Cats Without Tails?

Could someone familiar with different cat breeds fill me in on which ones don't have tails?

I have had a cat that turned up at my house stray for a few years now, and she is on the smallish side but she does not have a tail at all. Not even really a stub. She has a stripe pattern and is a gray/black color.

 

I've been hearing more about some types of mink cats that are suppose to have hardly any tails. They're usually mixed breeds in my opinion. I have a book that explains about all types of cats, and I'll be looking in it about this topic, and see what information I can find out about cats with short tails. Does any here have a cat that has a short tail? Very interesting topic!

 

I don't know about a particular breed, but when I lived in Japan several years ago, I saw a lot of cats with no tails. When I first started seeing them, I thought they were either mutilated or born with defects, but after I kept seeing them, I realized it had to be something about the breeding. They were of different colors.

 

The only cat breed that I know of which doesn't have a tail, naturally, is the Manx. It's body is a bit on the short side and the hind legs are a bit longer than the front. This is how a Manx looks like:

 

^ Yep, manx are the only ones I know of that have no tails naturally as well. Your cat probably isn't full-blooded manx, but it sounds like maybe there's some in the lineage somewhere.

There could've also been an injury at some point that caused your cat to have no tail, too, however since you said it doesn't have a stump even, then that's unlikely.

 

I bet she is at least part manx. The face is wrong (hers is a lot more long and narrow), but the body shape is about right. She has a short body with somewhat noticeably longer hind legs than front legs.

For some reason I was thinking the manx were the hairless cats. I must have had them confused with something else.

Thanks all!

 

You're close. The hairless cat breed you're probably thinking of is Sphynx....which is pretty close to Manx with the ending, so it'd be easily confused.

 

Hey, how can you confuse me with a Manx? I look so much more pretty!

 

I've only heard of a Manx. I wish I had more information or resources to help you out. I used to think that any cats without tails had previously had a bad owner, but after finding out that it had do with the breeding, I felt a lot better about it.

 

I am only familar with Manx cats as well, I think they come from the isle of Man?

 

The manx Certainly a cute little guy! Should be the only type of cat that naturally has no tail. Perhaps something happened to your kitty that she lost her tail

 

What causes a manx to have no tail? Does it affect their balance at all?

 

It's a naturally occurring feature caused by a gene. Yes, they do come from the Isle of Man. I don't think they have any problem with balance. In fact, they are prized as hunters. Hunters of rodents, I suppose. More information here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manx_(cat)

And this is PJ, a champion Manx:



More information on PJ here:
http://www.karellomanx.com/siresanddams.html

 

I don't think anything happened to her tail, but I could be wrong seeing as how she is a stray. But she turned up at my house when she wasn't fully grown and her tail area looks like it's naturally that way, not like anything happened. I do think she must be part manx upon further examination of these pictures.

Thanks for clearing up the manx/sphynx thing! What a difference!