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Teacup CatsTeacup cats are fascinatingly delicate creatures. Humans like the appearance of "jewel like" animals and teacup cats are certainly that. The primary source of information for this page comes courtesy Sarah Hartwell, general research and the PocketKittys cattery. The photographs (except for Pete) also come courtesy the PocketKittys cattery, who I have emailed but not as yet received a response. But in providing a link and promoting the cattery, permission is presumed (subject to input) to be granted. So down to business. What are teacup cats?Teacup cats are simply small miniature cats (meaning a size smaller than the category of cat called "miniature cats"). Miniature cats are usually about one third to one half the size of normal size cats of the same breed. As a guideline teacup Persian females weigh 2-4 lbs while the males are 3-6 lbs.At least one cattery sub-classifies by referring to "Palm Sized Pocket Persians" as well. Female palm sized weigh 3.5lbs or less and males 4lbs or less. They are normally less than 9 inches tall or less when mature. Miniature kittens are more vulnerable than normal sized kittens. Being miniature poses health problems to pregnant cats so the breeding females must be 4-8 lbs in weight and breeding males are 4-10 lbs. It seems that they are friendly (to humans and dogs!) cats.
He first discovered miniature cats in Argentina. He says that he found them surviving in a refuse dump, in a back alley. He decided to bring 7 home to Canada and 6 survived the trip (one died due to the sedative needed for the journey). He bred them successfully. He says that a "trade off" for the small size is that they are short lived (although this probably only applied to the breed he was dealing with). Due their small size it seems that it is impractical to home them before 5 months old. Otherwise they are normal healthy kittens. Sarah Hartwell, an expert on cats and particularly cat genetics, says that you should take care when acquiring very small cats.
It seems that some unscrupulous breeders (and remember breeders are in this for commercial gain ultimately) pass off normal/small cats as miniature cats as miniature cats being rare can fetch higher prices. A genuine teacup cat has been bred small by selective breeding of those cats with the miniature trait. This fixes the genetic make up. Or the genetic make up is already fixed through genetic mutation and this cat is then bred for profit.A good breeder (and I have no reason to know that PocketKittys cattery is not a good breeder) limit the number of litters to ensure that the queen stays healthy and makes sure the gene pool is wide to avoid inbreeding (damaging the immune system) resulting in health problems and defects in offspring. Buying a Teacup Kitten Teacup cats are great pets but ensure that you get the following when you buy:
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There is a nice story on the internet about a person called John Antrobus, who used to breed teacup cats (he may still do it but a search proved fruitless).
This is because not all teacup cats are in fact miniature cats or dwarf cats (although a dwarf cat is readily distinguished by his/her short legs). A cats normal size is around 7-12+ pounds. So, some normal cats at the bottom end of this scale may have the appearance of a miniature cat but will not be because the cat's genetic make up is not that of a miniature cat but a normal sized cat.