Conference misery::feline_v1

    Well, an obvious advantage is that you'll never step on its tail...
    
    (Sorry!)
    
    Manx cats are usually tailless, though some have a stub of a tail. We
    have a cat who, though left on the vet's doorstep (literally) we
    suspect of being Manx, and she has a tail stub about an inch long,
    which she uses for expression just as any cat uses its tail. When she's
    watching the birds at the feeder it twitches like a chipmunk's. (She's
    a longhair, and I believe long-haired Manx types are called Cymrics,
    but that's getting a bit exotic for a "found" cat.) 

    Manxes are supposed to be rather quiet, I think, and Abigail certainly
    is; most of her meows are silent, with just a squeak at the end.
    They have larger hindquarters than other cats, as if to make up
    for the absence of a tail's balancing action. This doesn't prevent
    them from climbing, but it does mean they can't usually jump as
    accurately, and they have more trouble landing on their feet if
    they fall.
    
    Abigail is also a "few-person" cat. She is quite friendly with one
    person or two, but hates crowds and disappears quickly when people
    come over. I've no idea if this is a Manx trait or just an Abigail
    one. She is very affectionate to us, and can be amazingly cute and
    flirtatious.

    She's also a good mouser, even though one of her front paws is half
    paralyzed. And she can nab a bit of food off the edge of a dinner
    plate with lightning speed!

    She is jealous of our other cat, Chiun, and I suspect she would
    be jealous of any other cat, unless perhaps it had been a littermate
    of hers. But again, I don't know if these are traits common to all
    Manxes, or just to her.

    -b

    
    
    We adopted a Manx-mix kitten a couple of years ago.  Unfortunately
    Sammy was diagnosed as having feline leukemia and we had to put him
    to sleep about a year ago.  He was a very oriental-looking tiny black
    cat with a stump tail and very large ears.  He was the sweetest
    cat I've ever known - he used to sleep with us at night and suck
    on our fingers, and he was always purring.
    
    The only problem we had with him, and I was told that this is common
    in Manx cats, is that because of the stump tail the nerve endings
    are very sensitive and therefore control of the sphincter muscles
    can be a problem.  He would go into a panic when he had to
    make a bowel movement.  And for some reason he did not want to do
    it in the litter box.  It was always right next to it, or in the
    tub.  The fact that we had other cats could have contributed to
    this also.  (You know how cats are when there is a new-kid-on-
    the-block - they all wanted to watch!).
    
    You can always check with the people you get the kitten from to
    find out what it's litter box habits are.  Good luck, and if you
    do adopt one, I hope it's as special as Sammy was.
    
    Carole
        

    I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to babysit and show a
    black manx male alter for some friends in Ohio.  They send Bear
    out to me for about 4 months.  
    
    His personality was so different from a persian which is what I'm
    used to.  He was very mischivious, but very very affectionate. 
    
    He was built sorta like a rabbit and walked a bit different than
    the other cats.  He looked like a heavy american shorthair with
    no tail!!!   
    
    We didn't have any of the litterbox problems that were mentioned
    in the previous note, but I learned that this was one of the biggest
    problems with breeding manxes.  I understand that many of the kittens
    are born deformed in the rear end area and have to be put to sleep.
    
    Get a Manx, their great pets, but think about it seriously if your
    planning to do any breeding.
    
    purrs
    cin
    

    The way I understand manx breeding, you have to breed tailless to
    tailed manx in order to maintain healthy kittens.  Something about
    the gene formation of the tailless manx that can be fatal to kittens.
    Alot of them are reabsorbed.  We should get Dave or some of the
    other genetics into this conversation to get the real story.
    
    I do know that there are three types of manx:
    
              rumpies-identation where the tail would be
    
              stumpie-have a little stub tail
    
              tailed-have normal tails
    
    you can have a purebred manx with a tail, they can also be shown
    in some associations as an AOV- any other variety.  They have very
    round faces and a rounded look to them.  The back legs are slightly
    longer than the frot giving them a jacked up look.
    
    JoAnn           

    Most of what I was going to mention, I see was mentioned in .-1,
    .-2 , but I babble a bit anyhow....
    
    The manx cats are VERY round in appearance.  The are short chunky
    cats with a round head, bofy, and rear.  Their back side is higher
    than their shoulders which causes them to have an unusual gait.
    The breeding problems with them are similar in occurance to the
    scottish fold problems (discussed in another note). In both breeds
    you can't (or shouldn't) breed a cat with the breed trait (no tail,
    or folded ears as the case may be) to another cat exhibiting that
    trait.  The combination can produce a lethal or crippling gene
    configuration.  If you do decide to purchase a manx from a breeder,
    be sure to ask whether the breeder ever does tailess to tailess
    breedings.  Many do - in order to get a higher percentage of non-tailed
    cats.  If you buy from one that does - you may have to deal with
    health problems.  Try to find a breeder who has kittens with no
    tailess-tailess breeding in the pedigree at all - these are the
    people who care about the welfare of the cat.
    
    Good Luck!    
    Molly

    There are a lot of interesting legends about manx cats, and how
    they lost their tails (Irish invaders stole the tails for helmet
    plumes?). But nontheless, the lack of tail is blamed on a dominant
    genetic mutation that happened a long time ago, especially when
    you consider that there was a Manx club in Great Britian in 1901.
    King Edward VII owned several.
    
    Breeding and genetics.  The M gene is lethal in homozygote, causing
    death in the womb at an early age. This is approximately 25% of
    kittens in a Manx to Manx breeding. Heterozygote Manx (the tailless
    wonders) show a high percentage of still-births and kitten deaths
    than the norm.  They are also more apt to have other malformations,
    particularly of the spine, such as bone fusion of the lower spine,
    incomplete spinal development (nerves unprotected by bony material),
    and spina bifida.  
    
    Manx are split into 4 groups (the hetero nature means they can never
    breed "true")
    	rumpies - dimple where tail should be
    	rumpy-risers - small number of tail vertebrae forming a knot
    	stumpies(or stubbies) - definite tail stump, movable
    	longies - nearly a normal tail
    There are also normal tailed cats from a Manx breeding.
    
    Long haired Manx are called Cymrics (from Cymru, the Welsh name
    for Wales). It has been recognised is some fancies.
    
    Manx are sweet, affectionate, and infinitely lovable (aren't they
    all?).  But it is one of the breeds I would NEVER breed (the others
    are Sphynx, Burmese, and Scottish Fold).
    
    Dave
    

    
    
    re - .4
    
    JoAnn,
    
    This may not be the proper place for this question - but - what
    did you mean when you said a kitten may be "reabsorbed"???
    
    thanks

    The condition of reabsorbtion takes place in the womb when a kitten
    dies.  The queen's body will reabsorb the kitten fetus.  I believe
    that this only occurs in the early stages of fetal development.
    Maybe one of the other breeders can add more info to this discussion.
    
    Jo Ann
    
    

    
    To all,
    
    THANK YOU, THANK YOU !
    
    I still cannot believe how useful these notefiles can be !
    I was really surprised by the amount of information I received from
    all of you, not to mention very grateful. To be honest, you have
    given me enough info to decide that this may not be the breed for
    me, (health problems, etc..).
    
    						Thanks again,
    						Lorrin
    

    Re stubtails:
    
    I have hybrid [half-Manx=half-Siamese] jet black stubtail, Merlin.
    He's superintelligent, shy, attached almost exclusively to me, and
    the best mouser I've ever encountered.  Possibly because of the
    hybridization, his stub feels like a corkscrew; it's got a slight
    spiral structure.  Is this also true of regular (purebred) stubs?
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.

    < Note 437.6 by USHS01::MCALLISTER "TARDIS Sales and Service Co." >

But it [Manx] is one of the breeds I would NEVER breed (the others
    are Sphynx, Burmese, and Scottish Fold).
            

    	Just out of curiosity, why not Burmese?  (I understand your
    point of view on the others, but I've never heard anything against
    Burmese that would be as dissuading as what I know about the other
    breeds.)  
    
    Tracey
    
    

    
    Tracey,
    
    Refer to notes 422.20 - 422.22 for a continued discussion on why.
    
    Dave

    Manx are very lovable to their people but not outgoing around
    strangers. If the breeding is done correctly health problems
    are no more than usual. I breed them for years and never had any
    spine problems or a high infant mortality rate but I always
    breed longtail cats into the line. It is not enough to breed
    a long tale Manx in as they still carry the gene. I would
    breed tabbies in for color and their genes. Off course this
    produced a lot of cats that could not be registered but I considered
    myself lucky if I got one show quality out of a litter. Some
    would not produce any show quality. They have been interbreed too
    much. If you can get one from England they have done excellent
    work and most of the good books about Manx are English. They
    orginated on the Isle of Man which is off the coast of England.
    I think they were probably a feral cat similar to our American
    bobcat but that is just my theory.
    They are very silent cats having a chirp rather than a full meow
    and are masters of the silent meow. They act more doggy sometimes
    in that they regard their person as the leader of the pack.
    I love them and have never experienced the problems mentioned
    but I also breed very very carefully.