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April 26th, 2005, 08:21 PM
Hello! Yet another question I have :)
Of the four kittens we have, two of them are Manx, as the Daddy cat is a Manx. Merlyn, the mother of the kittens, is our indoor/outdoor cat who is NOT Manx.
The question I have is this: One of the kittens has no tail at all, while the other has a small numb of a tail.. and they both have the long, rabbit-like back legs that far prove their uniqueness than the others just by watching them 'hop' along differently than the other two kittens who have full tails.
I wonder if anyone knows in depth or generally.. if Manx are only considered full Manx if both parents are of the same breed... OR if recieving the gene from the male is proof enough?
I have read some on the Manx, and have found that this is caused by a gene deformality... and also understand that perhaps there could be problems with the kittens in the future?

Thanks in advance for any info you guys can give!

Blessings! kimmy

April 26th, 2005, 08:26 PM
I did some researching and basically manx is a genetic defect of the spine (and thus tail). Kinda like spina bifida in humans. If the spine is mutated at the base of the base where the tail starts, there can be problems with the lower extremities, and bowels...


April 26th, 2005, 09:36 PM
Having both parents being Manx is not a good thing. You only need one copy of the gene to have a manx kitten, if the kitten gets two copies, they die. It's called a lethal homozygous mutation. If both parents have the gene that causes manx, the chances of having a kitten that inherits the Manx from BOTH parents gets much higher and you will lose a lot more kittens (statistically, you will lose half of them, and 1/4 will be manx, and the last 1/4 will be normal). If the mother has no Manx genes, 1/2 the kittens will be Manx and the other half will be normal. So you actually get more surviving manx if one parent is not a Manx.

April 26th, 2005, 09:53 PM
Manx is a breed and the cats have specific physical characteristics. You probably just have tailless cats due to genetic mutations. As for the one with no tail, watch him/her carefully for the next few months. Make sure he/she is urinating and defecating regularly. Constipation is easy to miss and potentially fatal. Check for bloating daily. Do a Google search for Manx and Megacolon together. I have some sites bookmarked, but on a different computer. As for the one with a bit of a tail, check with your vet. If there are 4-5 vertebrae in the tail, then the tail should be amputated because later in life, the "stump" of a tail can develop severe osteoarthritis and the amputation is not weathered well by an older cat.

That said, have fun. Tailless cats truly are special. I wouldn't trade my Maine Coon tailless cat Harry and my Siamese tailles cat Egg for anything.


April 26th, 2005, 10:02 PM
Canine14, it is a breed, but it's based on one gene...

April 26th, 2005, 10:05 PM
Having both parents being Manx is not a good thing.

But how can this really be a bad thing when Manx Breeders are only breeding to the same breed.What I mean is they will only breed their Champion Manx to another Champion Manx.Not their Champion to say a Champion Maine Coon...They will only breed their breed.

I need CyberKitten's imput on this one.

April 26th, 2005, 10:12 PM
Read the rest. if both parents are Manx, 1/2 the kittens DIE.

April 26th, 2005, 10:46 PM
This is one breed that is only continued because of the novelty factor for us humans. It doesn't benefit the cat to have the nub. It doesn't benefit the homozygous ones to DIE... It's a breed that is bred just for us, and frankly Amethyst, you are doing the kittens GOOD by mixing the genes a bit. Like I said, less kitties will die.

April 26th, 2005, 10:57 PM
I suspect your kittens are not true Manx - in the sense of being the actual breed - but have a genetic mutation and are domestic short hairs with no tail. This is not unknown in domestic shorthairs - they do not sound like try Manx.

Manx have very specific characteristics:

April 26th, 2005, 11:52 PM
Hey :) First, thank you for all the replies! You have each helped me understand this more. I am not really sure of the father cat, as I had said in another thread, he is a stray cat that my Dad has kept around his home. He is a really stocky yellow tabby with the characteristics of a Manx.. no tail and rabbit-like hind legs. He also has the other characteristics such as large head/face. Being a stray, he is quite spooked by anyone that approaches him. Other than that, to observe him, he appears to be very friendly and sweet looking :p
As Prin has said here... there are four kittens, two with characteristics of the father, and the other two appear quite normal. The smallest one, which is the one with no tail at all, does seem to have problems getting about as far as walking and such. In fact, both of the tailless ones dont move around as much as the other 'normal' ones. I guess now your replies explains to me a bit as to why they dont.
What little info I did read up on after they were born didnt go into further depth as you all have here, as far as the problems with urinating and such. So, I will too keep a close watch on this as well.
Back to the father cat... he is shorthaired... and one of the kittens are shorthaired, while the other is long haired. (the tailless ones)
I would love to share pics of them!! :p The bad part is... is we just cannot keep more than two of the whole litter... but I am becoming more and more concerned that maybe giving the tailless ones away.. well, I dont think I am feeling too comfortable with that idea as it stands now for fear that maybe they wont be watched as they should.. ??


Thank you all so very much, again, for your info and knowledge on this!! I am deeply greatful! ;)

Blessings! kimmy

April 27th, 2005, 10:19 AM
The Manx breed is a little confusing. Since Rumpy to Rumpy breedings are bad due to the kittens dying, Manxs are kinda permenently outcrossed. There can be a wide variety of colours, fur lengths and such since the regular way of creating a new breed (backcrossing and interbreeding) wasn't really possible.

For a true Manx breeder, they cross Rumpies (no tail) to longies (tail or half tail). Both are considered part of the Manx breed since both were born out of Manx parents (since about 1/2 have a tail) and hence the kittens will be considered Manx, even with a tail. Only rumpies are elegible to show.

I have a stumpy tailed cat. He does have some Manx charicaristics but he's certainly not a purebred Manx. Logically, the only cats considered part of the Manx breed would be those out of two papered Manx parents. All the rest are simply domestic shorthairs (or longhairs, I guess) just like every other random bred cat.