How do they cope without a tail?

[EachandEveryone]

Not for me my friends gutted. Her little cat came home last week with lacerations and broken claws after a week of antibiotics she has to have her tail removed tomorrow. Any experience of what to expect?

Friends of mine have a cat that's lost his tail. He's fine without it.

They do use it for balance but manage well without it, Manx cats don't have tails. I did see something about having nerve endings in their tails that sometimes can affect their ability to pass wee and poo which is something you could talk to the vet about.

My old cat lost most of his tail at about 14 weeks, following an act of outstanding stupidity that cost him a rear leg as well. This obviously isn't the same as your friend's cat, but mine can't jump. :(

One of ours doesn't have a tail (not sure why - we adopted her as an adult and she came like that )

She does just fine, though her balance isn't quite what it should be. Other than that no probs

One of my old cats had half of her tail removed after coming him with the end of it snapped! She was absolutely fine. You really wouldn’t notice any difference in how she moves.

They tend to be fine but not so great at balancing and landing after jumping off something tall can be a bit wobbly. Best to keep him in until he has got used to it and learnt to compensate.

One of mine has no tail and one front leg and is a total ninja!!! Runs along roofs, comes in through upstairs windows etc. She’s amazing!!

She’s in lots of pain the vet has given her an antibiotic injection that lasts for two weeks. Thank god for pet insurance it’s already over three grand.

My cat had her tail amputated and coped absolutely fine, just accepted it, and lived to a ripe old age.

My old cat her tail amputated. Vet warned us it might affect her balance. The day she got back from the vets she escaped and spent the rest of the day perched on top of the pitched garage roof in a complete huff. Didn't affect her in the slightest, although she did occasionally forget it wasn't there and lick the carpet 😂

I adopted a cat without a tail, she had to have it amputated after it got caught in farm machinery. She was absolutely fine without it. No problems with climbing or balance.

I used to live in Indonesia. There are loads of cats there, many of them feral. There is a genetic fault that has been passed to nearly all cats on the island of Java, most of them have no tails, or short tails, or tails with a right angle kink in them! They are fine, no ill side effects.

Don't forget there is also a breed of cat, the manx, that has no tail

One of mine has no tail, just a stub. He leaps, jumps, uses the trays without issue, and is 14 now.

One of mine was the runt of the litter and has a tail but it sticks out at a right angle behind him. He is absolutely fine with it.