Our little manx seems to be outgrowing incontinence

I have been told by several manx breedes & owners that this happens sometimes.

I take care of special needs cats for a nearbye shelter. they received a call from a woman who had a manx kitten. She had been told by her vet (who had not done ANY diagnostics at all) that the kitten had megacolon and needed to be put to sleep.
She wanted to see if there was someone who could help her.
She was directed to me. I had an incontinent cat who did have megacolon in his last couple months. (look for Legume on my website)
Well, SugarSnap (like the pea) was definitly constipated, so I gave him some Docusate and pumpkin for fiber and things became to get better. He didn't know when he had to go, so I set him up in a nice cage for when I wasn't around.
I soon discovered he didn't konw when he was peeing either.
but, day by day, he seemed to hit the litter box more often than not.

I tried a test. I removed the puppypads from the bottom of the cage, it was just metal with his food dishes & litter box (he has carpeted shelves & hammocks).
For the first few days he still poooped everywhere, and a couple times he peed in his hammock.
However, for the past FOUR days he has only used the litter box, and even sought out a litterbox when I was letting him zoom around.
I am so happy for him!!!!

I was wondering if other people here have seen similar things in manx cats. he isn't quite a rumpy. he has 2 little vertebrae that stick straight up for a tail.

I haven't added him to my website yet (bad bad me), but you might find Legume's story interestin if you deal with incontinent cats.

I'm just soooo happy with Sugarsnap's improvement I had to tell people about it!!!!



Bendy's Mom

Wonderful!! I once took in an adult cat who was allegedly a purebred Manx, and he was such a great cat.

From what (little) I know of Manx, they are rather prone to spinal and elimination problems. It has something to do with the Manx(tailless) gene, which is both dominant and lethal. This is why tailed Manx are necessary for any good Manx breeding program.

This link has a good explanation:

http://www.fanciers.com/breed-faqs/manx-faq.html

but they outgrew it. They are both tail less... The vet told me it had something to do with them not having a tail

she and I have been e-mailing back and forth.
I told her that I'd like to hold onto him for a month, just to make sure all really is well and then would give her the option of re-adopting him. She was sooooo happy!
It makes me smile to see people that happy.
I'm very glad she didn't listen to that idiot vet (who said the kitten had megacolon & ought to be put down)!
I know a little about "manx syndrome" but this is my first hands-on experience.

thanks for the link!

Bendy