Sunday, August 3, 2014

The Magnificent Manx Breed

Manx cat
Manx cat (Photo credit: Wikipedia)




The Manx cat breed is a stocky cat that has a missing or partial tail. The types of Manx cat are a result of a genetic mutation that involves polygenes in the spinal chord. The results are a missing tail, stumpy tail, or small tail... Manx are known to be larger boned than most cats and they have distinctively large round eyes and heads. The Manx has ears that look like they are precariously prepared to fall off of their head.



Lucy Relaxes
Lucy Relaxes (Photo credit: A.Davey)


 Manx have many different types of coats. Most have coats with a mixture of short and long hair. Their coats tend to have a rabbit fur type texture. In fact it was thought at one time that the Manx was the result of cross breeding a rabbit and a cat. This was called a cubit. Manx do resemble jack rabbits when they sit on their hind hunches. This is of course a genetic impossibly.




The Manx strange origins were first promoted to the public in the 19th century publication of book An Historical and Statistical Account of the Isle of Man by Joseph Train.

English: Heavily stylized depiction of a Manx ...
English: Heavily stylized depiction of a Manx cat and an Turkish Angora (mis-called an "Angola cat" in this old source), from a hand-coloured antique engraving. Original is 5.25 x 4 inches. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Manx was around as a breed long before the 19th century.  A 17th century legend said that a part of the Spanish Armada shipped wrecked near the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea. The Manx superseded swam to shore near Port Erinby and decided to stay on the island. The word for Manx in Gaelic means stubbin which is a good name for stubby Manx cat tails.

There are many amusing tales about the origins of the Manx. Many today are bred to meet the complex standards of the professional breeding associations for show cats. Manx also are increasing a popular family pet. They exhibit dog like behaviors and some claim that the coats Manx cats have are hypo allergenic. Manx cats I have known seem to all have silky fur, but resemble an endless number of different breeds of cats. Obviously, a taming Manx can interbreed with an endless number of other cat breeds and produce tailless kittens. Most Manx differs from other breeds in that they can live well into their twenties, have fewer health issues, and exhibit dog like behavior. Manx are affectionate and much laid back even as kittens.

This blog is dedicated to those of us who own magnificent Manx. Mine is 21 now and still the best cat I have ever owned. So please feel free to contact me about contributing to this blog is you too are mad about Manx cats.

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