Newborn kitten with very stumpy tail

Hi everyone. I live in an area with lots of feral cats, recently one has taken to me which was very pregnant, she had her kittens in my shed and I brought them inside into the spare room (no humans) so I could keep them warm and make sure mum was properly fed. Mum doing really well as are all the kittens, but one kittens tail is 4X shorter than the others. Is this something to be concerned about? Photo attached

hurr1cane said:

Hi everyone. I live in an area with lots of feral cats, recently one has taken to me which was very pregnant, she had her kittens in my shed and I brought them inside into the spare room (no humans) so I could keep them warm and make sure mum was properly fed. Mum doing really well as are all the kittens, but one kittens tail is 4X shorter than the others. Is this something to be concerned about? Photo attached

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I think its OK.  There IS a stump, so it shouldnt be any real dangers.   If the stump were even shorter, practically peeing inside - THIS would be worrisome, with risks for damages on the intestine and urine bladder.  Which happens sometimes with the most extremely short-tailed Manx cats...

He reminds me about the swedish children stories about  Pelle Svanslös,  Peter NoTail...  Whom got his tail bitten off by rats when he was a little kitten...

Tx for helping out this little family!

She's staying with me either way. I've managed to google myself into a frenzy and now I won't be able to let it go ever

Thanks for your reply by the way

We have many of these stumpy tailed cats showing up in our neighborhood as there are several generations of males carrying this gene.  As @StefanZ pointed out, as long as there is some visible tail bone, there is usually nothing to worry about, and this kitten will be extra cute as he/she grows.  I had one rescued litter where all the kittens had stumpy tails, as did their mother, and they were all perfectly fine.

About a year ago, I rescued two kittens from a local shelter.  One of them has a very short tail.  Her name (given at the shelter) is "Stumpy", but I call her "Stumpifier".  Although the two cats are thought to be litter-mates, Stumpy is considerably smaller than her sister, "Marilyn Monroe" (a beautiful tux cat).  She just hasn't grown as much, but she has a very special place in my heart.  She seems to need more affection than her sister, and won't let me work at my computer for any length of time without jumping up, laying on the keyboard, and demanding to be petted.  Of course, I love her so much that I always comply, often giving her a few kisses in addition to the petting.

Doug Rees said:

 
About a year ago, I rescued two kittens from a local shelter.  One of them has a very short tail.  Her name (given at the shelter) is "Stumpy", but I call her "Stumpifier".  Although the two cats are thought to be litter-mates, Stumpy is considerably smaller than her sister, "Marilyn Monroe" (a beautiful tux cat).  She just hasn't grown as much, but she has a very special place in my heart.  She seems to need more affection than her sister, and won't let me work at my computer for any length of time without jumping up, laying on the keyboard, and demanding to be petted.  Of course, I love her so much that I always comply, often giving her a few kisses in addition to the petting.

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Hi there! Welcome! 

Cats, even from the same litter, have their own personalities. They may be from the same litter but have different fathers which could explain the difference in looks. This is not as uncommon as some people would think. It's possible for a litter of kittens to have several fathers. 

We're glad you found us. It's nice to see more men who love cats on the site. Men who love cats are the best. 

Feel free to post lots of pictures of your girls. We'd love to see them. This is an old thread so I'm not sure how many replies you will get. You can start a new thread on our New Cats on The Block forum. Here's a link to that below. I'm sure our members will be happy to welcome all 3 of you there. 

http://www.thecatsite.com/f/20/new-cats-on-the-block