kink in his tail

I was given a grey kitten 8 years ago and was told that he had a small kink in his tail. I have since been told that this kink is a problem that persian cats are prone to. He is not a pure bred cat, but he is very large and has a long blue coat. Do any breeders of persian cats know of a condition that affects the tail in this way? It feels as if it has been broken and then healed out of line. It doesn't hurt him and he has full movement and feeling in it. I used to have a tortoiseshell cat, I was told that they are a vets nightmare because they are prone to using their claws. Does anyone out there know if this is true or not. My tortoiseshell was very scratchy and bitey.

Hi,

I have a male persian with a kink in his tail. It was a birth defect that showed up when he was about 8 weeks old. We had to neuter him and he could not be shown because of it. Siamese are also famous for thier kinks.

As for Torties. I have never met a one that didn't facinate me with their outlandish expectations. They do seem to feel they are much better than any other cat and demand to be treated that way! I have 2 of these beautiful kitties in the form of a Persian. I also have one who is a tabby/tortie. Just a gluton for punishment I guess! LOL

Please feel free to see my kitties at my web site and the available kittens too!

Yes, torties are different

I have 2, Lilith and her daughter Max (who is a dilute tortie, but her personality isn't dilute at all!) They are the queen and princess of the house, by their own decree. While they are affectionate (Max in particular is a sweetheart), they are very definitely opinionated and expect things to go THEIR way, thank you very much!

Kinks on the tails our Oriental Cats have sometimes....

To my knowledge, a kink in the tail is a genetic fault and will not bother the cat at all. One should not breed a cat with a kink because this can be passed on. Some cats have just a small kink while others can have an extreme kink standing almost at right angles to the rest of the tail !! It is what they call a "fault" for showing or breeding purposes but apart from that, no problem. I have not seen this in my own cats, but have read about it. I will try to find you a reference.

Okay, I found a reference in a book called Cat Breeding by Dagmar Thies. This is not a new book and there may be more up-to-date info somewhere. In the section on genotypes and phenotypes it says this is "a recessive characteristic which occasionally leads to abnormalities in other segments of the skeleton as well. Narrowing of the pelvis is one such related abnormality." There are three drawings showing variations - one is a slight kink, another is a complete u-turn kink!!! and then there is a picture of a double kink, so there are kinks at more than one vertebra. I will be seeing a show judge on Sunday and will ask her more about this.

We'll wait! Inform us about her unswer!

Yup, the show judge agrees with the book. They would not use a cat with a kinked tail for breeding or showing. Apart from that, there is no reason why they would not be wonderful pets!

Can be shown in New Zealand but can't be places in the Top Ten if they have a kink, most judges don't feel kinks anyway. There are lots of different types of kinks, But little "knobs" on the end of the tail bone that can be removed and BIG breaks in the tail, Very few tail kinks are genitic, most TK's are from tails getting shut in door or stood on, and some are just born with them , it doesn't exactly mean they will then pass that on.

Tortoishells aren't nightmares, I have a Black Tortoishell ( L.E May ) a blue tortoishell ( Loonie) a brown tortoishell ( Sophie) and a Tortoishell and white, their natures are not different then any other cat.

One of the NZCF ( New Zealand Cat Fancy ) Rules is Cats with KINKS can not be sold under any circumstances!!!!!!!! must be given.