Curly tail

[sneakymom]

Samwise- the cute little orange tabby we adopted in August from the pound- has this cute little body "quirk".  He doesn't hold his tail up in the air- at times it's almost parallel to his body

  Most of the time he does it when he's really happy or playing. 

From the bit of internet research my daughter did (the parallel tail thing kind of worried her) he's got a curly tail.  I guess- but he doesn't curl all the way  it like I've seen other curly tailed cats.  And that's a genetic trait right?

If he holds still long enough while he's playing I'll try to get a picture.  MInd you I have been trying since August to take a picture of this cat's tail, and I have had no success at all.  He is an orange ball of energy who doesn't sit still for more than a few minutes (guess he's still a kitten).

Cheryl

 

[profleslielyons]

Howdy ho Cat Lovers,

My own cat never holds her tail up straight, while the other one does.  Some of tail carriage is a learned behavior, most is hard wired though and some cats are different.  Would need that allusive picture to see if it was a "ting tail" or something else!

 

[denice]

I know it's not domestic cats but a lot of cheetahs actually have tightly curled tales.  They don't do well because cheetahs normally use their tails like rudders when they are running at the really high speeds.  The way I understand it only a small group of closely related cheetahs survived the last ice age so there are a lot of genetic problems among them.  A very high percentage of the males are actually sterile.