# Is she part Manx?



## MarieG (Mar 7, 2011)

Is anyone familiar with Manx kitties? Could she be part Manx?

She obviously has a decent tail, but it's shorter than most. And those powerful hind legs, short front legs, she hardly ever meows and instead only does this adorable "trill" when she arrives to kinda say, _"Tada! It's me!"_ lol...


----------



## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

Tailess or shorter tailed cats are the result of a genetic defect. Any breed of cat can have this mutation. The Manx breed was created due to a population of cats in a closed environment (and island) that carried the the gene and were bred for certain characteristics, including the tail mutation.

So...a cat can have a genetically short tail without being descended from the cats that originated the breed. 

On a side note, I disagree with perpetuating this defect as a cat breed. Too many serious issues can occur. Breeders have gotten better as they understand more about the genetics, but I just don't see breeding for a characteristic that can cause pain, incontinence, constipation, etc. etc.


----------



## swimkris (Jul 17, 2010)

I don't know anything about manxes but you have a very pretty cat! I love her pattern & solid body. Pumpkin is so little and petite that I'm afraid to rough house with her


----------



## MarieG (Mar 7, 2011)

swimkris said:


> I don't know anything about manxes but you have a very pretty cat! I love her pattern & solid body. Pumpkin is so little and petite that I'm afraid to rough house with her


Awl, both of yours are adorable! I love Pumpkin's white boots


----------



## swimkris (Jul 17, 2010)

Thanks


----------



## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

...I kinda think her short tail appears to be the result of an accident and not a trait she was born with. 

The reason I think this, is typically the ends of tabby cats' tails (_the last 1.5-2 inches, 4-6cm_) are the same color as their stripes ... and I don't see that at the end of her tail. It seems sorta stopped-in-the-middle, to me. Do her tailbones taper towards the end or are they mostly all the same size?
_Sometimes mother cats are too vigorous when removing the afterbirth and can accidentally remove tails and/or back feet. It doesn't happen often, though, thank Heavens._


----------



## MarieG (Mar 7, 2011)

Heidi n Q said:


> ...I kinda think her short tail appears to be the result of an accident and not a trait she was born with.
> 
> The reason I think this, is typically the ends of tabby cats' tails (_the last 1.5-2 inches, 4-6cm_) are the same color as their stripes ... and I don't see that at the end of her tail. It seems sorta stopped-in-the-middle, to me. Do her tailbones taper towards the end or are they mostly all the same size?
> _Sometimes mother cats are too vigorous when removing the afterbirth and can accidentally remove tails and/or back feet. It doesn't happen often, though, thank Heavens._


Tapers, but rather suddenly as you see. I suppose that black tip may have been another stripe that "never was?" It's a THICK (boned) tail, I'm used to kitties with "rat tails" as I lovingly tease them lol, so I'm not familiar with how hers should feel.


----------



## catloverami (Jul 5, 2010)

It's a possibility. She has the short thick neck, heavy boning, and higher hindquarters. Manx have a double thick plushy coat, shorter undercoat and longer guard hairs which she appears to have. Their ears are smallish compared to a Maine **** and wide set and resemble a "rocker cradle" when viewed from behind, but not all Manx may have this earset. It's difficult to discern whether hers are like this from the camera angle. Manx are very doglike in their personality. The fact that her tail is THICK is a clue, some vertebrae may even feel a bit knobbly. Manx like to be with their person, retrieve toys, companionable, not necessarily a big lap cuddler (tho some are) but like to be near. Their voices are fairly quiet, and yes, they like trilling. Anyway, she's a_ very_ pretty brown spotted tabby girl. Breed: Manx

_@doodlebug_, if Manx are _properly_ bred, using long tails in a breeding program, there are rarely any problems such as you describe. It's only when unknowledgeable breeders who breed rumpy to rumpy breedings too many times that can result in some problems. But the Scottish Fold breeders have problems if they breed foldxfold too much as well.


----------



## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

catloverami said:


> _@doodlebug_, if [any animal w/ known genetic defects] are _properly_ bred ...
> ... there are rarely any problems ...


Gotta lean w/ Doodle on this one, "_rarely any problems_" are still problems that could have been avoided by not deliberately breeding and knowing you may get those negative issues along with the characteristics the breeder is striving for; Manx, Fold ... and in horses; HYPP and LWO. I'm sure dog breeds have their fair share of genetic issues, too.


----------



## Mimosa (Dec 2, 2010)

I second (or third) that, you always have the risks of throwbacks and that is not fair to the cats. 
That goes for all extreme breeds. With Persians there is now a trend to breed what they call the "open" type, with larger nostrils. Even those are not fully predicatble and breeders are very keen to overlook such "small" errors (maybe they think breathing is overrated). I've seen some respected Persian breeders trying to convince a novice breeder who wanted to spay her queen because that cat had to have a nosejob due to narrow nostrils that she could breed that cat anyway because "who knows, she might give kittens with bigger nostrils".
Yep, she might, but she might not. Same with Manx or Folds, it's a gamble and if it goes awry the cats are the ones suffering for the rest of their lives.




catloverami said:


> _@doodlebug_, if Manx are _properly_ bred, using long tails in a breeding program, there are rarely any problems such as you describe. It's only when unknowledgeable breeders who breed rumpy to rumpy breedings too many times that can result in some problems. But the Scottish Fold breeders have problems if they breed foldxfold too much as well.


I am horrified by the idea of any FoldxFold breedings ! Are there any registries that allow something so risky ? I do not agree with registries that even allow to breed Folds but I thought even those had rules you can't breed Fold to Fold. 
There are studies where they scanned heterozygous Folds (so only 1 Fold parent) and they found those had skeletal deformities too. Those cats must have had discomfort but because cats show very little pain nobody notices and thus breeders can pretend only foldxfold breedings bring problems.


----------

