Bonus Kitten Picture: Gia from New York City
Apart from her normal tail, and the back view of course, she looks just like Serena's kitten. The two white whiskers sprouting up over each eye, the fringe of white whiskers sticking out to the sides, the white toes on black fore paws, the long sock on one hind paw, the white under the chin and down the front, the tendency to sit in a curved or bent position, and all. Gia is a normal healthy kitten, available for adoption with any one of her three siblings. If you pick the light gray tabby kitten you'll be able to tell them apart easily. The other two look very much like Gia.
She is, of course, here merely as a double for The Most Adorable Kitten Alive This Year; the one who's been radiating that fabled Manx cat's loyalty for life every time it's seen me sit down, pausing for a quick snuggle even before it eats.
There is no real excuse for this post being two days late. It's a disappointing status update that I wanted to put off writing. If you are prone to depression, stop reading here and scroll down till you see more cat pictures. Dog pictures follow.
Serena's sole-survivor kitten is not growing right. He's reached an age and size where he needs to be getting a good share of his daily calories from solid food. What resources his body put into the last spurt of lengthening his legs seem to have come right off his ribs. Serena is as generous in disposition as she is in size, but she can produce only so much milk, and this year she has no dutiful daughters inducing lactation so they can share the experience of social cat motherhood. Baby is still resolutely refusing to eat solid food. No Purina Kitten Chow, no chicken, not even rice. He's gone from looking coltish and just a bit lazy to looking emaciated and anemic. Our weary wee Traveller, who died young, resisted eating Kitten Chow for a long time but would eat tinned cat treats or the bits of meat I scoop out after cooking rice. This kitten is in a worse case than Traveller.
This is one of the awful possibilities that occur when Manx tomcats aren't neutered. Serena doesn't have the Manx look but her father had it; the effects directly on Serena have been limited to her having a sturdy, wide-framed, big-boned look and bonding with one human, but last spring she was desperate enough to mate with a big bobtailed tom I called Tarbaby, and the kittens did show the horrid effects of allowing tailless or bobtailed Manx to breed.
The gene that produces that distinctive look is lethal. People who breed Manx cats for sale allow only the ones with short complete tails (who are not "show quality") to reproduce, so that only the weak form of the gene is passed on, and even then, kittens aren't always viable. Kittens who get the stronger form of the gene on both sides (two tailless parents) don't live. One strong and one weak gene can produce some viable kittens and some with a set of birth defects some call "Manx Syndrome" (others prefer to deny that the syndrome exists, but it does).
So, Tarbaby shows a strong form of the gene, Serena shows the weakest form but also shows the Seralini Effect (she doesn't react conspicuously to glyphosate but oh, how her kittens do). Two kittens who'd been born alive died when glyphosate was sprayed in the neighborhood. I said at the time that if the third kitten lived three months his name would be Miracle. He seemed to have a good chance of earning that name. Seeing him halfway through his ninth week, still living only on milk though he's obviously very hungry--I suddenly don't expect him to be here for another month.
Because Manx Syndrome can include a defective digestive system. There's a strong chance that the kitten has not eaten solid food yet because he is not and will never be able to digest solid food. He throve and grew fast while he was small enough to get all his nourishment from milk. He's probably doomed to starve, slowly, even if he's surrounded by solid food and given all the milk Serena has, in this third month of his life. In theory he might be kept alive a little longer on a powdered formula, but when so many healthy, low-maintenance cats need homes...
The two tailless cat breeds, Manx and Japanese, evolved naturally on islands. It is possible that a relatively low rate of reproductive success was an advantage because it prevented the cats from overpopulating the islands.
I think all cats with incomplete tails should be sterilized early, because neither mother cats nor humans need to watch defective kittens suffer and die.
Nevertheless...
This DOES NOT mean that you can't adopt a cute, lovable bobtailed cat from a shelter. In fact, the Humane Pet Genocide Society's policy of automatically sterilizing every animal they can get their hands on makes it easy to enjoy a Manx (or a less common Japanese) cat's company without the misery of losing kittens at the most adorable stage of their lives. By the time a cat is old enough to be adopted from a good shelter, you know it's viable. Since the adoption agreement usually specifies neutering, all that remains is to find out whether you or someone else will be the cat's favorite human. (Typically tailless or bobtailed cats are polite with all humans, but let everyone know when they've bonded with one human for life.)
In fact, if you don't mind looking at a Manx cat, they can be the perfect shelter pets. They have super-thick, soft, silky coats and often love to be groomed, petted, and cuddled. Each cat has its own purrsonality but Manx and Japanese Bobtails are known for mellow temperaments, that tendency to bond with one person and show it, and willingness to participate in what their humans like to do (within the range of possibility for cats). The Cat Who Went to Heaven was a Japanese Bobtail. Some Manx cats are clever enough to figure out that, if they bring a toy you've thrown back to you, you're more likely to keep throwing it again for as long as they want to play. They can be lazy but, if persuaded to get enough exercise to maintain a healthy weight (which will look chunkier than most American-type cats, due to the wide frame and dense coat), they can have long healthy lives.
Dog people mean it in the nicest way when they describe Manx cats as doglike cats. They mean loyal, calm, and willing to retrieve toys. A cat who shows these stereotypical purrsonality traits might be an ideal first cat for a person who has bonded with dogs, not cats, in the past!
In many ways Serena's kitten has been the definition of all that is lovable about his unfortunate breed. Though able to bounce up onto laps with the best, he's been quite mellow for a kitten, inclined to observe things rather than try to grab them, climb on them, or eat them. He's always responded when called--if he's given me time to call him; mostly he's presented himself at full attention when I've spoken, sat up after lying down, stood up after sitting down, taken a step, or opened a door. He's never missed a chance to snuggle up against or beside me. Sometimes he's paused for a cuddle even before demanding his breakfast. As a baby kept in the office he got much of his exercise clinging to my hand with his front paws, rabbit-kicking me with his hind paws, pretending to eat my fingers and purring his little head off. As a toddler allowed outdoors during the daytime he's worked off more of his energy climbing and toddling about, and used cuddle time strictly for purring and cuddling. In some ways he's been a nuisance but during the past two months I have felt more than usually loved.
I think even Drudge has felt loved. He didn't seem too pleased about having to share the attention with a younger, cuter kitten at first, but he is a social cat, and chivalrous. He gave his little uncle a chance, and has been rewarded with kitten affection, even hero worship. He likes it. Don't tell the other tomcats but I've seen him guarding the kitten's cage at night more often than I've seen Serena doing that. (Drudge is also, by the way, now longer and taller but still much thinner than Serena.)
I've thought that it was going to be hard to send this kitten to his Purrmanent Home in October. This week I've been thinking that there are harder things.
Once again, since this may be the last post about the little black kitten with the circle-shaped stump of a tail, our featured pets are Manx cats and bull terriers.
Zipcode 10101: Pudding from NYC
This is one cat who does not need to be adopted with a companion cat. She does well with children but reportedly hides from all other cats.
Zipcode 20202: Penne from wherever
Her web page: https://www.petfinder.com/cat/penne-pasta-kittens-mama-76738691/va/alexandria/operation-paws-for-homes-va600/
Petfinder has two pages for this cat. She was placed in a shelter with kittens. The kittens have been adopted. The cat has apparently exceeded her allowed time at one shelter and been moved to a different one. She is described as shy at first, but friendly. She likes being brushed. It's not clear whether the two pages reflect her having been moved from Baltimore to Alexandria or from Alexandria to Baltimore. Anyway she's somewhere within driving distance from DC.
Zipcode 30303: Caicos from Cumming
Well, first of all, not this brother and sister. They won the cute photo title, hands down, but they have an especially icky example of "Manx Syndrome." If you want to see how bad it gets...Mother cats stop cleaning kittens' bottoms when kittens start eating solid food. Both of this pair became sick because they will probably always need someone else to help clean their bottoms...although they eat solid food.
If you claim a Manx tomcat, get him neutered NOW. Nobody should have to deal with this.
I also note that somebody is keeping Bunny alive...Bunny is a blind, dribbling Manx kitten who was supposed to have been adopted with a healthy sister she could follow around the room. Shelter staff reneged and let the healthy sister be adopted alone. Clearly some people in the Atlanta area are allowing, even encouraging, cats to breed when the sight of those cats' kittens is just waving and howling, "PLEASE STERILIZE US NOW." This web site featured Bunny and her sister as an adoptable pair in, what, 2022?
But here is Caicos, a roly-poly!, bouncy-pouncy!, adorable!, adoptable! kitten with his own permanent exclamation mark: https://www.petfinder.com/cat/caicos-777-25-77267848/ga/cumming/forsyth-county-animal-shelter-ga841/
He was supposed to have been adopted with a brother called Turks. Turks seems to have been adopted alone. Caicos is a healthy little fellow who loves to play.
THE DOGS
Zipcode 10101: Patch from Texas
They say it's altruistic, then proceed to list all the reasons why it's not. Rescuing a dog may be a little bit cheaper than buying one from a breeder, but not much. It may have a little less snob appeal, but not much; these days, in many social circles, it's considered tacky not to adopt a shelter pet. And then, assuming you like dogs...Patch is described as affectionate, friendly, gentle, playful, athletic, smart, a champion snuggler, fun, energetic, a bundle of joy, always ready for play time, very smart, trainable, very eager to please, and a bringer of light to dark days. She's young and will need some further training.
Are there any reasons not to adopt this dog? There are. They'll admit it. She's big for a terrier and likes to play hard and fast, so they recommend her to families where any other dogs weigh at least thirty pounds too. She's full of energy and likes to run and jump, so she needs a big yard with a nice high fence. If you live in a neighborhood that limits fences to two or three feet high, your neighbors need to know that a three-foot fence means nothing to a determined dog. Patch's ideal human is up for walks and runs with her. Terriers are strong for their size and this is a large one. You can teach her to walk at your heel when other people are nearby but, to satisfy her adolescent energy, you're going to need to do some brisk jogging if not flat-out running.
But is any of those things altruistic? Hah. All of them have obvious benefits for the dog owner.
Zipcode 20202: Izzy from Hughesville
Izzy likes and behaves well with humans but is not always nice to other animals. They don't mention her being larger than average for the breed. They do emphasize that Izzy is another young, energetic dog who will need a well fenced yard and a trail buddy who can, ideally, sprint as fast as she does.
Zipcode 30303: Toad from Decatur
Terriers aren't supposed to weigh 69 pounds. You can see that it's not fat, either. He is twice the normal terrier size because he had other ancestors who belonged to much larger breeds. They guarantee that he will out-sprint you, so it might be good to have a treadmill where he can run all-out before going for a walk. Toad is two years old and still full of energy. He likes playing with toys, has learned several useful commands, and sometimes likes a cuddle.
Although Staffordshire terriers have a reputation for being mellow and lovable, his known ancestors include bull terriers too. Any dog can turn on people who treat it badly. A 69-pound terrier mix is a serious dog for someone who has experience treating large dogs kindly, but they say Toad is a great guy and lots of fun. Well, on the one hand, if you walk with this dog nobody will bother you. On the other hand, you need to own a house with a big fenced yard and non-phobic neighbors.
Both Drudge and Serena sat on my knee, with the kitten, and purred loudly and snuggled, this morning. They know.
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