People are Breeding Cats to Have Super Short Legs

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What is this world coming to when irresponsible people start breeding cats with little short legs because they are just plain “cute”? It doesn’t matter that their legs are, for all intents and purposes, deformed. And, it doesn’t matter to them that the world of cats and dogs is way overpopulated already, so they’re just adding to that. Millions of them die every year in shelters due to overpopulation and around 30 percent of them are actually pure-bred.

The breeders don’t care because they’re making an average of $300 to $1,200 on each one. People like Paris Hilton don’t care because she has a thing for cute little pets. Does it matter that their little legs might hurt like Hell? Nope. She just figures that she has plenty of money to pay the vet bills, so what does it matter if the two adorable kitties she bought have deformed legs? They’re just so cute!

They’re called “Munchkins”, which is definitely a cute name for an incredibly cute cat. They’re a fairly new breed of cat and not recognized yet by the largest cat organization worldwide, the Cat Fanciers Association (CFA), and hopefully never will be.

Another issue that these little cuties have is that they can’t jump like normal cats. What if she gets out into your yard? She couldn’t run away from a predator, like the neighbor’s dog, or jump up onto something to get away. The fact is that nobody is really sure why they don’t jump, aside from the obvious. Is it because their legs are too short to allow them to jump or because they choose not to because it is so painful when they do?

The experts concur and say that a genetic mutation like Munchkins have when they’re bred this way can bring about a ton of health issues, most of them related to bone deformities. According to a vet who lectures frequently at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Carol Margolis, Munchkins can be born with scoliosis, lordosis, rib abnormalities and/or other spinal malformations. This is due to the fact that their bone formation is inappropriate and results in abnormal loading. This, in turn, makes them predisposed to osteoarthritis.

In addition, according to another expert named Katie Lisnik, who is the director of cat policy and protection for the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), it’s irresponsible to breed animals for the purpose of exaggerating any physical characteristics. She also stated that breeders need to be placing the health and welfare of the animals for the long term over winning shows and making money.

Let’s face it, folks, every animal on the planet deserves to be normal and have a normal happy life. There are already way more deformities and health problems than there should be for them, so why do we try to play God and create new ones? The almighty buck is simply no excuse for having no compassion or good sense. And, those two important factors should tell anyone considering making money off of a poor little cat’s discomfort and pain that they should try walking around on their knees for a day and see how they like it. Oh, and Paris, go out and buy a new Gucci handbag or something and quite encouraging such sad and insensitive cat abuse.