INTRODUCTION

The Manx is a breed of domestic cat originating from the British Isles, specifically the Isle of Man. Its name is based on the English name of the island: manx (Manx in English). It is a cat with a natural mutation of the spine. Many Manxes have a small ‘stump’ of a tail, but are especially famous for being tailless, a distinguishing feature of the breed.

THE HISTORY OF THE MANX CAT

The Manx cat originated in the 18th century on the Isle of Man, where until 300 years ago they were very common.

There is a folk tale of how they lost their tails. Noah was about to close the doors of his ark, a cat was late because he was playing, he thought of catching some mice to apologise to Noah for his unpunctuality. As it approached and entered, Noah cut off its tail with the doors.

Other legends say that the Manx was the offspring of a cat and a rabbit, and that a person cut off his tail as he rode by on his motorbike, a very common vehicle on the Isle of Man.

Tailless cats, then called stubbin (apparently both singular and plural) in colloquial Manx,34 were known in the early 19th century as Isle of Man cats,5 hence the name, where they remain a substantial but declining percentage of the local cat population. Taillessness arose as a natural mutation on the island,6 although folklore persists that tailless domestic cats were brought there by sea.5 They are descended from the mainland population of obscure origin.7 Like all domestic cats, including nearby British and Irish populations, they are ultimately descended from the African wildcat (Felis lybica) rather than the native European wildcat (Felis silvestris),8 which the island has long lacked.

The dominant tailless gene arises from a spontaneous mutation, the manx tailless gene, which eventually became common on the island due to the limited genetic diversity of the island's biogeography (an example of the founder effect and, at the subspecific level, this means ‘below species level’, hence the hyphen, not ‘subspecies level’; cat varieties are ‘subspecies’, not subspecies, of the species-area curve).

There are numerous folktales about the Manx cat, all of which are of ‘relatively recent origin’; they focus entirely on the lack of a tail, and lack the religious, philosophical or mythical aspects found in the traditional Irish-Norse folklore of native Manx culture, and in cat legends from other parts of the world.

It is often thought that the name of the Spanish Head promontory on the coast of the island arose from the local story that a Spanish Armada ship was wrecked in the area, although there is no evidence to suggest that this actually happened. Folklore has also claimed that a tailless cat swam ashore from the wreck, and thus brought the trait to the island. However, tailless cats are not commonly known in Spain, even if such a shipwreck were proven.

Regardless of genetic and historical reality, there are several fanciful Lamarckian folk tales that try to explain why the manx has a truncated tail. In one of them, the biblical Noah closed the door of the Ark when it began to rain, and accidentally cut off the tail of the manx cat that had almost been left behind.19 Over the years a number of cartoons have appeared on postcards from the Isle of Man showing scenes of a cat's tail being run over and cut off by a variety of means, including a motorbike, a reference to the motorbike races that are popular on the island, and an update of the Noah story. Because the gene is so dominant and ‘invades’ other breeds when crossed (often without the owner's knowledge) with the Manx, there was a popular belief that simply being in the proximity of a Manx cat could cause other breeds to somehow produce tailless kittens.

Another genetically impossible account claimed that the Manx was the hybrid offspring of a cat and a rabbit, purporting to explain why it has no tail or a small tail, long hind legs and a sometimes hopping gait.18 The tale of cat-rabbit interbreeding has been reinforced by the more widespread folk tale of the ‘rabbit’.

Populations of tailless cats also exist in a few other places in Europe, most notably in Cornwall, just 250 miles (402.3 km) from the Isle of Man. A population on the small, isolated Danish peninsula (former island) of Reersø in the Great Belt may be due to the arrival on the island of cats of Manx origin, by boat. Similar cats are also found on Crimea, a peninsula near an island in the Black Sea, although it is unknown whether they are genetically related to maritime Manx cats or whether they are a coincidental result of insular genetic diversity constraints, such as the unrelated Kuril Island Bobtail, Karelian Bobtail, Japanese Bobtail, and Indonesian Lombok cat. The Manx gene may be related to the similarly dominant tail suppression gene of the recent American Bobtail breed, but Manx, Japanese Bobtails and other short-tailed cats are not used in their breeding programme, and the mutation appears to have appeared in the breed spontaneously. The possible relationship to the Pixie-bob breed, which also varies between tailed and full-tailed, is unknown.

Manx cats have been exhibited at cat shows, as a named and distinct breed (and with the modern spelling ‘manx’), since the late 1800s. At that time, few shows offered a Manx division, and exhibits were usually entered in the ‘Any Other Variety’ class, where they often could not compete well unless they were ‘exceptionally good in size and markings’. Animal breeding and animal show expert Charles Henry Lane, owner of a rare prize-winning husky white manx named Lord Luke, published the first known (albeit informal) breed standard for the manx in his 1903 work Rabbits, Cats and Cavies, but noted that even at the time of its writing ‘if the judge understood the variety’ a manx would be clearly distinguishable from some other tailless cat on show, ‘as the make of the animal, its movements and general character are all distinctive. ‘Not all cat experts of the time were favourable to the breed; in The Cat: Its Points and Management in Health and Disease, Frank Townend Barton wrote in 1908: ‘There is nothing whatever to recommend the breed, whilst the loss of the tail in no way enhances its beauty’.

The Manx was one of the first breeds to be recognised by the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) (the predominant cat breed registry in the United States, founded in 1908), which has records of the breed in North America dating back to the 1920s.

WHAT DOES THE MANX CAT LOOK LIKE?

The head of a Manx cat is large, broad, round, with well developed cheeks, a long nose, slightly pointed ears and a short, strong neck.

Its eyes are wide and round and its hind legs are longer than its front legs. It has a round, curved torso, a muscular body and a short back. Its coat is silky and there is a long-haired variety called ‘Cymric’.

The Manx was one of the first cat breeds to be recognised in 1908 by the American Cat Fanciers Association. These cats prefer calm environments and can live without problems in a domestic environment, adapting to family members. Finally, when they grow up outdoors, their hunting instincts come to the fore.

THE HEALTH OF THE MANX CAT

In Manx crossbreeding there is a high risk of a deadly gene. Inbreeding can cause very serious and irreversible malformations in the kittens. It is advisable to mate the Manx with cats of tailed breeds such as the American Shorthair. They are usually very long-lived and in excellent health.

THE PERSONALITY OF THE MANX CAT

Manx cats are very active, curious and playful. They explore every corner of the house and can climb into the most impossible places. In addition, their high intelligence allows them to develop many skills. They can learn to open doors and return the ball to us. They are also very communicative and vocal.

But it's not all fun and games. The Manx cat breed also stands out for being very friendly and affectionate. They form very close bonds with their family and do not like loneliness at all. They are also a good companion for children, as well as for other pets if they are introduced to them in the right way.

CONCLUSION

The Manx is a calm and balanced cat. They tend to be very affectionate towards one owner although they will get on very well with other members of the family, especially children, as on the rare occasions when they lose their temper, they will withdraw quietly rather than show their claws.