this post was submitted on 30 Nov 2023
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They're called Munchkins. They should be illegal to breed.
I think this one is a regular cat who is still crouched down from sniffing its stylish accessory. It just looks like it's a fully standing Munchkin because of the perspective, diffuse lighting and floof ruffles on the shoulderblades that are very slightly out of frame. The curve top right looks like it might be its left hip.
Also wishful thinking. I hope the lizard went on to lead a long and fulfilling life too, for what it's worth.
That cat is definitely just crouching.
Nevertheless, Munchkin cats should be illegal to breed.
Munchkins are fine. I've seen them jump and play in person. They're happy, healthy, active cats and most of this "make them illegal" crap is FUD.
If you want to go after real breeder-related cat cruelty, about half of Persians (depending on specific line) have nasal cavities too small to breathe through, going through life wheezing and apathetic as they can't breathe normally enough to do any physical activity.
There's also Maine Coone breeders (thankfully rare) who take the size of their cats to such insane excess that the spine literally isn't strong enough to support the cat anymore, and it bends to the point the cat can't jump.
EDIT: Oh! I can't believe I forgot the absolute worst offender, the Scottish Fold. Those cute flappy ears? That's caused by intentionally breeding cartilage deficiency genes that cause arthritis and joint pain as the gene effects more cartilage than just in the ears.
Selective breeding for variants like stunted legs will also cause a whole bunch of joint pain and arthritis. Especially with legs, which are taking the entire force of a regularly leaping creature on a small surface area, unlike other body parts which have the full impact cushioned by the lower body muscles and joints.
Skeletons just aren't made to be fucked with by anything except evolution and maybe a skilled surgeon. Even then there are no guarantees it's a good mutation or a good surgery.
Which is why I said mostly FUD. Dwarfism can cause arthritis depending on the line, but it isn't guaranteed like the Scottish Fold. Maine Coons actually get arthritis far more often than Munchkins. Good breeders have outcrossed Munchkins with a wide variety of other breeds to get a huge amount of genetic diversity, more than most other modern breeds.
I've seen a lot of the stuff that happens with cat breeding first-hand. Overall, I hope people rescue cats from shelters instead of buying from breeders. All I'm saying here is that Munchkins are nowhere near the worst offenders and it sounds more and more like EU legislators want to ban certain breeds and call it a day rather than actually understanding the core issues and making more thoughtful legislation.
Why not all of them? Ban it all. Stop with the designer breeds. It's all cruel.
"Designer" cat breeds is an awfully vague term. Main Coons, for example, are a naturally occurring large cat from Maine. It was always a large cat, but some breeders push that to an unhealthy extreme to win cat shows. Others, like the Ragdoll, for example, is a perfectly healthy breed that started as a mix between 2 other pedigree breeds of cat with no extremes that challenge their health.
I believe that to make progress in reigning in the excesses of breeders we need to stop thinking in terms of specific breeds and start thinking in terms of genetic issues in specific lines.
Because they have a munchkin or a Corgi and are mad that their animal is also designer but doesn't want to include it.
That's actually not why. Both my cats are rescues. My point was that kneejerk "ban this one breed" takes aren't helpful and don't address the core issues.
Requiring by law genetic tests on pedigree cats and veterinary sign-off that the lines are healthy would go a long way to solving these issues.
Seriously. It's bad enough with all the dog breeds with major health problems. But cats need to be able to jump. That's like half of their life enjoyment, stolen at birth.
i don't have an odd breed but my cat came from his previous owners at 20lbs and can't jump. even though we've gotten him down to 14lbs now i dont know if he'll ever jump again unless we found physical therapy for him :/