Rumples & Stumpies

The Isle of Man in the Irish Sea was worried last week about its most famous product: high-rumped, tailless Manx cats. They are getting so scarce that a special organization, the Isle of Man Manx Cat Association, has been formed to foster their breeding.

Manx breeding is no simple matter. Ordinary cats become plentiful whenever nature is permitted to take its course, but Manx cats are not ordinary cats. They are not even hybrids between cats and rabbits, as some Manxmen believe. According to Zoologist Frederick Zeuner of London, they are genetic freaks: "mutations with a tailless characteristic apparently linked with high-leggedness." The type probably originated when one tailless, mutant tomcat managed to impress his character on a large number of descendants. The name of this Adam torn is not known, or even whether he operated in the Isle of Man, but ever since his time, cat breeders interested in taillessness have been frustrated by the capriciousness of his divergent genes.

Along with the characteristics considered desirable (high rump and no tail) go various congential weaknesses. When two Manx cats are mated, their kittens are apt to turn out feeble. After the fourth generation, most kittens are born dead. Thus, the usual methods of multiplying and stabilizing a special breed of cats are ruled out.

Manx cat breeders use Manx toms with non-Manx females and hope for the best. Some of the kittens are "rumpies" (Manx name for true Manx cats), but others are worthless "stumpies," with short or sometimes forked tails. Even when using a certified torn of the very best type, the breeder cannot be sure.

The Isle of Man Manx Cat Association sees no better solution than the traditional method used for generations in the Manx cat business. It urges farmers in the Isle of Man to get a genuine rumpy torn (long hind legs and a dimple where his tail should be) and give him the run of a farmyard stocked with a dozen ordinary female cats. Some of his produce will be ordinary cats; some will be sad little stumpies, but others will be rumples, worth ten guineas ($29.40) when shipped to Manx cat lovers in the U.S.

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