The Manx Cat, National Symbol of the Isle of Man
The Manx Cat is one of the national symbols of the Isle of Man. It is a stocky, solid cat with a dense double coat (long or short), a compact body, a very short back, hind legs that are visibly longer than the front legs, big bones, a wide chest, and greater depth of flank (sides of the cat nearest the rear) than other cats. The most easily identifiable feature of Manx cats is the fact that they often have no tail.
Males normally weigh 10-12 lbs., with females being slightly smaller at 8-10 lbs. The Manx cat's head is broad in the jowls and has round eyes, and the set of the ears is unique to this breed—from the rear view, the top of the head and ears create a "rocker" or "cradle" shape. The cat's ears are wide at the base and taper into a rounded, narrower tip. All Manx cats, show quality and non-show quality both, share this general appearance.
The desired show type Manx cat is the "rumpy," or a completely tailless, Manx, but Manx cats can have tails as well. A litter of Manx kittens may include all types of Manx cats, including rumpies, "risers" (have at the base of the spine a small bit of cartilage that one can feel when the Manx cat is happy), "stumpies" (which have an obvious tail of shorter length), and "longies" (have a normal cat's tail), and of these are actual Manx cats. In American competition, only riser and rumpy Manx cats are shown, and the cartilage sported by the riser may not stop a hand when the cat's back is stroked.
Manx cats with tails are important for the healthy continuation of the breed, despite the show preference for rumpies and risers. The dominant, tailless gene eventually proves lethal when breeding pairs of rumpies beyond the third generation. Breeders must include tailed Manx cats in their breeding programmes to minimize the chances of genetic deformities and to insure strong, healthy kittens. Regardless of the existence or length of tails, Manx cats will display all other characteristics--deep flanks, broad chests, cradle-set ears, and rounded heads and bodies.
The most noticeable feature of the show-quality Manx cat is its complete absence of a tail. Actually, the highest quality Manx cat has a small indentation at the spinal base where a normal cat's tail would typically begin--a "dimple." The judge's breed standard against which a show-quality Manx cat is measured uses the word "round" continuously when describing the Manx--round head, round eyes, round rump, round body, and even round paws. Manx cats give the impression of a basketball with hair and legs. Balance is an important factor, also, considering all the roundness these cats possess. Therefore, a Manx must have good proportions, to avoid being a furry, fat lump.
All the cat's body parts need to go together—otherwise, all you would see is a "body" or a "head" instead of a complete cat. The cat's short back needs to rise in a smooth curve until its rump, and the breed's longer back legs give a finished look to that rounded picture. The Manx cat's head must not be overly large in relation to its body, and, similarly, the chest shouldn't be too wide compared to the hindquarters.
Every possible cat coloration scheme is represented in the Manx cat breed; however, the pointed, Himalayan color scheme is not accepted for show in some organizations. It is possible to find every color possibility across the range of white, brown, black, cream, red and blue, as well as calico, bi-color, solid-color, tortoiseshell, and mackerel tabby Manxes.
Manx cats may sport either a longhair or short hair coat. The CFA has actually created 2 divisions for Manx cats, naming the long-haired and short-haired Manxes, instead of retaining the former designation of "Cymric" for the longhair. Other associations, for instance the TICA, have continued to use the Cymric title in reference to their longhaired Manxes. Longhaired Manxes do have a double coat, only the outer coat is semi-long in length. While not as long or as demanding of care as a Persian's coat, it does require more maintenance than the shorthaired Manx's coat needs. Both varieties may have the same patterns and colors.
Many mythical tales circulate regarding the origins of the Manx cat. One anecdote relates that as the rains of the Great Flood began, Noah hastily closed the door of the Ark and lopped off the first Manx's tail. The truth, however, is a bit more mundane. The history of the Manx breed lies on the Isle of Man, off the British coast, amongst a cat population who shared a common ancestry with the British Shorthair.
At some point several hundred years ago, a spontaneous mutation occurred which led to kittens being born lacking the vertebrae that forms the base of the tail in normal cats. After a few centuries of isolation from outside cats, this tailless trait did become the norm amongst the cats of the Isle of Man, since this mutated gene creates a dominant trait.
Although the basic body traits of roundness were always there, the first Manxes were rangier cats than what we see today. The Man cats we see in competitions now result from programs of careful, deliberate breeding, and as a result of this the overall size of the cats has increased, and the stocky, broad-chested, short-backed cat that we see has become the most desired body type for show quality Manx cats.
