Its history

History of the Munchkin

Once upon a time, there was another legendary land: the bayous of Louisiana. It is on this warm and welcoming land that our heroine was born: Blackberry, a little black cat. In 1983, she took refuge under the wheels of a car and crossed the path of Sandra Hochenedel. Blackberry was no ordinary cat. She had received a gift from the cat gods: short legs. She was the first Munchkin of our current lineage.

Blackberry was not, however, the world's first Munchkin. The peculiarity of short legs had already been heard of in England in 1930, in the United States in 1944 (William-Jones, H.E., 1944, Arrested development of the long bones of the fore-limbs in a female cat, Vet. Rec. 56: 449) or in Russia in 1953 where they were called "kangaroo cats" because of their unique way of sitting on their hind legs. It was believed to be a rumor, a legend similar to that of the Korrigans or the Elves, and the trace of such cats was lost.

Blackberry

Elfie

After Blackberry's discovery, people really questioned the gene's appearance and decided to work it as a breed. To Sandra, her new owner, Blackberry offered a litter of kittens. Half of the newborns had the same characteristics as their mother. They were given the name of the little creatures imagined by L. Frank Baum in The Wizard of Oz - Munchkins - to evoke the fabulous and mischievous side of these little balls of fur.

From this first litter, Sandra gave a male called Toulouse to a breeder friend: Kay La France. From Toulouse was born Boscobel Minnie Pearl, who in her turn gave birth to Boscobel Magnolia Blossum of Ozcats in 1990, the mother of Ozcats Elfie of Korrigan, our first female.

A first Munchkin will be exhibited in 1991, at Madison Square Garden, in New York, which will mark the beginning of the recognition for this breed. Two years later, in 1993, two international judges, Aline and Philippe Noël came back in France with a couple of Munchkins in order to introduce the breed in France and to have the standard established by the French cat association: the LOOF. They are kittens of Boscobel Magnolia Blossum of Ozcats and Mannawyddan Beauregard of Ozcats, a non-standard male bred by Solveig MV Pflueger, a talented breeder and geneticist who will work for a long time on the genes of the Munchkin and to whom we owe the most important scientific work on the breed. The Aline and Philippe Noël's kittens are Ozcats Elfie, called Babydoll, and Ozcats Bobsleigh, called Bobby, born at Mary Alice Heinz's cattery. Both of them are black and white and have been shown at cat shows in France in 1993 and 1994.

Today, thanks to the combined work of several breeders and international judges seduced by the breed, the Munchkin is recognized by the TICA (since 1995), as well as by the LOOF and the WCF. However, many other feline associations, among which the CCC, the CKC, the FIFE or the GCCF refuse to hear about the Munchkin. They consider that the gene giving the short legs comes from a genetic disease that should not be reproduced, or even a defect.

Bobsleigh

Many people around the world still consider the Munchkin to be "the devil's cat" and even refuse to judge it in shows, to examine or to breed them. Nevertheless, more and more breeders and individuals are seduced by the breed and the Munchkin is becoming more and more popular. The TICA accepts the breed in championship since 2003, once its standard is well defined.