Oh Kinkalow You Stole My Heart!
by Sarah D
(Houston, Tx)
Kinkalow cat - picture added by Michael (Admin) - photo copyright Helmi Flick
It was January 3rd that my heart was completely broken by the loss of my 9 year old domestic shorthair rescue cat. He was a simple boy, short black hair. A rescue who was incredibly grateful. I thought he could never be replaced.
I knew nothing of exotic breeds, I wasn't on the lookout. My plan was simple. I was going to adopt a cat from craigslist.org in my area. My main concern was who would put up with a growing family and a small neurotic dog?
It was after 2 weeks of searching I came across an ad for a free cat. The title made me open the link - "I am a free Munchkin American Curl Tortie". I had no idea what they were talking about. When I opened the link there she was. She was gorgeous. I had never seen anything quite as cute as her besides a ferret or kitten! I called within seconds. Their story was a sad one and I was more than happy to meet them both.
Tuesday our new family member entered her new home as if she owned it! We were thrilled that a 3 year old cat would adapt to such chaos. Three small children and our yappy dog didn't even make her flinch! She struts around demanding love and attention.
My fascination grew about what kind of cat she was exactly. I was getting no results just typing in Munchkin. I was getting fewer results typing in American curl. I had not even heard of a Kinkalow! I just couldn't find anything that resembled her. Everyone was stumped.
It was that fall, a long fall since Tuesday was going in and out of heat week after week. She finally managed to escape and go missing for a good 24 hours. Then she slipped back in and acted as though nothing had happened. Of course, later she would give birth to two healthy kittens in the bottom of my closet. Neither were munchkins, but one had curious ears. The male kitten who was orange was indeed an American Curl!
Needless to say we ended up keeping him. Two unique cats indeed! Their personalities match no other cats I've ever had the pleasure of owning. Eli is obviously larger than his mother now. He's extremely vocal, into helping with making the bed to putting dishes away. We constantly have to shoo him out of the bathtub! Still I found little information or pictures that looked like Tuesday!
It was after I returned from the vet who had never seen such a cat that I sat down to figure it out once and for all. I typed everything I could think of describing her. Finally I Googled images. There I saw a short cat with little curled ears! Here on your fantastic website!
I was incredibly shocked to see others like her for the first time. I was more shocked to know the details of how rare they are. Tuesday was at the vet getting fixed! I then realized what a blessing it was that she had Eli. Even though he wasn't a Kinkalow or even a full American Curl we ended up with 2 wonderful cats.
I thank you for the website and all of the information! I now read about other breeds, and recommend it to other cat lovers.
Sarah
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