Possible tail issues?

I've been keeping my eye on our new 9 month old kitty Delilah for the week that we've had her, and from day one I noticed she was very strange - at least compared to the almost dozen of cats I grew up with and took care of. Her biggest thing? Her tail, and her reactions to it.

When I take a bath, she always sits on the edge of it and watches me, or bathes herself - her tail ends up in the water, and she never even notices it, or tries to dry it off unless I put it right in front of her face to show her that it's wet. She doesn't seem to notice when I touch her tail at all, and in a fit of worry I gave it a little tug, nothing hard, just enough to guarantee a reaction, and still nothing. If I touch any other part of her body, she instantly reacts every time.

I'm beginning to think maybe she can't FEEL her tail. It still moves, looks normal, inspections I did of it myself didn't really reveal anything out of the ordinary in my eyes, but maybe something's wrong beneath the skin that would cause this?

I feel it's backed up by other symptoms I've seen. Her balance is awful. She almost never lands on her feet, she can't really walk on thin surfaces without falling off, and jumping for her toys almost ensures she'll wind up on her side or back nearly every time. She seems very aware of this "handicap", and prefers to instead only climb surfaces with mesh or fabric, where she can use her claws rather than her tail for balance.

The vet can't get us in for a few weeks, so I was just wondering if anyone else had any suggestions or experiences with anything like this? Thanks!

I think it's good you're taking her to the vet to get it checked out. I don't think there's anything you can do on your own other than trying to make places as safe as possible for her. Cats do learn to adjust and manage with tail injuries or even no tail, but there could be something more serious going on.

Our vet fit us in at the last minute today, and they took a good look at her, and confirmed that she does, in fact, have a disability. They said it appears to be from trauma, and based on her history they believe her previous owners struck her with something and injured her when she was very small. She has no actual feeling in her tail, just like I thought.

Nothing that can really be done about it. She's an indoor cat now anyway, and the vet's suggested a few things, like "carpeting" or putting mesh up on the wall leading up to her favorite ledge she likes to sit on, making it easier for her to get up and down without needing us to do it for her.

She should live a very healthy life without the use of her tail, as long as we help her out.

I am glad to hear it's not more serious. Delilah is so very lucky to be adopted by you. Despite the trauma and tough beginning she has a caring loving home with you now.