Adorable Munchkin Cat Named Batman Is Impawsibly Cute

You don't meet a cat like this every day.

Elana

• Published in Animal Stories
• July 25, 2021

There's a tuxedo munchkin cat in this world who is unlike other cats in a plethora of ways, and his name is Batman. Batman is "The Metal Munchkin" and "Box Cat," two nicknames dubbed to him precisely because of his irresistible social media presence.

Munchkin cats are a "newer" breed of cat (they "officially debuted" in 1991,) most noticeably characterized by their adorably short legs which are caused by a genetic mutation. It is believed that all munchkin cats can trace their roots back to two Louisiana pregnant, short-legged cats in the 80's.

Batman has over 24,000 fans on Instagram alone, and some of his videos have gone totally viral! We think he's hysterical and adorable, so we reached out to his owner for an interview.

Follow Batman on Instagram!

We were told Batman will be 6 in September, when we asked his mom how old the cat was, she also said, "He is a Virgo."

Batman's Instagram Reels & TikTok Videos are almost always paired with iconic metal music, thus dubbing him The Metal Munchkin, but it was a video of him running around in a short cardboard box to some Alice in Chains that went viral, spiraling him into the Insta-Famous universe where we discovered the cutie and his feline siblings.

"I'm the man in the box"

Munchkin has two sibling cats Bambi and Larry, and the purr-fectly precious Buttercup passed away in May. We asked Batman's mom how their family got started.

"We wanted to add to our cat family. Having three rescue cats already, we decided this time to purchase a Munchkin cat. We researched Munchkin breeders and found Terri Harris at Munchkinlane Cattery in Central Florida. She breeds and shows munchkin cats. She sent photos of her most recent litter of kittens. It consisted of three cream-colored females, and one black male who was also the runt. That is the first time we saw him."

Did you know that the munchkin’s hind legs are slightly longer than their front legs?

It's true! It's also true that not all munchkin cats have short legs. They're actually split into three categories, “standard,” “super-short” and “rug hugger." Naturally, rug hugger is the shortest. Because the short legs are caused by a gene mutation, a munchkin has to be born with the autosomal dominant gene to end up with the adorable short legs they're so notorious for.

Batman's mom told us:

"Batman does funny things all of the time, along with fetching and stealing any article of clothing that has a string."

Batman is very well loved, his mom also told us:

"He has his own toybox full of stuffed animals. He brings one or two to my bedroom every night while I'm sleeping."

Many people tend to believe that Munchkin cats must have problems with their spines, joints, or bones, but it's just not true!

In 1995, tests were conducted on the oldest living Munchkin cats at the time that revealed "no abnormalities or issues in the cats’ joints or bones."

In fact, according to insurance claims the most common thing to effect Munchkin cats is Hyperthyroidism, but Hyperthyroidism is also the most common endocrine disorder in middle-aged and older cats, occurring in 10% of cats over 10 years old.

Browsing through Munchkin's Instagram, it's obvious that all of the cats in their family are entertaining, and so is mama.

She's taken Batman's hilarious purrsonality and run with it, creating hysterical content on a regular basis for his growing fanbase.

Whether it's videos or memes, Batman and his fabulous family are definitely the sort of cats you want to follow on social media.

Bambi

Larry

Meme-tastic.

Batman's mom told us:

"We hope that Batman's social media presence as a healthy, intelligent and happy cat will help to combat the stigma and misinformation that surrounds the Munchkin breed."

Elana