I need advice

Hi, I have been in cat rescue for several years and have seven indoor, altered cats. I have been given a munchkin male (which my sister begged me to let her have) a beautiful chocolate brown. I kept the Tiffanie and she is a year old and has been in heat several times. I was wanting to breed the two but have been told I can't breed a munchkin to her. I need to know where I can get some real info. Every artical I find contradicts what the other one says. Please help

I am not a breeder but my understanding is evan munchkin to munchkin you may not have any munchkins...

I do think there is a munchkin breeder or former breeder on the bourd hopefully youll get the answers...

Also make sure you have the appropriate breeding rights. I'm not sure about munchkins and what allowable outcrosses are for them. If you can find a munchkin breeder that would be willing to help you get started and mentor you that would be best.

Munchkin's are registered with the TICA. Dr. Solveig Pflueger determined that the short legs were the result of a dominant genetic mutation affecting the long bones of the legs. Any cat that possesses this gene will exhibit the short legs. A cat that has received the Munchkin gene from one parent will produce Munchkin kittens at an approximate ratio of one Munchkin to one normal kitten.

http://www.catvet.homestead.com/Munchkin1.html

You should talk to Munchkin breeders before you do any breeding. You say you were given a munchkin male but don't say from what source. Do you know its genetic background?

Originally Posted by Mia mouse

Munchkin's are registered with the TICA. Dr. Solveig Pflueger determined that the short legs were the result of a dominant genetic mutation affecting the long bones of the legs. Any cat that possesses this gene will exhibit the short legs. A cat that has received the Munchkin gene from one parent will produce Munchkin kittens at an approximate ratio of one Munchkin to one normal kitten.

http://www.catvet.homestead.com/Munchkin1.html

You should talk to Munchkin breeders before you do any breeding. You say you were given a munchkin male but don't say from what source. Do you know its genetic background?

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Hi, Thank you for info. Yes I have found out that the Munchkin came from a breeder in Tn. and I called the breeder to make sure I could breed him and she said yes I could. She also said she would get the reg. numbers of the mom and dad. The kittin was very sick when he came to me from the owner in ct. Some kind of a resp. problem that quickly spread to all my other cats even though I was very careful. I had to try several kinds of antibiotics and nothing worked. Now I have had to dose for five days with Zithromax and for all this month a dose every 4th. day. It has been a nightmare. I hope I can find someone to help me with the correct way to breed Munchkins. I have been told so many things. Some say standard to standard, some say no you have to breed standard to non-standard. I have been told I can't breed with pure breed. I have a beautiful Tiffanie I would like to breed. Any help would be a god-sent. Thanks again, Karen (momcat)

You also have to be sure the Tiffanie is of excellent health and her genetic history is perfect too. You wouldn't want to breed her if some disease ran in her family, or if she was actually carrying something that could be passed down to the kittens. Do you have her health background and family history? If not it really is not wise to breed her just because she appears to be perfect. Where did she come from?

The Tiffanie is registered with the Canadian Cat Association A.F.C. I guess I would have to have her regestered here. She has a good health record. Why am I told that you cannot bread Munchkin to pure breed?

you mean to another pure breed munchkin?? or just another pure bred in general? I dont know why you would want to breed it to another purebred cat of a different and create "mutt" kittens. the kittens wouldn't be purebred, they would just be mixes. Assuming you mean to another munchkin, then I really don't know. Munchkin is a mutation, i can't imagine breeding 2 cats with genetic mutations together would be a good idea.

Jen, not all genetic mutations are bad. Some are actually good in that they improve the breed in certain ways. For breeders, that is the goal; to improve the breed.

Originally Posted by Jen

you mean to another pure breed munchkin?? or just another pure bred in general? I dont know why you would want to breed it to another purebred cat of a different and create "mutt" kittens. the kittens wouldn't be purebred, they would just be mixes. Assuming you mean to another munchkin, then I really don't know. Munchkin is a mutation, i can't imagine breeding 2 cats with genetic mutations together would be a good idea.

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Using purebreed cats to develop a new breed is quite common. With the bengal; American Shorthairs, Egyptian Maus, and moggies used to be allowed outcrosses. With the Savannah, orientals are common outcrosses as well as moggies and egyptian mau's. These breeds are chosen for a particular feature they want to pass on and because you know what you are getting with a purebreed vs. a moggie which can be a little chancy.

I thought I would look up the breed standard to find out what the allowable outcrosses are and you are correct. The breed standard for TICA states:
"Domestic longhair/shorthair, not of a recognized breed."
So it seems the Tiffanie would not be a good idea if you want to go to standard. I'm actually a little surprised by this. What do people think? They are not yet recognized by the CFA but that is to be expected.
http://www.tica.org/pdf/standards/mkbrdgrpstd.pdf

Oh ok I didn't know that. I should just keep my nose out of the breeding section since I don't breed, but I like to check it out sometimes to learn new things. I guess I don't really understand why breed two different breeds of purebred cat together. She didn't say she was trying to create a new breed so I thought she just wanted to breed them for the fun of it. Thats why I was asking. It also seems like a good idea to find a mentor or someone who help you along and I agree that speaking with a breeder of munchkins would be a good start. Ask them the specific questions and they will probably be glad to help.