteristics are generally not healthy,'' says Rowan, who has never seen a Munchkin although he has treated more than 15,000 felines during his veterinary career. ``Manx cats, for instance, often have a condition that makes them incontinent. Scottish Fold cats often carry a lethal gene which causes premature death. And Persian cats with their squished-up noses often have breathing problems, nasal obstructions and problems with tearing of the eyes.''
So far Squires has eight Munchkins and a litter on the way. She and her husband share their Redwing ranch house and yard with about 38 cats. Squires is a big collector of salt and pepper shakers, too. Hundreds are displayed on shelves and ledges inside.
Like the salt and pepper shakers, the cats seem to be everywhere.
The bay window in the Squireses front room is fitted with a cage fashioned from chicken wire. Inside are a trio of 3-week-old Munchkins: Bonnie and Clyde and Angel.
As Squires talks, the triplets' long-legged calico mother is pacing back and forth. Mom was bred to a Munchkin male. The litter produced five kittens: three Munchkins, two run-of-the-mill kittens. Both normal kittens died shortly after birth.
``Aren't they cute?'' Squires says, dangling a string in front of the kittens, who jump as high as their short little legs will let them. ``Most everyone who sees them thinks they are adorable.''
Suddenly Scamper's ear begins to itch. He takes his short hind leg and tries to scratch it. He cranes his head back to reach the short leg. About one in four scratch attempts hits home.
Scamper appears frustrated. Squires is nonplussed.
``No, they don't have problems scratching, he can scratch just as well as any cat,'' Squires says.
Squires is used to defending her Munchkins. She has taken several of them to cat shows, where they have received mixed reviews. Squires enters the Munchkins in household pet categories since they are not a recognized breed - yet.
Some judges love the short-legged cats. Others find them disgusting.
``It varies a lot from judge to judge,'' she concedes.
Squires says there are about 100 Munchkin cats in the United States and about a dozen breeders. The breeders are lobbying the official cat world to acknowledge Munchkins as a bona fide breed.
According to Munchkin literature, short-legged cats were first discovered about 40 years ago in Russia. Another colony of Munchkins was found in Louisiana in the 1980s. It was from this group that Squires obtained her first Munchkin.
Squires says it is just a matter of time before Munchkins move from being an oddity to a respected exotic breed of cat.
``You're going to see them everywhere someday,'' she predicts. ILLUSTRATION: COLOR PHOTOS BY BETH BERGMAN/Staff
Penny Squires breeds cats that look like a dachshund mated with a
cat. Their front legs are about 3 inches long. ``Believe you me
they're conversation pieces,'' she says. One local veterinarian
cautions against trying to breed animals with genetic mutations.
Photo
BETH BERGMAN/Staff
A Munchkin cat stands next to a sibling born with normal-length
legs.
by CNB