Will the Real Munchkin Cat Please Stand Up?

Jan 4th 2010

We all know about Faith, the two-legged dog who walks on her hind legs, but did you know there's a cat that also likes to play bipedal? Beibei, a kitty living in Singapore, has a tendency to check out his surroundings as meerkats do. Jimmy Leo, the 4-year-old feline's owner, first noticed his cat's tendency to stand on its hindquarters when it was a kitten. "He does it with consummate ease," he tells Paw Nation.

"I initially brushed it off but when he stood longer for some time, especially when eying lizards on the ceiling or high wall, I started to laugh and wonder," Leo continues.

Beibei is a Munchkin breed, a relatively new type of cat. These kitties have regular bodies, but abnormally short legs due to a genetic mutation that causes hypochondroplasia. Munchkin cats tend to stand on their hind legs, though it's not clear why. Possibly to get a better vantage point since they are so low to the ground? "I'm not sure if Beibei is breaking records amongst other Munchkins," Leo tells Paw Nation. "I have friends all over the world telling me theirs do not stand up as frequently or with such unimaginable durations."