Cat Breeds: Manx

Manx

The tail-less Manx cat has been known for hundreds of years and there are various stories regarding its exact origins. Probably the oldest story is that when Noah closed the door of the Ark he shut it too quickly and chopped off the tail of the cat. Another story says that tail-less cats swam ashore to the Isle of Man from the wrecked galleons of the Spanish Armada in 1588. There is little doubt that the isolation of the island allowed the tail-less trait to be perpetuated but the tail-less-ness is the result of a genetic mutation possibly caused by inbreeding British Shorthairs. The true or ‘rumpy’ Manx has only a small hollow where the tail would have been, although cats with residual tails are born. These are called ‘stumpies’, ‘stubbies’, or ‘longies’ depending on the length of the tail. The mutant gene that causes the tail-less-ness may also be responsible for other skeletal deformities and when two completely tail-less ‘rumpies’ are mated together the offspring are often born dead or die shortly after birth. The spines of Manx almost always show other deformities, sometimes the vertebrae are shorter than normal and in the lower part of the spine they tend to fuse together and they may be fewer in number. 

There is a school of thought that maintains that cats with such deformities should not be promoted or bred from but the other side of the argument maintain that the cats have bred naturally since the 1500’s and therefore are obviously strong enough to survive without human help. Despite its skeletal deformities the Manx cat is accepted and recognized by the GCCF in Britain and can be shown at all major UK cat shows.

The Manx cat closely resembles the British Shorthair in type with the obvious exception of the tail.The eyes are large and round and the eye color is in keeping with the coat color.

The Manx are good natured and affectionate and love a cuddle. They are good with children and other animals and seem to be especially good with dogs. They make ideal family pets and are very adaptable to family life. They are often more than happy to be indoor cats. 


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*This information was gathered from Purina.com