Instagram animal stars seem to be on the rise, and this adorable munchkin kitten is no different!
Chata is a calico kitty who not only has short legs, but also likes to sleep flat on his back. Yup. You read that right.
This cutie kitty so closely resembles a human when he sleeps, or maybe it’s more accurate to say he looks like the cartoon Snoopy than a literal human being. Never the less, he’s as cute as can be & has taken over Instagram with his adorableness.
Chata lives in Japan with his sister, Chava, although Chata is only less than a year old, the duo has managed to rack up over 124k followers on Instagram!
More info: Instagram
Chata likes to sleep straight as a plank, flat on his back.
Image credits: chavata2023
Many people have been worried about how Chata gets up after sleeping like this, but given how often he does it, maybe that’s not a problem.
When he’s not sleeping like an angel, Chata often gets up to mischief. On the same Instagram account is Chata’s big sister, Chava, who almost two years old now.
Like most little brothers, Chata gets on his big sister’s nerves and sometimes receives a good scolding, but in the end they love each other.
He is Japanese and has a sister called Chava.
While munchkin cats are super adorable, there are some downsides to getting one. If you must have an itty-bitty kitty, we recommend adopting one in need of a home from a shelter or rescue organization.
Otherwise, you give breeders more incentive to produce Munchkin cats, who are a controversial breed. Some people argue they have no health issues, while others say they do.
There’s something very human about Chata when he sleeps on his back.
Image credits: chavata2023
While the average lifespan is 12 to 15 years, some Munchkin kittens develop a condition known as lordosis, which causes the spinal muscles to grow too short so that the spine sinks down into the cat’s body. At its worst, this condition is fatal.
In addition, they can become afflicted with pectus excavatum, a deformity that causes the cat’s breast bone to sink inwards.
It’s worth noting that other cat breeds may also develop both lordosis and pectus excavatum, hence the widespread controversy, with some people still on team Munchkin breeding.
He looks so relaxed.
The Munchkin breed formed as a result of a spontaneous genetic mutation. Their short legs result from an autosomal dominant gene that causes the long bones in a cat’s legs to grow shorter.
A cat only needs one copy of this gene to inherit short legs and pass the trait to their kittens.
Sadly, if a Munchkin cat embryo receives one of these genes from each parent, it will not survive. That’s why you can never mate two Munchkin cats together.
All we want to do is to pet that fluffy belly.
Image credits: chavata2023
The very first feral Munchkin cats were spotted in Great Britain, New England, and Russia in the 20th century.
It wasn’t until the 1980s that people started breeding these cats on purpose, calling them the “kangaroo cat” because their forelegs were shorter than their hind legs.
The American Munchkin cat ascends from a short-legged pregnant stray who was adopted by a music teacher in the early 1980s in Rayville, Louisiana.
When the cat birthed similar-looking kittens, the teacher gave one to her friend who let them roam around outside. Before long, her property was rampant with short-legged cats.
Image credits: chavata2023
It wasn’t until 1994 that the Munchkin cat was officially introduced as a cat breed and accepted into TICA’s New Breed development program.
A lot of people were unhappy about it. One of TICA’s judges resigned from their position, referencing the breed as “an affront to any breeder with ethics.”
People continue to protest this breed, despite how cute they are, because it promotes physical deformities. For this reason, the Cat Fanciers Association (CFA) and the American Cat Fanciers Association (ACFA) refuse to recognize the Munchkin as an official breed.
All controversy aside, Chata is one cute kitty who is clearly living his best life!
The effect is even stronger when you add a little blanket.
Image credits: chavata2023
