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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

Newborn kitten with very stumpy tail

26 replies

Hurr1cane · 05/05/2015 18:51

Ok those of you that know my username know that I'm a total mug for looking after the Feral cats in my area. Anyway one was hanging about recently who was pregnant, she had her litter in my shed so I brought them all in and shut them in the spare room so I could feed the mother, and eventually neuter her, but one of her kittens seems to have a very stumpy tail, should I be worried about this?

Newborn kitten with very stumpy tail
Newborn kitten with very stumpy tail
OP posts:
Original poster
Hurr1cane · 05/05/2015 18:52

Forgot to say, photos show one of the other kittens tails and then the stump, for comparison

OP posts:
Original poster
Hurr1cane · 05/05/2015 19:13

Bumping just because I've googled and the results have made me cry

OP posts:
thecatneuterer · 05/05/2015 19:14

I think that's quite common with the runt of the litter. Well done for looking after them all.

Original poster
Hurr1cane · 05/05/2015 19:15

Will it grow? I've googled and it said it can be indicative of a genetic disorder which means it could die in the first year. Which is also what I was told about my son so for some reason I've got ridiculously emotional about it all

OP posts:
thecatneuterer · 05/05/2015 19:20

Let me ask a vet and get back to you.

thecatneuterer · 05/05/2015 19:28

Right - there can be all sorts of reasons for it and most of them are nothing to worry about. Does that help?

Original poster
Hurr1cane · 05/05/2015 19:49

A little bit. Thanks so much. I think I'm going to keep that one with me though still... Just in case...

OP posts:
Original poster
Hurr1cane · 05/05/2015 19:53

It's ears seem normal, and it doesn't seem to have any cleft pallet, and it appears to be a she.

OP posts:
thecatneuterer · 05/05/2015 19:56

And stumpy tails never grow into extremely long tails, but they do grow with the cat and don't really look stumpy on adult cats.

Original poster
Hurr1cane · 05/05/2015 20:08

Thanks so much. I do worry about them a lot. It's probably projection and indicative of my own problems but if it's coming out in a positive way then I don't really mind Smile

OP posts:
susurration · 05/05/2015 21:09

I don't think my cat's tail is as severely shortened as the kitten's, but she has shorter legs and a shorter tail whilst being almost the normal length of a typical cat. It just makes her look quite teeny but other wise she is healthy.

Lonecatwithkitten · 06/05/2015 13:15

Naturally 'bobtail' is a genetic condition which is autosomal recessive in cats. So both parents need to carry the gene and the kitten needs to get one from each parent. The gene has a low incidence in the natural cat population (high incidence in Japanese bobtail cats and American bobtail) so getting two parents with the gene and then a kitten that gets both genes is very rare. There are no associated disorders with this gene.
The Manx gene is heterozygous recessive and has a range of conditions associated with it which are of more concern. Again the gene occurs in the natural population, but the one parent would have no tail for a kitten to inherit it.
The bobtail is a short stumpy tail and the Manx is no tail at all.
Bobtail is most likely and there is no evidence that it is associated with rents (sorry TCN).

Lonecatwithkitten · 06/05/2015 13:17

Sorry was on AP, now I have looked at photos is version of bobtail.
I have an interest in cat genetics, I don't just carry huge amounts of stuff around in my head.

Fluffycloudland77 · 06/05/2015 14:08

Not another litter, is there a factory near you churning out stray cats?.

Did you block the chimney?.

thecatneuterer · 06/05/2015 16:46

Thanks for that explanation Lone. I once fostered a litter and the runt had a stumpy tail. I assumed it was linked. Obviously not:)

We've just taken in a litter of kittens today with extremely stumpy tails - but that's because they seem to have been eaten - probably by rats (they were born outside). One has also had a foot eaten :(

GRW · 06/05/2015 17:00

That's awful. Poor little kittens. I hope they will be ok, but wonder if they might not survive, especially the one with part of a foot missing

thecatneuterer · 06/05/2015 18:09

GRW in fact they're all doing really well and we fully expect them all to survive. And no doubt little Stumpy will be featured on our website soon :)

Original poster
Hurr1cane · 06/05/2015 18:13

No factory, just live in a place with a lot of ferals and a lot of foxes. But these have a mum at least! Before I did the whole disability charity thing (pre DS) I did a lot with CP and just can't seem to say no to a sob story. Even though I could do without it right now.

Problems with DSs school, still grieving a miscarriage, taken on a new support group as well as my own to run, and my relationships in tatters.

Could do without a dead kitten on top of it all, so thanks everyone Smile

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Original poster
Hurr1cane · 06/05/2015 18:16

I feel a bit shit on the mum, because she clearly doesn't want to be here or for me to be near her. But she's accepting my presence while doing some sort of huge tailed, low growl/ hiss purely because I'm bringing food. She looks super skinny though. She probably has worms doesn't she?

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Fluffycloudland77 · 06/05/2015 18:36

Perhaps. Is she feral?.

RubbishMantra · 06/05/2015 18:58

Oh, bless you Hurr1cane. You always have so much to deal with. Maybe rats were what caused his tail to be stumpy? Meaning you saved them from a horrible fate.

In my 20s, I was travelling around West Africa. The owners of the place I was staying at had a dog with puppies. I pulled loads of these revolting mango fly larvae out of each pup. The mother hadn't let anyone else near her except me. Not surprising really, the owners didn't give a shit anyway.

Original poster
Hurr1cane · 06/05/2015 19:05

She is feral.

It wasn't rats, she was hanging around my shed for a week and I could see she was pregnant so left some food down for her and she had them there and then I managed to get them all inside with the help of a trap for the mum (that is bought for the chimney kittens) and then just brought the kittens in with a clean towel so I didn't scent them

They wouldn't have been safe there, my ragdoll was already eyeing up the 'new toys'Hmm he's a gentle giant but thick as anything and will play with anything that moves

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Original poster
Hurr1cane · 06/05/2015 19:07

Oh those poor puppies mantra Sad

Can I worm a feeding cat?

What do I do if I can't get it to a vet or weigh it? Mine are all vet weighed and we get wormers from there so I'm clueless. I'm calling pups in the morning as our local CP isn't much use

OP posts:
Fluffycloudland77 · 06/05/2015 19:07

All the best toys squeak though don't they?. You certainly know how to keep busy.

BettyCatKitten · 06/05/2015 19:20

I'm really sorry I can't answer your questions but I just wanted to say you're a brilliant super catStar for rescuing this litter.
It sounds like cats naturally gravitate towards you as they sense you will help them, cat intuitionSmile
I'm sorry about your recent miscarriage and the problems with your dss school. I hope things improve for you soonFlowers