Kinkalow dwarf cat – full details

kinkalow dwarf cat
Two useful tags. Click either to see the articles: Toxic to cats | Dangers to cats

Introduction

The Kinkalow dwarf cat is a deliberate out-cross (a hybrid) between the founding dwarf cat the Munchkin and an American Curl. An “out-crossing” is a form of breeding when unrelated cats parent the chosen offspring. This is in contrast to “line breeding” when cats that are related are bred.

Origin

The breed was established in the mid 1990s by Terri Harris (the first elected Munchkin Breed Clair in The International Cat Association -TICA). They are dwarf cats with curled ears as expected. They do not carry the hairless gene (e.g. as for the Sphynx and Bambino). Terri named her first Kinkalow “Munchkinlanes Kinkalow Louie” (see below). You can read about the naming of dwarf cat breeds including the Kinkalow, by clicking on this link.

Naming the breed

Terri Harris developed this breed and says this about the name: “The Kinkalow name was decided on while I was at Kinkos getting some copies make. The Kinkalow has kinky ears and low legs, Kink+low = Kinkalow”. I believe Kinko’s is a FedEx shop/office where copies can be made.”

Kinkalow Tortaleena Feisty

Kinkalow Tortaleena Feisty. Kinkalow Dwarf Cat – Photo copyright Helmi Flick

Registration and Health

The Kinkalow is registered as “Experimental Kinkalow” with the TICA. As to the parents of the Kinkalow they are the Munchkin, the founding dwarf cat and the American Curl. The Munchkin’s dwarfism came about by the spontaneous (i.e. natural) mutation of a gene that controlled the production of cartilage, which as a result lead to shortened legs particularly the front legs.

Useful links
Anxiety - reduce it
FULL Maine Coon guide - lots of pages
Children and cats - important
Munchkinlanes Kinkalow Louie

Munchkinlanes Kinkalow Louie Photograph reproduced with the kind permission of Terri Harris.

Some people think that the dwarf breeds have been developed deliberately through some form of genetic engineering, resulting in some kind of monster cat, flawed with poor health. This is not true. As I have mentioned before these cats are generally no less healthy than cats of normal leg length. It really depends on the breeder. This is, though, a fairly new breed of cat so there are still some uncertainties surrounding the breed in respect of health and life span.

kinkalow dwarf cat

Good breeders will always focus on the health of the cat as well as the appearance and strike a good balance between the two. Health always takes priority, however. The American Curl is a strong and healthy cat, remarkably free of the genetic defects that affect some purebred cats. They are, as expected, characterized by their ears, which curl back from the face toward the center of the back of the skull. American Curl kittens are born with straight ears. They begin to curl within ten days.

Mutation

The American Curl originated as the result of a spontaneous mutation of a gene of a cat with “normal” ears. They were discovered in 1981 in California and developed from that date (hence “American”).There are both long-haired and short-haired varieties which have soft, silky coats. The Kinkalow is being better established across the USA. There is a wide variety of dwarf cat breeds, all of which can be seen on this website.

Update: 1st May 2008 – Kinkalow Dwarf Cats, it seems, are being registered by TICA.  Breeder HoBBiTcaTs. At March 2017, I believe that Terri Harris is no longer breeding the kinkalow. Her website appears to be down permanently. If I am wrong please correct me in a comment.

Video of Munchkin_Minnie

This cat has a big following on Instagram.

There are some more articles on the dwarf cats below:

Manchester a dwarf cat living in Moscow

Dwarf cats 2023 – full discussion

Update February 2023: this page was first published in around 2007 as I recall. The situation regarding the dwarf cat ...
Read More
Napoleon dwarf cat

Are Munchkin Cats genetically modified?

Munchkin cats are not genetically modified in the conventional meaning of the term. A genetically modified organism (GMO) is an ...
Read More
Plush toy or real cat?

Plush toy or real cat?

This bicolour, grey-and-white dwarf cat looks as if she was bought from a toyshop. You can imagine this being a ...
Read More
Picture of the forelegs of a Bambino cat, a dwarf hairless cat

Picture of the chest and forelegs of a Bambino cat

This is a picture of the chest and forelegs of a Bambino cat and I find it interesting. You would ...
Read More
Kinkalow kitten

Gray-and-white Kinkalow kitten

This is a picture of a cute gray-and-white bicolour Kinkalow kitten. It is quite hard to spot this breed unless ...
Read More
This is what it feels like to live with a long-haired dwarf cat

This is what it feels like to live with a long-haired dwarf cat

This video on Twitter gives you a very distinct feel for what it's like to live with a super-cute long-haired ...
Read More
Useful tag. Click to see the articles: Cat behavior

Note: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified.

Michael Broad

Hi, I'm a 74-year-old retired solicitor (attorney in the US). Before qualifying I worked in many jobs including professional photography. I love nature, cats and all animals. I am concerned about their welfare. If you want to read more click here.

You may also like...

2 Responses

  1. April 4, 2021

    […] CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT THE KINKALOW. THERE ARE MORE PAGES ON THE DWARF CATS AT THE BASE OF THE PAGE. […]

  2. June 20, 2021

    […] is confusing because she is called ‘Miss Minnie the Munchkin’ but she is a Kinkalow. Kinkalows are a different breed to Munchkins. Munchkins are the foundation breed of all dwarf cats. From there the breeders hybridized the cats […]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *