Date: Fri 22-Aug-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

Shevlin-cat-munchkin-breeder

Full Text:

with cuts: Rare Cat Disorder Creates A New Breeding Business

B Y S TEVE B IGHAM

Debbie Shevlin of Arlyn Ridge Road has several cats roaming around her house.

Among them are a handful of some of the world's rarest felines.

A stroke of luck two years ago brought the local cat breeder a kitten with a

rare genetic disorder called kangaroo cat syndrome. Ever since, she's been

breeding this new kind of short-legged cat, known as a munchkin cat, and now

nearly every feline fan on the East Coast wants to buy one.

Two years ago, Debbie's cat of 18 years was killed by a dog. After several

months, her father finally bought her a kitten, which she named Dooley. Soon,

Debbie noticed that little Dooley wasn't growing and after four months, she

observed something else that was rather odd - her new kitten had begun sitting

up on two legs like a kangaroo or squirrel. Fearing there was something

seriously wrong, Debbie took the short-legged cat to a veterinarian who

promptly took X-rays. The pictures showed that Dooley had a dwarf problem; the

bones in its front legs were radically shortened. The vet eventually diagnosed

the cat as having Kangaroo Cat Syndrome, a sort of freak of nature, he said,

which had first been seen in England and Russia during the 1930s.

Debbie was told that Dooley was born with a recessive gene and that she

probably would not produce any offspring with the same traits. Soon after,

however, Debbie turned on ABC-TV's Primetime , which was featuring Paul

McSorley, a Boston bartender who was breeding these strange munchkin cats and

making lots of money. The press jumped on the story because of how

bizarre-looking these cats were.

"I'm thinking, I've got to get in on this deal," Debbie recalled.

Suddenly, everyone wanted to see her short-legged cat. What makes these cats

stand out as a unique breed is the genetic mutation that shortens the long

bones in the legs. The gene responsible for the phenomenon is believed to

cause hypochondroplasia, a type of drawfism also found in humans. The traits

found in munchkin cats are much like those found in dogs like the dachshund,

corgi and basset hound.

After an unsuccessful attempt to breed Dooley with the bartender's cat, Debbie

finally hit pay dirt with a down-and-out munchkin cat she found on the streets

of Boston. The two produced one munchkin cat and the rest is history. From

there, Debbie went on the Fox After Breakfast show in New York City.

She continued breeding the munchkins and sold one cat to a woman in Florida

for $1,500, sight-unseen.

There are some cat associations who are accepting the munchkin cats as a new

breed, but others continue to pass them off as simple freaks of nature.

"In truth, nature produced these cat," Debbie explained.

Debbie named her business "Tin Man Cattery" to go along with the Wizard of Oz

theme that most munchkin breeders use.

Two years ago, according to Debbie, there were only about 300 of these

munchkin cats in the United States. Now, there are an estimated 1,000 and the

public's fascination with these strange cats has simmered. Mr McSorley, who

was pulling in as much as $15,000 per cat, has since been shunned by the cat

world. He had been publishing his own newsletter, entitled The Munchkin Cat

Informer , which, in one issue, included a letter from a woman who called him

Dr Frankenstein for creating these "deformities."