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Conference misery::feline_v1

Title:Meower Power is Valuing Differences
Notice:FELINE_V1 is moving 1/11/94 5pm PST to MISERY
Moderator:MISERY::VANZUYLEN_RO
Created:Sun Feb 09 1986
Last Modified:Tue Jan 11 1994
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:5089
Total number of notes:60366

2650.0. "Hooked tail" by BRAT::GERMANN () Wed Jul 05 1989 11:05

    Hi all,
    
    I've read this notes file off and on for about 3 years and I can't
    remember seeing anything about this before.
    
    Esmarelda, our newest addition, is quite a kitten.  She is TINY
    but makes up for her size with lots and lots of energy.  She is
    the cutest gray tiger and I am coming to love her more each day.
    
    We have discovered that she has a hook in the end of her tail. 
    Not a big hook, but then, she isn't a very big kitten.  My question
    is, what causes a hooked tail? 
    
    I remember one of my grandmother's cats, when I was little (about
    a hundred years ago) had a complete hook - it formed a little eye
    ring in the end of her tail.  Also, Bandit, the foster cat that
    Kim and I took care of and found a home for with another Feliner,
    had a hooked tail.
    
    Is this prevalent in certain breeds?  Is it considered a deformity?
    Can it cause any problems?
    
    By the way, Beverly Block, does Copernicus have a hook? - they are
    littermates.                                           
    
    Ellen
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2650.1WR2FOR::CORDESBRO_JOWed Jul 05 1989 13:1812
    The hook you describe sounds like a kink to me.  Kinks are considered
    deformities in show cats, and can be cause for disqualification.
    Occassionally I will get a kitten in one of my litters with a kink.
    Kinks can appear in just about any breed, they aren't limited to
    any one breed.
    
    As long as there is blood supply to your cats tail, and it isn't
    cold to the touch, or tender when you touch it, then the kink shouldn't
    cause your kitten any problems.  
    
    Jo
    
2650.2STOR06::DALEYWed Jul 05 1989 17:345
    A kink is not a plus for a show cat, but my cousin who kept
    Siamese as pets (not for show) ALWAYS looked for a cat with
    a kink and when she found one, she bought it. She swears
    that a cat with a kink brings good luck!! Her house had about
    5 cats at one time with kinked tails.
2650.3Ring bearersSLSTRN::GKELLERMost of it is / \ and the rest is (Fri Jul 07 1989 16:2811
I don't remember where I heard this and won't vouch for the reliability of it 
but at some point in my life I heard that one of the traits of siamese cats 
(this is true of all three of my parents cats) is the hooked tail. This came 
about because for several hundred years the egyptian princesses would use the 
tails of siamese cats to hold their rings and to make sure the rings stayed on 
the would break the tail at the end to form a hook. Over years and years this 
hook in the tail became an inherited trait. 

Take this story as you will.

Geoff
2650.4WR2FOR::CORDESBRO_JOFri Jul 07 1989 17:406
    It is a nice story Geoff....
    
    Siamese breeders have worked very hard to get the gene for kinked
    tails out of their lines, so it is no longer a breed trait.
    
    Jo
2650.5CRUISE::NDCFri Jul 07 1989 19:3610
    Bumpy-tail is named for the curl in the end of her tail.  I believe
    that she is at least part manx.  This is definitely NOT a kink.
    The bone curls around like a cork-screw or the top of a violin.
    She has very occasionally caught it on something.  More often
    she'll climb in my lap when I'm knitting, whip the tail around and
    get the yarn caught so it runs right through the little hole made
    by the curl.  Then she can't understand WHAT I'm doing to her tail
    when I try to unhook her!  Its tough to knit with some feline whipping
    the yarn around.
    
2650.6SMURF::S_FRASERFelines . . whoa,whoa,whoa felines . . .Mon Jul 10 1989 10:1312
        
        Re .3  .    .   .  and the rest of that legend is that Siamese
        cats became cross-eyed  from  watching  the rings to make sure
        that they didn't lose  them  :^} This has been bred out of the
        line as well, but the  breeder  we bought our Siamese from had
        one born in the same litter  as  Jen  and  C.C.  He was a male
        lilac-point named Alabaster, and he was absolutely *gorgeous*!
        If I could only have taken three kittens . . . ;^}
        
        Sandy
        (Smudge+Tas+Jen+CC)
        
2650.7No kinks, but she knows how to chase it!ATSE::BLOCKThis Area Zoned for TwilightThu Jul 13 1989 13:439
	Sorry about the delay; we just got back from vacation.

	No, Copernicus does not have a kink in her tail. She's been
	whipping it around a lot lately; she and Chrysalis are *very*
	happy to have us back!  They've saved up lots of energy...

	Beverly

2650.8thanksBRAT::GERMANNFri Jul 14 1989 09:4813
    Thanks, all.
    
    Well, since Esmarelda won't be shown, I guess the kink is just fine.
    
    Beverly, sounds like Es and Coper both like to chase tails.  Es
    can get into an absolute fit over her tail.  We laugh alot at her.
     She even chases it while up on the sindow sill - and invariably
    falls off!!
    
    Esmarelda is growing well and is VERY proud of her tail - kink and
    all.  She carries it very proudly at all times!!!
    
    Ellen
2650.9I'll chase your tail if you'll chase mine!ATSE::BLOCKThis Area Zoned for TwilightMon Jul 24 1989 17:4616
	Coper has been whipping her tail around even more lately,
	especially when she gets attention.  She started out rather
	standoffish, but since we got back from vacation, she seems to
	*want* to be held (sometimes :-)!  Will wonders never cease...

	As for tail-chasing, my favorite episode with our two to date was
	when they were sitting on an armchair and started chasing *each*
	*others'* tails!!  It was hysterical; Chrysalis would pounce on
	Copernicus' tail.  Coper notices, looks up and sees Chrysie's, 
	and jumps on it.  Chrys loses her grip, goes after Coper again.  
	Etc, etc.  This went on for about 10 minutes, and they even managed 
	to stay on the chair!

	Beverly

2650.10CRUISE::NDCNancy Diettrich-Cunniff-I wanted it allTue Jul 25 1989 08:402
    re: whipping her tail around - that's exactly what Bumpy does
    with hers.  Must have something to do with unique tails.
2650.11Catch that tail!FREKE::WARDJust pay me in CHOCOLATETue Jul 25 1989 11:457
    Becky and Velcro will also chase each other's tail.  It really looks
    funny when one is on the bookcase next to the stairs and the other
    is on the stairs.  Then they change position ('cause the tails move),
    and it keeps on for quite a while.  
    
    Bernice
    Mother_of_Trouble+2
2650.12Kinks on Java tooVAXRIO::ROLFWed Aug 09 1989 13:5310
    Here in Brazil we see quite a lot of kinks in tails of Siamese cats,
    maybe due to excessive in-breeding? None at the other races.
    
    However, I lived in Indonesia some time ago, and there about 50%
    of all cats (yes, including the everyday "house-cat") had some sort
    of deformation to their tails, some even had a very short tail,
    or none at all! I cannot see how it could have been inbreeding there
    though.
    
    Rolf