by Owner & Breeder of Genetta cats
(USA)

From what I can tell, these comments about dwarf breeds (on this site) come from those that are upset that the dwarf breeds are creating more competition for other breeders.

Munchkins, Genettas, and many others live lives just as cats with long legs do.

Yes, there are some issues of having a litter that has health problems, but the same can be said for most cat breeds.

I have yet to see a dwarf cat act in a way that is not typical behavior. They still jump on furniture, still run about, and still like to chase toys.

I feel that people should stop trying to make a breeder of dwarf cats seem inhumane. This is not true at all. In fact, the opposite is occurring.

Due to all this criticism, breeders are paying careful attention to ensure that they breed healthy cats. Breeding anything other would result in a bad reputation and ultimately the closing of the cattery.

Hi.. thank you for sharing your experience and expertise. It is appreciated.

I agree by the way that there are some people who are prejudiced against dwarf cats without much knowledge of the dwarf breeds. It is probably due to the fact that a dwarf cat has an obvious "defect" (short legs) that by definition is not beneficial so why breed more of these cats. I think that is the fundamental problem that some people perceive as unacceptable.

I have taken your short but useful post as an opportunity to briefly write about the Genetta as there is no single page on my website dedicated to this fairly new and rare cat breed. I hope that you do not mind me doing this.

The Genetta

In the standard leg form - meaning as per the breed standard - the Genetta looks like a short legged Bengal cat. Well, it does to me.

Although, in fact, this relatively new cat breed is designed to have some of the physical characteristics of the Genet, which is a cat-like animal (or related to the cat species Felidae) - but not part of the cat family in terms of its species classification (taxonomy).

The Genetta is an exotic hybrid cat. The cat breeds used in creating the Genetta are: the Munchkin, Bengals, Savannahs, Oriental Shorthairs and domestic shorthaired cats (random bred cats).

The tabby coat patterns are like those of the Bengal cat, namely spotted or the classic blotched tabby appearance.

This cat breed has all the usual attributes of a domestic cat in terms of personality, behavior and its physical attributes. As our anonymous contributor above says, it is able to jump and run in the same way as long legged cats.

I would be pleased if the author of the first part of this post uploaded some more photos.

Genetta to Dwarf Cats