Unless this has been posted in cat forum in the past.  Why do so many cats have no tails or just stumps and how long since tailess cats first appeared. Is it the same thing as Manx cats or some other reason.

Older Thai people and the Thai Chinese always used to lop cats tails to stop them climbing and catching birds.  Without the tail for balance they do not jump from high places well.

My guess is that short tails and kinked tails come from inbreeding. I have a degree in Animal Science and did graduate work in Animal Breeding.

In 2006, I volunteered for two weeks outside Khao Yai Natonal Park, working to develop tourism in a community. Some of the guides were former poachers. They were willing to make the switch (from poaching) because they saw that it was not sustainable, that tourism was a better bet for the long term. They mentioned that the tigers were less robust than in the past, and mentioned kinked tails as one sign of the tigers' diminished vitality. That's a big problem for big cats: their habitat is in pockets separated by great distances of human development, so, for tigers, it's either mate with close relatives or not at all.

So, anyway, I haven't studied it, but my intuition as someone with training in this area, is that you're seeing a symptom of inbreeding.

My guess is that short tails and kinked tails come from inbreeding. I have a degree in Animal Science and did graduate work in Animal Breeding.

I've heard that, and I've also heard that it's because the cats in South East Asia are often so malnourished and that unborn kittens are very fragile, and they break or get mangled before they've even been born.

Hey, don't blame me, that's what I've been told.

I'll go with the inbreeding theory as well.

Lear something new ever day

Maybe Cat Tail soup 

I asked a Thai why she cut (docked) her cats tail. She told me Thais do this to stop cats wandering. Got the same answer from another Thai as well.

5 minutes ago, MDS said:

I asked a Thai why she cut (docked) her cats tail. She told me Thais do this to stop cats wandering. Got the same answer from another Thai as well.

surely to stop wandering    leg docking would do the trick    woah there   just a thought   not advisory 

I heard they do for only female cats. It shows off their ass better. And males will fight to bang them.

This means they get the strongest males as mates.

My dog confirmed this, is true.

given that some of the tails are not just short but also crooked as in having 90 deg. angles or folded over i always thought the animals had had accidents or got badly treated. i have only ever seen two cats with proper tails up here and they were both well groomed  indoor animals.

 I have heard conflicting stories about cat tails and at this point don't know what to believe.  All I know is I prefer cats with tails so when our cat died I insisted his replacements have tails.  If you don't want male cats to wander off, just cut their balls off, not their tails.  They remain prolific hunters of mice but stick close to home.

 

Friend once told me he thought the tailless and crooked tail cats must be something genetic......

I guess the genetic thing is not in the cats, but........

Definitely not docked.

Have seen new born kittens with no tails.

2 out of six were born stumpy tailed.

 

It's genetic inbreeding, observed in most places with a segregated population...BTW...a hotel on Key West, where Hemingway lived and wrote for a time, kept Hemingway's favorite cats as memories of the author...the cats inbred and within a few generations now look exactly like the ones here in Thailand...six toes and no tails...Hemingway's cats are now an attraction for the hotel, especially among the youth who have no idea who Earnest Hemingway is...

Thanks for the replies guys ,  yes I guess that there are so many feral cats about that it could well be inbreeding as they tend to stay in their domain.

And for Gen Mack above , Samsee in the photo had 2 kittens die inside her so just maybe she too is genetically weak. Bigboy the ginger tom has a full tail

1 hour ago, hansnl said:

Friend once told me he thought the tailless and crooked tail cats must be something genetic......

I guess the genetic thing is not in the cats, but........

It IS GENETIC.

 

Same in Bali and other parts of Asia   If you've ever been to the Isle of Man, you'll see the same thing.

 

I've been reliably told that cat tails in Indonesia are never docked, they're born that way.   Maybe there are some different customs around Thailand.

Was wondering same thing, whats wrong with cats

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Many years ago, while living in Singapore, an old Chinese old me that tails are broken intentionally, soon after birth, so the animal isn't perfect, and won't take up a person's place in heaven.

I guess heaven is a bit crowded??

 

Or maybe all the male cats suffer Peyronies?

Edited August 23, 20169 yr by F4UCorsair
addition

We have four kitten from one litter. One of them has a tasseled tail end. Another one has two kinks in his tail. The other two have normal long tails.

It's genetic, I believe.

Nevertheless we love them all because of their cute and special personalities.

Don't forget dogs have owners , cats have staff.  But seriously the other point to my OP has likely been answered.. The Isle oh Man being cut off from the rest of the world after maybe 500 years the cats are all related hence inbreeding and no tails.

It's genetic. I know too many cats with stump-tails or crooked tails born to well nourished, farang owned, cat parents for any other explanation to be possible. 

5 hours ago, F4UCorsair said:

Many years ago, while living in Singapore, an old Chinese old me that tails are broken intentionally, soon after birth, so the animal isn't perfect, and won't take up a person's place in heaven.

I guess heaven is a bit crowded??

 

Or maybe all the male cats suffer Peyronies?

 

yep!! that's exactly how it goes in old Chines people culture

 

Breaking the tail is one of the first thing the old Chinese will FIX

- upon seeing any cat not-done-yet

 

 

...and it doesn't matter to them, who the owner is!!

 

Aside from all that, I am worried for the tortoiseshell cat in the photo!!:

 

I am surprised it hasn't 'disappeared' as yet -  as that skin is highly prized by the Chinese

 

hide her away pronto

 

 

9 hours ago, F4UCorsair said:

Many years ago, while living in Singapore, an old Chinese old me that tails are broken intentionally, soon after birth, so the animal isn't perfect, and won't take up a person's place in heaven.

I guess heaven is a bit crowded??

 

Or maybe all the male cats suffer Peyronies?

 

A Chinese -Thai girl I was with said that in her culture the cats tails were usually docked so that they were imperfect and  couldnt be more beautiful than humans.

Just reporting what she said...

On 8/22/2016 at 0:25 PM, LawrenceN said:

My guess is that short tails and kinked tails come from inbreeding. I have a degree in Animal Science and did graduate work in Animal Breeding.

In 2006, I volunteered for two weeks outside Khao Yai Natonal Park, working to develop tourism in a community. Some of the guides were former poachers. They were willing to make the switch (from poaching) because they saw that it was not sustainable, that tourism was a better bet for the long term. They mentioned that the tigers were less robust than in the past, and mentioned kinked tails as one sign of the tigers' diminished vitality. That's a big problem for big cats: their habitat is in pockets separated by great distances of human development, so, for tigers, it's either mate with close relatives or not at all.

So, anyway, I haven't studied it, but my intuition as someone with training in this area, is that you're seeing a symptom of inbreeding.

LawrenceN

A degree in Animal Science and experience in the Animal Breeding field and the only help you can offer us is a Guess or your intuition supported by your training which I acknowledge

I think you should pull yourself together as this is just not good enough

Have a nice day

On 8/23/2016 at 9:40 AM, bark said:

I heard they do for only female cats. It shows off their ass better. And males will fight to bang them.

This means they get the strongest males as mates.

My dog confirmed this, is true.

On 8/23/2016 at 9:50 PM, oldlakey said:

LawrenceN

A degree in Animal Science and experience in the Animal Breeding field and the only help you can offer us is a Guess or your intuition supported by your training which I acknowledge

I think you should pull yourself together as this is just not good enough

Have a nice day

Whadaya expect? I'm retired, just like you.

1 minute ago, LawrenceN said:

Whadaya expect? I'm retired, just like you.

Yes Lawrence and may they both be long and happy

Maybe we  should start  lopping  off  human tails as  well..................what a sick world

It's the young thai thugs, they chop their tails off and make them into keyring's and stuff like that. One of my cats went missing for a few days when I used to live in one of Thailand's wonderful tourist resorts, came back with half its tail missing, next morning walking to get my 99 baht breakfast thai youths flew past on their Honda's with cats tails glued to their helmets flapping about in the wind.

 

The Thai RSPCA will spring into action!

 

Maybe that's why there are so few cats.  It's dogs, dogs and more dogs.  Can you imagine anyone in one of our 'colonised' countries having up to 10 dogs in a suburban yard?