Cat Nip Fever

Leroy the Manx and Winston the Cymric

Leroy often co-stars on Winston’s YouTube channel, Winston’s World, check it out:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO0AcHXC0E0DqRf2Q8icWZQ

The Manx cat (/ˈmæŋks/, in earlier times often spelled Manks), is a breed of domestic cat (Felis catus) originating on the Isle of Man, with a naturally occurring mutation that shortens the tail. Many Manx have a small stub of a tail, but Manx cats are best known as being entirely tailless; this is the most distinguishing characteristic of the breed, along with elongated hind legs and a rounded head. Manx cats come in all coat colors and patterns, though all-white specimens are rare, and the coat range of the original stock was more limited. Long-haired variants are sometimes considered a separate breed, the Cymric. Manx are prized as skilled hunters, and thus have often been sought by farmers with rodent problems, and been a preferred ship’s cat breed. They are said to be social, tame and active. An old local term for the cats on their home island is stubbin. Manx have been exhibited in cat shows since the 1800s, with the first known breed standard published in 1903.

Cymric (pronounced kim-rick). There are lots of cats with short tails or no tails, but the Cymric (and his sister breed the shorthaired Manx) is the only one specifically bred to be tail-free. Sometimes jokingly said to be the offspring of a cat and a rabbit (however cute the idea, a “cabbit” is biologically impossible), these particular tailless cats are the result of a natural genetic mutation that was then intensified by their remote location on the Isle of Man, off the coast of Britain.

The cats are thought to date to 1750 or later, but whether a tailless cat was born there or arrived on a ship and then spread its genes throughout the island cat population is unknown. The island became known for tailless cats, and that is how the breed got its name of Manx. The Manx has long been recognized by the Cat Fanciers Association, The International Cat Association, and other cat registries. A longhaired version was accepted by CFA as a division of the Manx in 1994. In some associations, the longhaired Manx is called a Cymric and is considered a separate breed.

#cymricmanx #manxcat #catnip