Manx Cat Information and Personality Traits

A placid cat, the Manx will likely get along with all of the people in your life and provide many years of loving companionship.

Manx At a glance
The Manx Cat Breed

The Manx is one of the oldest known cat breeds.

Weight range:

Male: medium: 8-12 lbs.
Female: medium: 8-12 lbs.

Eye color:

Amber, Copper, Green, Gold, Hazel, Orange, Yellow

Expectations:

Longevity Range: 9-13 yrs.
Social/Attention Needs: Moderate
Tendency to Shed: Moderate

Coat:

Length: Short, Long
Characteristics: Straight
Colors: White, Blue, Black, Red, Cream, Silver, Tortoiseshell, Bluecream, Brown
Pattern: Solid color, Tortoiseshell, Bicolor, Tricolor/Calico, Tabby, Ticking, Smoke, Shaded
Less Allergenic: No
Overall Grooming Needs: Moderate, High

Club recognition:

Cat Association Recognition:
CFA, ACFA , FIFe, TICA
Prevalence: Rare

The Manx is a medium-sized cat but she is stocky and heavily boned. The Manx can appear larger than she is and fanciers may not realize how heavy she can actually be at maturity.

The Manx is a rounded cat with a round head, round eyes, a roundness at the whisker pads, and a round rump. The ears form a rocker shape when viewed from behind. The hind end of the Manx is higher than the front, which is apparent when she is standing.

In the completely tailless Manx, your hand will slide right down the rump with no stopping and not feeling any protuberance. These cats are called Rumpies. Not every Manx is completely tailless. Some Manx are called Stumpies as these cats have a small stump of a tail. Others are called Rumpy Risers because when your hand goes down around the rump, it causes the small tail to rise. As a Rumpy Riser ages, this little tail may be covered by a fat pad and will no longer rise when you pet it. Some Manx kittens are born with full tails and some are born with half tails.

The Manx has short hair, but the hair is a double coat. This makes it thick and dense. Some cat registries also recognize a longhaired Manx. Some give the longhaired the separate breed name of Cymric; others merely call her a longhaired Manx.

Personality:

The Manx is a placid, sweet cat. She never seems to get too upset about anything. She is a loving companion and adores being with people.

Living With:

Manx must have their nutrition strictly controlled in order to keep them in good condition. They tend to have a wonderful appetite and can become overweight rather quickly.

Despite being rather placid, the Manx loves to run and play. She has a peculiar gait and looks like a bowling ball running around the room.

The fur must be groomed daily because of the double coat. A good brushing is important to keep the coat in smooth condition as the undercoat will build up over time if this brushing is neglected. Special attention should be paid to grooming during the shedding season.

History:

The Manx is one of the oldest known cat breeds. Many wonderful legends surround the origin of this breed. The most interesting, but also least genetically accurate, is that the Manx was napping when Noah called all the animals into the ark. She awakened just as Noah was closing the door of the ark. She made it in the ark just in time but Noah accidentally closed the door on her tail, cutting it off entirely. Another legend has it that the breed came from one of the ships of the Spanish Armada that sunk off the coast of the Isle of Man in 1588.

The true origin of the Manx probably has more to do with trading ships that went from Phoenicia to Japan. These sailors may have picked up some Japanese corkscrew tailed cats on their journey, bringing them back in the ship as mousers rather than meaning to import a new breed of cat.

The first Manx champion was named Bonhaki. This silver tabby Manx achieved this honor in London around 1900. The Manx has been bred in the United States since the early 1930s and the first United States Manx grand champion was awarded in 1951.

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