Anyone noticed a common deformity in cats' tails in thailand

[The Deerhunter]

I notice many Thai cats have tails that appear deformed or broken & healed crooked. I have seen this for years & Thai people have not given me anyanswer We have several cats in our home including kittens with no deformed tails but stray cats have turned up with deformities. Is there a common genetic tail deformity or some darker cause.? No speculation please. Only knowlegeable replies please.

[AYJAYDEE]

its a genetic mutation

[h90]

most Thai cats origin from 1 or few cats with this genetic problem.

There is a story circulating that some Chinese (or Thais) break their tail as it is unlucky when it stands straight up.

This is wrong.

Once we have been in a Muslim restaurant somewhere very outside. They share neither Thai nor Chinese superstition and had many cats with exact this deformation. I asked them and they told me they love them and would never harm their tail. They are born like this.

That is the final confirmation.....

[arthurwait]

It's normal. Our Korat has a kink at the end of his tail. His 2 broken legs and one now amputated aren't though.

The MIL's old Siamese had those ones that fold over after a couple of inches.

[Costas2008]

OP, you better ask the dogs, chasing the cats this question.

Bet the have one or two things to say.

[apetley]

It's a common deformity here and considered lucky.

Here's my friends cat 'Snowy', she has been offered 4000bht for her because of the pronounced kink in her tail.

[arthurwait]

OP, you better ask the dogs, chasing the cats this question.

Bet the have one or two things to say.

"Stop that looney trying to milk us" !

[apetley]

It's normal. Our Korat has a kink at the end of his tail. His 2 broken legs and one now amputated

Is his name 'lucky' ?

[96tehtarp]

We just had a new litter of four kittens.. One has no tail, one is kinked, one has a half tail, and the other one is perfect. I've also often wondered what causes this.

[Costas2008]

OP, you better ask the dogs, chasing the cats this question.

Bet the have one or two things to say.

"Stop that looney trying to milk us" !

Can you please, put a photo of yours on your avatar?

Just, for me to check, if it's worthy......................

[arthurwait]

It's normal. Our Korat has a kink at the end of his tail. His 2 broken legs and one now amputated

Is his name 'lucky' ?

No the wife isn't that imaginative. It's Taow as in grey.

[arthurwait]

OP, you better ask the dogs, chasing the cats this question.

Bet the have one or two things to say.

"Stop that looney trying to milk us" !

Can you please, put a photo of yours on your avatar?

Just, for me to check, if it's worthy......................

I think I'd get banned for that.

Oh you mean the cat.

[phuketjock]

It has nothing to do with genetics and is quite common all over S.E. Asia.

It is some kind of microbe or virus that latches on to the tail of the foetus

in the womb and emerges as a deformity at birth.

I cannot remember the correct name of it, i am sure any decent vet could

tell you.

[The Deerhunter]

Thank heavens fo all those "natural" confirmations. I was dead scared some superstition existed that made people break tails soon after birth or something horrible like that. Whew. Relief!

[bonobo]

There is an old Thai tale about a king's cat. Someone tried to poison the kings tea, and the cat was the only one who saw it. When the king came back and went to drink his tea, the cat wrapped his tail around the cup, refusing to let the king have it. The king tried to take it, and getting angry, jerked it so hard that the cat's tail broke, but still the cat would not let go of the cup and let him drink. Finally, the tea fell on the floor, and the poison discolored the floor tiles, thereby revealing the service of the loyal cat. Since then, all cats carried this badge of honor and it is considered lucky.

[tw25rw]

It's a similar mutation to the manx cats. Domesticated/feral cats in urban areas probably don't need their tails much and might even get an advantage by not having them, so the gene isn't evolved out.

[Beetlejuice]

Perhaps it`s not their tails. Maybe the OP is looking at tom cats from the wrong angle?

[Ulysses G.]

All my cats in Thailand have had short tales other than a tom that I have now. I have to be really careful when he rubs against my legs as I have stepped on his tail a few times by mistake. It looks really long to me now, but it would have been normal back home.

[puuchaibaa]

I'm so glad to hear that short or non-existing tails can happen from birth. I see this in strays quite often and used to get upset, imagining it could only have been from some sick person having fun chopping tails off. Phew!

[GinBoy2]

I've both the short tail Mekong tomcat (who I loved, until he unfortunately died last year) and our new cat is the so called broken tail. I can confirm when she was born she had the little kink in the end of her tail. Thai's, well Lao at least, think this is particularly lucky

[pgrahmm]

We were at a National Park in Lampang with hot springs and eating at the tables.....4 cats came for handouts - 1 mom 3 good sized kittens - the 3 kittens had kinked tails.....

I had the wife ask the lady serving the food why and she said they fight.......feral cats so I'm guessing no one saw the births....

None in our neighborhood though that I've seen.......

Some extremely beautiful cats in Thailand.......

[96tehtarp]

We were at a National Park in Lampang with hot springs and eating at the tables.....4 cats came for handouts - 1 mom 3 good sized kittens - the 3 kittens had kinked tails.....

I had the wife ask the lady serving the food why and she said they fight.......feral cats so I'm guessing no one saw the births....

I've had three litters here where I've seen the births. They came out both stubby and kinked. They do of course also fight.

[schondie]

When I first came here I was told that the locals don't like cats and snap their tails, typical backpacker tales with not a hint of truth to them.

Three of my cats found at various locations have kinks in their tails but my Persian has a normal tail. Regardless of what causes it, genetics or a disease, I love 'em all the same.

[Tywais]

It is indeed a genetic trait and not a disease. Else there is an outright epidemic as it is found prominently in Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia as well as Thailand. Source

Tailless cats are also common to Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. Theories about their origins vary from the peculiar – such as boys tying the cats’ tails with rubber bands – to the plausible.

But Arnaud Demarti, a French veterinarian who runs Agrovet, one of the largest veterinarian clinics in Phnom Penh, believes the short or crooked tails of Cambodian domestic felines can be blamed on a recessive gene.

“Two cats with a broken tail can only have a kitten with a broken tail. But a male cat with a normal tail can still have kittens with malformed tails,” he explained. He estimated that 80 per cent of cats born in the city have “a tail problem”.

“It’s rare to find a cat with a normal tail,” he said.

Demarti believes the Cambodian cats are their own, yet unnamed, breed of cats. He also said that the cats with short tails in Thailand most likely carry the same gene as cats in Cambodia.

Our office mascot and her 'hooked tail'.

[Tywais]

Siamese Legends

While the Siamese 'Kinked Tail" has become a 'fault' it should be noted that in the early shows it was mandatory for a Siamese to have a kink in its tail to be considered a true Siamese. Over time this trait fell from favor and was bred out of the breed as much as possible. However it is so imbedded in the genetics that it still appears occasionally in some lines more than others. Since it does not affect the cat's health in any way, many breeders have become tolerant of this trait as long as the kink cannot be seen and can only be felt by running the fingers down the length of the tail. Whether desirable or not, the kinked tail is part of the history of the Siamese as indicated by the following legends:

• It is said that there was once a Siamese Princess who was frightened of losing her rings while she bathed in a stream. Looking around for somewhere convenient to place her jewelry, she noticed that her favorite cat had crooked his tail for her benefit. Ever since that time all Siamese cats have been born with a tiny kink at the end of their tails to hold the Princess' rings.

• A young cat took his wife into the jungle to search for a royal goblet that was missing from one of the Siamese temples. Upon finding the treasure, they decided that the female should remain in the jungle to guard it while the male went back to the city to inform the priest of their discovery. So the little cat took up her position among the leaves and tangled foliage, her tail twisted around the stem of the goblet to make quite sure that no one would try to take it away. Four nights later her husband returned to find he was the father of five sweet little kittens. But, in spite of her new responsibility, the loyal mother cat had not forgotten her earlier trust. Indeed, so conscientious had she been in her protection of the goblet that a permanent kink had developed in the end of her tail. What was more, all five kittens had a similar kink in their tails !

History

[zyphodb]

Glad to hear it's genetic, I just assumed it was narrow escapes from dogs as there all cat killers here...

[AyG]

It's a little odd that the Wikipedia article on "Cat body-type mutation" doesn't mention kinked tails. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_body-type_mutation .)

If this really is genetic, perhaps someone could provide a link to an authoritative source.