#validark

I LOVE the way you draw cats and

Oh no

thank you so much<33 for taking the time to read it all too!!

I know in manx theyre sometimes born missing bits of their spine and their spine is overall shorter, is that the same with other bobtail breeds or?

I love the look of bobtails and if i can ethically get a cat with a bobtail that would be my dream cat but learning about manx' issues made me think all/most bobtail cats suffer and that put me off

Thanks in advance heres my kitty

The short or absent tail of the Manx is caused by mutations of the T-Box gene which have been identified as c.998delT, c.1169delC, and c.1199delC mutations. These variants have been documented in the American Bobtail, Manx and Pixie-Bob breeds.

The bobtail or tailless presentation in these breeds is due to sacral agenesis or dysgenesis, meaning failure to develop the or abnormal development of the sacrum.

This can result in a collection of issues known as "Manx Syndrome," which can result in abnormal back leg gait or incontinence.

These issues primarily impact tailless cats... but the problem is we're unable to breed away from tailless cats by breeding bobtail-to-bobtail due to the variable presentation of the gene. Two tailless cats can produce a bobtail or full-tailed cat, two bobtail cats can produce a tailless cat and so on.

Meanwhile the short, kinked tail of the Japanese Bobtail is caused by an HES7 mutation.

The deleterious T-Box mutations weren't found in the Kurilian Bobtail, the breed originated from a similar region as the Japanese Bobtail and consistently displays a tail that is short and kinked but not entirely absent... it's probable the bobtail in this breed is caused by the same, or similar, gene.

Although there's abnormal vertebral development in these cats the sacrum appears normal and issues with lameness and incontinence have not been documented in association with bobtail cats with the HES7 mutation.

If you're interested in potentially getting a purebred bobtail breed the safer options would be the Japanese Bobtail, the Kurilian Bobtail and probably the Mekong Bobtail.

If you want a bobtail cat because you like the look and aren't concerned about breed there's plenty of random-bred cats with tails of varying length due to a wide number of reasons.

If you don't mind having a cat with the issues associated with the Manx gene but don't want to contribute to the further reproduction of cats with said issues there are a lot of cats out there with these health problems in need of adoption.

Billy Cat has difficulty passing stool and is on medication.

Bob is incontinent and wears diapers.

Luna is incontinent and wears diapers, sometimes she needs help eliminating and needs regular baths.

Priya is incontinent and wears diapers.