 In today's video, we are going to talk about interesting facts and myths surrounding the Manxcat. A Manxcat looks like your typical feline, that is until it turns around and you realize it's missing a tail. Here are 10 facts about the unusual kitty, which hails from an island in the Irish Sea, and its adorably stubby posterior. 1. Its missing tail stems from a genetic mutation. Today, the Manx is an international show cat. However, its roots can be traced back to the humble Isle of Man. The remote island sits in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland. Hundreds of years ago, a genetic mutation caused one or more kitties on the Isle of Man to be born without a tail. Since the Isle of Man's feline population is so small, generations have been breeding cause the trait to become common among the local cats. Naturally, the Manx is beloved on its native shores. It's been featured on currency stamps, and company logos, and shops sell merchandise featuring the tail as cat. 2. Many creative legends surround the breed. Manxcat myths have been repeated time and time again throughout the ages. This feline has been the subject of myth and folklore for a very long time. Let's look at some of the myths surrounding this rumpy cat. The oldest of the Manx folklore harks all the way back to the story of Noah and the Ark. In that lore, the cat was the last to board the Ark, and begged forgiveness, saying she would pay her way by mousing. Granted permission to board, she slowly sauntered aboard, as cats liked to do, and wasn't quite fast enough. The hatch came down and severed her tail, creating the now-tailess Manx. Others theorize that Manxes were cabots, a hybrid offspring of a cat and a rabbit. Due to their long back legs, short tail, and rounded rub. 3. The Manx was one of the world's first show cats. Animal lovers in England began showcasing Manx cats at some of the world's first cat shows in the late 19th century. When the Cat Fanciers Association, the world's largest registry of pedigreed cats, was formed in 1906, the Manx was one of the founding breeds. Hello. This video is sponsored by Beemix Pets. Are you looking for high-quality cat collars at an affordable cost? Check out, BeemixPets.com. Use coupon code KittenLife, to get 20% off. 4. Manxes can give birth to kittens with or without tails. Manx cats carry one gene for a full tail, and one for taillessness. This means that two Manx cats can mate and produce a kitten that's a typical long-tailed feline. Sadly, kittens that inherit the taillessness gene from both parents will likely die before birth. That's why some people have nicknamed the Manx gene the lethal gene. 5. Their tails have varying lengths. The Manx gene is an incomplete dominant gene, so kittens that inherit it can be born with full-length tails, stubby tails, or no tails at all, and all of these tail lengths can appear in a single litter. Due to this variability, Manx cats are classified according to tail lengths. Completely tailless felines are called rumpy, whereas cats with short tail stumps that are often curved, knotted, or kink are known as stumpy, and kitties with nearly normal length tails are called longy. Only rumpies, or cats called rumpy risers that have a slight rise of bone where their tails would start, are eligible to compete in the championship classes in CFA cat shows. Breeders like to include all four Manx tail types in their breeding programs, since genetic defects are more likely to arise when rumpies are only bred with other rumpies for multiple generations. 6. Manxes come in a variety of shades and patterns. You'll find Manx cats and hues ranging from red, white, black to cream blue and shaded silver. The CFA disqualifies against cats with lavender chocolate, or pointed coloring, since these shades indicate hybridization. Typically, a Manx cat's eyes are gold, copper, green, hazel, blue or odd-eyed. When it comes to patterns, Manx kitties can be bicolor, tabbies, or tortoise shells. Some Manx like cats also have long fur, they're called simricks, and most cat fanciers associations view them as a separate breed. 7. Coco the gorilla love the Manx kitten. Coco, the famous research gorilla that knows more than 1,000 words of modified American sign language, once owned a Manx cat. In 1984, Coco was allowed to choose a pet kitten from a litter for her 12th birthday present. Coco selected a tailless gray and white cat, which she named All Ball. The cat was a Manx and looked like a ball, a biologist at the gorilla sanctuary, told the LA Times in 1985. Coco likes to rhyme words in sign language. Coco loved All Ball, Coco cuddled and played with her on a regular basis. Sadly, All Ball was struck by a car later that year and died. A devastated Coco was given a new pet, a red kitty named Lips Lipstick. She later owned a third cat, a gray feline named Smoky. The two animals were companions for nearly 20 years until Smoky died of natural causes. 8. Manx cats sometimes have health problems. Like many pedigreed breeds, Manx cats are prone to a set of unique health problems. The mutation responsible for the cat's lack of a tail also affects the development of its spine and spinal cord. As a result, many Manx kitties suffer from a variety of painful symptoms that are collectively referred to as the Manx syndrome. The most common health problem includes Benabifida, a birth defect that prevents the vertebrae from growing around the spinal cord. Other afflictions include incontinence or constipation, an odd stance, a hopping walk, a lack of sensation or paralysis in the hind legs, and malformed pelvic or sacral bones. These birth defects can sometimes be fatal. Be careful picking up your Manx cat, as the nerve endings near where its tail should be are exposed. Also, keep in mind that if you own a Longie cat that's five years or older, its tail may ossify and become arthritic. 9. Scientists want to decode the Manx's genome. While scientists at the University of Missouri released a rough draft of the cat genome, in 2007 in another more complete version in 2014, no one has sequenced the Manx breed. That's why a group of researchers on the Isle of Man plan to look at the whole genomes of Manx cats and locate breed-specific mutations. Sequencing multiple Manx cat genomes have a scientific purpose, the scientists wrote on their project website. If we can identify other mutations which are unique to the Manx breed this could possibly lead to diagnostic DNA tests that can be used by breeders to select their cats more appropriately, to try and reduce the number of kittens born with Manx syndrome. The more cats we can sequence the more we can discover. The team is currently raising funds for their scientific investigation. They plan to publish results in a peer-reviewed journal, and to submit a copy of the genomes to the National Center for Biotechnology Information. 10. The Manx can balance without a tail. Since a cat's tail is instrumental for balance, then how do Manx cats manage to walk without wobbling? Experts think they have an especially sensitive vestibular apparatus inside their ears to compensate. If you enjoyed this video, kindly press the like button. Also don't forget to subscribe with notifications on, so that you don't miss out on videos like this. Thank you for watching.