"Double jointed" tail?

T

trixanned32

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Sep 17, 2016
Messages
1
Purraise
2
I also have one of these cats. Her tail is real long. She is a ginger and white long hair and she can lay her tail so flat that it touches her head. I do agree that they act a little different. She climbs the phone poll all the time and get off it just as fast as she climbs it. We have 20 acres that we walk all the time and she is right there with us the whole time. She is also best friends with my pointer. When they are outside they dont leave each others side. A very high pitched soft meow I can barely hear her.
 
GhostieCat

GhostieCat

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Jul 12, 2018
Messages
29
Purraise
68
Location
Cherry Valley, IL
I just adopted a calico that does this. It lays pretty close to flat against her back. It seems she only does this when I'm getting her or greeting her in the morning
 
A

Atdavis2030

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Nov 14, 2018
Messages
1
Purraise
1


This is my girl Clementine, she's probably 3 to 4 months old. I've noticed the way her tail seems to lay flat on her back, my boyfriend and I joke she can tickle the back of her head with it. I'd ask my mom what she thinks about it, she just says "that's just the way she carries it!" Which honestly cracks me up.

So now I know it IS a thing for some cats to have hyper flexible tails, which makes Clem even more special .

I read a post above from like 8 years ago where someone mentioned the distinct facial features on their cat who has a hyper flexible tail. Clem also has rounded, unique features. Her mouth seems to go straight across, vs the common shape of most cats :3 <~~~ We call her ScrunchFace as a nickname, probably a not so nice nickname but it's just because how her features are closer together than most cats. We love her dearly.
sorta represented by that
 
J

JohnStoddard

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Mar 19, 2023
Messages
1
Purraise
0
strange_wings said:
I'm curious how often this occurs in cats? I've been thinking about it for a while because my Blasa has a hypermobile tail.

The average cat tail can only bend a little further back (forward towards the shoulders) past 90 degrees at the very base, some bend even less. Blasa's can lay flat against her back - she often walks around with her tail like that.

She has no noticeable health issues associated with it - though strangely she's one of those cats that likes having her tail played with.
She's never had her tail injured, as far as I know.

Does anyone else have a cat with a tail that can do this? Can there be spine problems for some cats?
Click to expand...
I have an orange shorthair (16 lbs.) named Teddy Tootlebut who has such a tail, except his tail is slightly longer and has a larger muscle mass at the base of his tail than other cats his size. We adopted him as a kitten from the local animal shelter and from day 1 I noticed how amazingly flexible and powerful his tail was. When he's happy or excited to get cat treats, he runs and his tail is flat along his entire back all the way to his neck. He's 13 now and his tail is as amazing as ever. If I pet him really fast at the base of his tail, he absolutely loves it and his tail darts around everywhere - it's simply amazing to watch. During his last visit to our vet, the vet (who is about to retire after 30+ years) told my wife it is extremely rare and he has only seen one or two cats with tails that were similar to Teddy's "Tootletail". He said it is likely a genetic mutation that provides extra muscle and nerves that allows the extra flexibility. It's not the result of an injury, nor is it a symptom of a spine problem.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top