Library-Floor4-Manx

Manx, breed of shorthaired cat whose most distinctive features are a rabbitlike gait and the absence of a tail. The breed is native to the Isle of Man, a British island off the coast of Great Britain; although there are many stories about how tailless cats first came to the island, it is most likely that the genetic mutation originated there. The taillessness is caused by a dominant gene that affects the entire spinal column and which may, in some specimens, cause serious defects. Some kittens, called "stumpies," are born with stumps of tails; others, with a rounded rump and the complete absence of a tail ("rumpies"), are preferred by cat fanciers. Although kitten mortality is high due to problems in spinal development, Manx that survive the neonatal stage grow to be strong, healthy adults.

In general, the Manx gives an impression of roundness, with a round head, prominent cheeks and jowls, and a compact body. The coat is double, a soft outer coat overlying a thick undercoat; the coat comes in various colors. The Manx is a polite, reserved cat, and is extremely loyal to its owners.

The Cymric, a longhaired version of the Manx, has a semilong, double coat.

History There are a number of mythical tales surrounding the origins of the Manx, such as that Noah cut off its tail with the door of the Ark as the rain began to fall. In actuality, Manx cats originated on the Isle of Man, off the coast of Great Britain, among a population of cats whose common ancestry sprang from the same roots as the British Shorthair. A spontaneous mutation occurred at some point several hundred years ago, which created kittens born without the vertebrae that form the tail of normal cats. With the passage of centuries and due to the isolation of the cats from outside breeding, the taillessness eventually became a common characteristic among the Isle of Man cats, because the mutated gene is a dominant trait.
The original Isle of Man Manx was a rangier cat than the standard used today, but the basics were there--deep flanks, long back legs, sturdy body. Through careful, deliberate breeding programs, the size of the cat has increased, and the short-backed, broad-chested and stocky cat that we see now became the desired type. Mythology and Folklore Many stories of the origin of the Manx are found in cat and mythology books. In many of these tales the Manx are descended from ship's cats who were shipwrecked on the Isle of Man when their ships were sunk off the coast. A commonly told story is the legend from the early 1600s of two ships from the Spanish Armada that were sunk off Spanish Point near Port Erin. The Isle of Man was the refuge for the tailless cats from these two ships. Another legend has it that the cat came from a ship wrecked in 1806 off Jurby Point, while another says it was a Baltic ship wrecked off Castle Rushen and Calf Island.

Early speculation considered the Annamite cats to be the beginning of the Manx, these cats having short tails. They were introduced into Burma. Others felt the Manx may be descended from Siam and Malaya. The Malaya Archipelago cats have kinked, knotted and short tails.

The Welsh also lay claim to the Manx in their legends and the people considered them sacred animals in early times. British folklore has it that mom cats bit off their kittens' tails to keep humans from snatching them away.

Stumpy tailed cats in New Guinea sometimes get their tails docked by their owners. If a cat is stolen the tail is buried with certain spells to bring misfortune on the thief.

The truth is that short-tailed and tailless cat are seen the world over, the result of a genetic mutation. Japanese Bobtails have short kinked tails and a less stocky body than the Manx. Other breeds of cats occasionally produce a kitten with a missing tail. The Manx, however, is the only cat that is bred to be tailless.