Caring for a cat without a tail, or with a bobtail or short tail?

We're taking a special look at our cats' tails this month (the theme for August), and I was wondering if members can share some of their insights about caring for cats with shorter than usual tails, or no tails at all. These can be cats born without a tail (like Manx cats), bobtails, or those who have lost their tail later in life. 

Any noticeable effect about balance? Special needs with climbing or jumping that you noticed? Anything at all, let's discuss it in this thread!

I did, her name was Cassie. She had a tail, but it was very short / deformed(?) and had a crook at the end. It never laid straight aginst her body - are you familiar with the dog breed the Norwegian Elkhound? Her tail didn't have the complete curl that the Elkhounds do, but it always was curled up her spine and hung out on one side of her, with the bend/crook sticking out. I have a good pic of her sporting her funny tail, I'll find it later and upload it.

Never noticed that her unbalanced tail caused any unusual behavior, but she was born with it and acclimated just fine. She was one sassy cat (dilute calico). The only difference was that when she was mad, instead of thrashing her tail - it would jerk around like a stick shift because it was always running up her spine instead of laying flat. No issues getting around though.

Here's Cassie with the silly tail. She would get maaaaaddd if you would try to straighten it out too.

When I joined this site, it was to ask about trapping and humanely releasing a very sick feral called Nastase.  Thanks to the help of some members, he was trapped the day I made my first post and was released that night at the ER. However, in his youth, he was a very fierce cat and I witnessed him in a few fights with other neighborhood cats where he grabbed and bit their tails, or tried to. During this time, another feral came to my house, thin and with a noticeably damaged tail....I assumed that gangrene was setting in and it turned out I was right.  I trapped him and brought him to my vet, who recommended removing the tail....well, forget the recommended part...it had to go, and of course, fixed him.  He stayed with the vet for a few days, longer than would have been necessary for just neutering, and then was returned to my property.  He did not stay long, and that worried me, until I found that he had moved up the street with another cat lover and found a home there.  He probably wanted to avoid Nastase, who was still in his prime.  He sort of became the talk of the neighborhood with his lack of a tail, but he was fine. No problems with balance or quality of life.

I have a feral outside that has a partial tail. I had seen this cat in my back yard one day and from a distance it looked like it had something wrong with its face. Then saw the tail was missing, so I was a little upset thinking this cat is in bad shape. I went and got my binoculars out and took a look to find out the cat has half beige face and half black. So that was ok and then I just figured this is an unusual cat and maybe it does have a short tail. This cat started showing up everyday and I figured someone had dropped it off or something. So I started feeding it. I finally trapped it and took it to get spayed and they had given it a shot for the tail thinking it was infected. I had put a table up for it and another feral to feed off of and this one won't jump up on the table to eat. I have seen it looking up there, but I felt bad and started feeding it on the ground. This cause a problem with the raccoon's though. I'm thinking maybe I didn't give it enough time to think about getting up there if it wanted food, or like mentioned it has a balance issue. I enclose some pictures of it.

I lived in Okinawa Japan. As many of you know this is where the Japanese bobtail breed was derived from. There is an endemic tail mutation that causes those bobs and many variations on the "funny tail" thing. They have a ginormous issue with strays and feral cat colonies as they are a few steps behind in terms of thinking of issues like TNR, etc... My own cat Aya I rescued off the streets along with 3 other kittens over the 4 years I was there. Aya has a full tail although people sometimes recognize the other breed features in her if shown pictures w/out a tail showing as she is the classic mi kei neko (calico).

I did rescue one kitten with a tail deformity. The tail was kinked into a spiral. Imagine a pig's tail squared off on the edges. The tail was entirely frozen and the kitten could only twitch it from the base. The mutation present in the Okinawa street cats causes all kind of deformities, kinked tails, fiddlehead tails -sort of a half tail with ball at the end, and the classic bobtail. There was one cat at the colonies in the park near my second apartment who I named Ziggy as her tail had a zig-zag sort of back and forth kink to it. Since these were feral colonies, as far as I could tell the tail issues did not seem to affect their ability to survive. Of course they were being aided by friendly humans with cat food.

I had a cat many years ago that had half a tail.  She was my ex's cat, and he never knew how the tail got that way since he adopted her when she was already full grown.  If I recall correctly, he was led to believe she had it cut off either by accident or on purpose

It never seemed to effect the way she walked, or jumped. 

Poppy had a few inches of her tail missing. I don't know why, she must've had an accident early, because we adopted her at 5 months. There was a little kink in her tail that you could feel but not see. She was a bit ungraceful in her walk, but we didn't notice anything else until there were x-rays taken for other reasons. The x-rays revealed a shift in her spine, so we think Poppy had an accident and then got left at the shelter because the vet told the owner she could grow up to have health problems.

Last August I found this tailless fellow dumped in the woods when I went out for a hunting trip with some friends. The vet told me he's very likely a Manx since there was no indication his tail had been lost or cut off, he was just born that way.  "Skinner" is a year old now, and having no tail does not seem to affect his balance or ability to jump or climb, although he does seem to have extra-powerful back legs. When I bring him outside on his leash, he'll run straight up the nearest tree, as far as the leash will allow! He only seems to have one or two tailbones, because he can wiggle his little stump up and down, but it cannot move side-to-side at all. I am thinking those strong back legs are nature's way of making up for any lack of tail balance. 

First day I brought him home:

Now one year old:

I'm taking care of one now. Her name is Furby. She was born without a tail. Actually, her parents and all of her siblings don't have a tail too. Her tail is just a small puff at the back. I think just like a bobtail. She's just 5 month old and she's really active. She runs fast and can even climb up and down trees. 

Lyrajean said:

 
I lived in Okinawa Japan. As many of you know this is where the Japanese bobtail breed was derived from. There is an endemic tail mutation that causes those bobs and many variations on the "funny tail" thing. They have a ginormous issue with strays and feral cat colonies as they are a few steps behind in terms of thinking of issues like TNR, etc... My own cat Aya I rescued off the streets along with 3 other kittens over the 4 years I was there. Aya has a full tail although people sometimes recognize the other breed features in her if shown pictures w/out a tail showing as she is the classic mi kei neko (calico).

I did rescue one kitten with a tail deformity. The tail was kinked into a spiral. Imagine a pig's tail squared off on the edges. The tail was entirely frozen and the kitten could only twitch it from the base. The mutation present in the Okinawa street cats causes all kind of deformities, kinked tails, fiddlehead tails -sort of a half tail with ball at the end, and the classic bobtail. There was one cat at the colonies in the park near my second apartment who I named Ziggy as her tail had a zig-zag sort of back and forth kink to it. Since these were feral colonies, as far as I could tell the tail issues did not seem to affect their ability to survive. Of course they were being aided by friendly humans with cat food.

Click to expand...

I'm living in Japan now and all my cats are ex-ferals that I rescued from the streets. About half of them have short or kinked tails. I'll get my camera out and try and post a few shots of them later. There are lots of weird and wonderful tails around here.

My cat Fritos has what at first appears to be just a stub of a tail, but if you feel it, the bone is actually curled up like a hose.  He's never had any balance issues or anything because of it.  His only issue is that a few times the curl has gotten caught around something (once was inside a clothes basket he was playing, it got hooked in one of the holes) he is an extremely sweet tempered cat, but the few times he's gotten his tail caught are the only times I've ever heard him hissing and growling.  (poor guy)  This was the best pic I could find that shows his tail.

I adopted a black and white tuxedo cat that looked like he could have had Maine Coon characteristics, in that the hair on his face and shoulders was short, but got progressively longer as his coat went toward his back legs and leaving him with a very elegant plume of a long haired tail.  Sadly he got into a fight and the tail got broken, and he was this way when I found him and adopted him.  The stump of the tail got infected so that the vet had no choice but to amputate the tail at the root.  I had him neutered at the same time, so after I brought him home, he sat down gingerly for a day or two.  After he healed, he was fine an could do everything a tailed cat can do.

Some years later we had a yard sale in the yard.  A couple on a motorcycle roared up, and upon seeing Blackie, the woman exclaimed:  "That's MY KIKI.  I would KNOW HER ANYWHERE!!" 

My husband calmly replied:  "Well, HIS name is BLACKIE, and if he will let you get close enough to him to turn him upside down, to examine HIS rear end, you can have him!"

The motorcycle couple disappeared VERY quickly....  

One of our kitties is a rescue kitty who chose us.  He ran up to my husband one day as he was next door, standing in our neighbor's driveway, chatting.  The neighbor's dog scared the cat who went straight up a tree.
The next day, this same cat ran up our driveway as we were leaving the house, flopped on his back and made biscuits in the air, staring at my husband the whole time.  He was dirty and had a cut on his nose, and we became his home.

Noel is a red and white mctabby shorthair with a small pom.  His hind legs are taller than his front and he's built like a bulldog in the front - his chest is actually a bit bowed, and he has the tiniest feet and legs.  Despite the tiny feet, he's a hefty fellow at over 13 pounds.

His only issue that I believe is related to his pom is difficulty pooing.  His stools tend to be hard and large, and he doesn't seem aware if a small piece is stuck there.  I've cleaned/removed a piece of poo many atime.

He's been with us for about 12 years now, and is a true love.  Unfortunately, he's just had surgery for a second time for a cancer, and we've found he can't handle our vets usual anesthesia protocol (almost died).  This last surgery, we were fortunate they were able to do it under local.  But we will not be putting him through further surgery and testing.  He's had enough (first surgery was very near one eye and not the easiest).  He seems healthy and happy, we are hopeful this last cancer was fully removed.

when i was 15 my stepfather brought home a cat that was born at the bar he went to.  it was a teensy male with no tail, so his name was taylor obviously.  taylor was born without a tail and his hindquarters were a bit higher than his front end, leading to the nickname/second name hot rod.  (other names included ghengis cat, fuzz nuts, taylor handsome.  he mostly answered to taylor.)

taylor was neutered at about 6 months old and was an outdoor cat for the first 11 years of his life.  we had a german shepherd when taylor was a kitten to 6 years old; a few months later my parents introduced a baby rottie to the house.  taylor fought with neighborhood toms, developed a crush on a neighbor's female cat, fought with a squirrel or small raccoon on at least two occasions, brought home harbor rats that weighed as much as he did, fought with the english bulldog that lived behind us, and caught too many rodents and birds to count.  at one point, local mockingbirds would dive-bomb taylor when we let him out; he had numerous tiny wounds to the top of his head that summer and he learned the hard way not to mess with mockingbirds.  i saw taylor climb small trees, climb fences, and teeter along the top of fences - even tailless, he had excellent balance.

when taylor was 11 we moved to florida and he was forced to become a 'normal' house cat.  he adapted very well, all things considered.  we bought a house with an enclosed patio and taylor would go out all day, laying in the sun.  by age 12 taylor was diagnosed with early stage kidney failure.  he then started losing his hearing and by age 15 was just about fully deaf.  taylor was introduced to other cats - two females - and did well with them.  sure, they'd fight sometimes, but more often than not i found them all snuggled up together.  we brought home a tiny male rescue when taylor was 14 and even though the kitten would sneak up on taylor and scare him sometimes, we saw taylor schooling the kitten - teaching him things.  it was adorable.

taylor crossed the rainbow bridge march 8, 2012.  one day taylor woke up and had problems walking.  tests showed his kidneys were still working, everything was as normal as a 16 year old cat could be.  but obviously it was taylor's time.  he had a good, happy, fulfilled life - and seemed a normal cat the entire time.  except for his meow - he always sounded like an old man cat, with a gravelly mew.  and i swear he tried to bark more than once after having grown up with dogs.  

I'm enjoying reading your stories, thanks for the smiles.
pat: "making biscuits" - lol. I say that too, and you are the first other person I've heard say it. Very sweet mental picture

We've got a tail-less gene family. The mom has a stub tail a few inches long. When she had kittens 2 had full amazing tails, one had a little nub, and one had almost nothing. We kept the mom, a long tail female, and the boy with the nub. The mom, Bub, is a little special- but I wouldn't credit it to her tail. She has no balance and just falls without catching herself at all. The kitten that we kept with the nub tail, Bear, doesn't jump nearly as well as the one with the tail. It might just be that he is a big boned ragamuffin mix that feels no need to jump, though. His balance seems fine. Penny, the one with the full tail, can jump like an Olympian! She doesn't have the heavy body type that Bear has though so it might not be the tail that makes the difference. My family took the other two kittens- they say that both of them jump great and report no balance issues. This photo is from when the kittens were about 9 months old. Now they are just over a year

Wasabipea said:

I'm enjoying reading your stories, thanks for the smiles.
pat: "making biscuits" - lol. I say that too, and you are the first other person I've heard say it. Very sweet mental picture

Click to expand...

  I also like to say " Oooo..are you making me biscuits with butter?"  LOL.

Sweetie has a normal tail that is just a little shorter than usual.  His balance is good but I've always noticed that he just doesn't jump as much as my previous cats did.  When he does jump, it either to get on something that is close to the floor or if two objects are really close together he will jump from one to the other.   He jumps on higher objects like up to windowsills only occasionally.  I'm not sure if the way he jumps is because of his tail or not.