Can Anyone Figure This One Out??????????

Bathroom issues are common in tailless cats... google manx syndrome

Sometimes when a cat has no tail, it means the spine and/or the muscles have not fully developed all the way to the rear which can cause incontinence.

What your friend's Manx experiences isn't that unheard of in this type of cat (tailless). Read up on "Manx Syndrome" (see link below). In a non-tailless cat, the tail is actually an extension of their spine (vertebrae). In a cat w/ no tail, obviously a lot of the vertebrae are missing and this often causes bowel and bladder problems; puts them more at risk for arthritis in back legs as they get older. Bless your friend's heart for not just giving this kitty away, like so many unfortunately do when their pet has ongoing health issues.

I had a Manx; he had a 4 inch floppy stump for a tail. His issue was that he often would poop but didn't quite "get it all out" and a turd would be stuck underneath the tail and would later "drop" somewhere on the floor. As a kitten he had a lot of loose stools. So many people told me to "get rid of him" but I couldn't. I had him for 16 yrs. He was no stranger to me washing his butt/tail, it was just a way of life for us. He was also prone to needing his anal gland expressed by the Vet once or twice a year, due to the stool issues. We just learned to accept his as he was, and I loved him dearly.

http://www.petinfo4u.com/askcat.htm#Manx%20Syndrome

This is very easy to figure out if you got this kitten before his mother had the chance to train him. Was that the case? I got lucky. I got Persi at 7 weeks and he was already trained but I think that may be unusual. Most people on this site say you should not get a kitten under 12 weeks old, fully trained by its mother, not just litterbox trained, but for social intercourse with other cats and humans.

Sounds like the kitty has manx syndrome. This basically means since he is tailless, the nerves in his last vertebrae are either not developed or non existent. The severity of it depends on how much of a nub he has. Commonly problems will arise around this age because as his bowels and bladder have developed he no longer has the nerve function to control them. Incontinence, bladder infections, megacolon (back up of feces in the colon b/c kitty can't completely empty himself) are things that she'll begin seeing. I hate to tell you, but if he's having this severe problems this early it isn't the best outlook. Living with all the mess is only the inconvenient part of the problem. The constant bladder infection due to kitty not being able to empty his bladder and the megacolon can turn into serious health problems.

At the clinic where I work we have 3 manx clinic cats. Nanette, a 3 year old female with about a two inch nub, Dexter, a 10 month old male with about a one inch nub, and Jack Rabbit, a 18 month old male with absolutely no nub.

Jack has manx syndrome. He was diagnosed at about 2 months. He is completely missing his last vertebrae. He leaks urine when he sleeps or when he is relaxed. He hasn't developed megacolon yet, but it's highly likely he will. He does however have frequent bladder infections since he can't empty his bladder completely. Even with expressing his bladder daily and cleaning his rear end up each day, he still gets infections about once every 2 months. He has done extremely well on Convenia. He gets a convenia injection each time he starts showing symptoms and it quickly clears up. He really had trouble around 8-12 months and would leak constantly, sometimes feces as well. But he's been doing much better these last 6 mo. Jack probably won't have a very long life. Somewhere around 3Y-6Y is where the medical issues usually get too severe. Of course he is the SWEETEST boy. He is such a ham and everybody absolutely loves him. Lots of our clients will specifically bring Jack presents, like treats, food, beds, and blankets. So many of our clients would like to adopt him, but because of his medical expenses, he will always be our baby. We know his time with us won't last long, so of course he is spoiled absolutely rotten, .

I hadn't really heard of manx syndrome until Jack, so I've learned a pretty good amount about it. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me, .