This isn’t a matter of urgency by any means, but of curiosity. Does anyone know why so many cats in Taiwan (especially strays) have broken, kinked, half-length tails? Are they broken in utero? Does the mother bite them off shortly after birth? Is there some sort of mineral deficiency? Is it genetic?
I hadn’t noticed this until we rescued our first cat. I just assumed he had been mishandled as a kitten years ago and had learned to live with it; he was also missing an eye, so it didn’t come as a huge shock. Then, in the meantime, I started noticing that a LOT of cats had the same condition, and some of them were too feral for it to have been caused by humans. We recently rescued a pair of five-week old kittens (sisters) who both have the same thing, but in different “shapes”. It doesn’t seem to bother them in the least, and their balance is excellent, but I’d love to know what causes this and why it seems so predominant in Taiwan. Ideas?
Last time we addressed the topic someone came up with the inbreeding, genetic defect thing as a conclusion. There is a kind of short tailed cat that is very common in Japan, wouldn’t surprise me if some were this case. genetic/nutricional deficiency teh other. Of my 4 cats, 2 have that trait, and they are not related.
Chinese in Thailand told me they cut the tails as it’s a custom and they believe it makes them more aggressive. They think they will catch more rats.
No one in Taiwan has ever admitted cutting a tail to me, but the tails look exactly the same.
My friends in the USA have a cat with a funny partial tale too, just like one of mine here. It’s not common in the USA, but it does happen. I don’t know why.
This phenomenon was mentioned by Cuthbert Collingwood visiting Taiwan in 1867:
[quote]The cats usually of the Japanese breed, with a short broken or twisted tail, and usually tortoise-shell in colour; the dogs are usually black, seldom white, of an ugly mongrel appearance, about the size of a pointer, and bark vigorously as soon as they catch sight of a foreigner, though there is no fear of their biting, provided you carry a stick, being the most arrant cowards.[/quote] academic.reed.edu/formosa/texts/ … d1867.html