Digestive Issue With Manx/short Tailed Cat

[CommonCatOwner]

Hi, everyone. I've posted here a bit about my cat and made some comments in regards to cat food. I would like to know if anyone has a Manx or bobtail cat and if anyone has any experience with potential digestive issues. I have been trying for over a year to find something other than dry food that will prevent soft, runny stools. Currently I use Nexabiotic with the canned food which helps. I have two cats and one doesn't have any of the same issues. Both are healthy and active. I am at my wit's end. Does anyone have any experience with Manx or bobtail cats and their digestive issues? The vet wanted to use antibiotics, test for worms, and begin a special type of protein diet. The cat has solid stools on dry food and on lightly hydrated freeze dried raw (but it also makes him throw up a lot) but on wet, canned food it is not so good. He drinks water regularly but not obsessively. Any help is appreciated.

 

[jen]

I used to have a cat with a bobtail with digestive issues, but he had many other issues too as he was FIV positive and always pretty sickly. That had nothing to do with the length of his tail though.

If he hasn't been tested for parasites that is a simple and not too expensive test that could easily rule it out. I believe metronidazole is typically used for diarrhea so that is normal for the vet to want to do that.

Cats shouldn't be throwing up so I would want to investigate that further too. It would be a good idea to find a canned diet that works well for him. Whether it is a single protein prescription or OTC food or else look at what he is getting sick on and buy foods with different proteins to start. Getting him off of dry should cause him to need to drink less (it really isn't natural for cats to drink from a bowl, water it should come from their diet) plus it will lessen the likelihood of diabetes, kidney disease and urinary issues particularly for male cats.

I don't know how well that helps but those are my 3am thoughts. lol

 

[CommonCatOwner]

I asked about short tail or bobtail cats because I had read and been told that certain muscles that help with digestion never fully developed and it is typical for these types of cats to have digestive issues. I don't think my cat is sick but I am wondering if his issue is because of this condition and what I could do to help him.

He was tested for parasites not long ago and it was negative. He has only thrown up after eating freeze dried raw food, Stella and Chewy's as well as Primal Freeze Dried. At first he was doing great on both of those separately but eventually the food made him vomit (I think it is unrelated to his digestive issues). I have tried to transition him over to a complete canned diet but he always keeps having the soft stools. Not quite diarrhea though. He has always been on grain free food so I might try to feed him a canned food that is not grain free.

 

[yeva2292]

Unless your cat is tailless, there shouldn't be any digestion issues because of the short tail. Tailless-ness, either from the Manx gene or the gene that leads to Pixiebobs and American bobtails can result in incontinence. I know a lot of bobtails who have no digestive issues at all and a tailless Manx who does have incontinence.

I do have a bobtail with digestive issues. In my case, my cat is allergic to chicken, turkey, and duck. Fish cause loose stool, but I'm not sure that its an allergic response. Even the smallest amount of chicken will have her throwing up or scratching her face until it bleeds (this includes the tiny amount of chicken liver powder in hairball medicine). The allergy issue has only been a problem for the last year. Before that, she could eat various proteins and had no vomiting or itching. She did always have loose stool with all the dry food we tried and some of the wet food, but we found a few brands of wet that she could eat (until the allergies).

I don't know if you have already tried this, but what I would do is go to a pet food store that carries more brands of wet food than petco/petsmart, and buy 1-2 can from each brand. Split the food into a week's meals (alongside what your cat is normally eating) and by the end of the week, you'll probably know if its going to cause digestive issues or not. Sometimes the problem is immediate - really really loose stool (in which case I'd immediately discontinue that brand - from personal experience, might be different with your kitty), sometimes its so-so and needs a much longer test time, and other times it would work out great from the get-go.

 

[1 bruce 1]

Hi, everyone. I've posted here a bit about my cat and made some comments in regards to cat food. I would like to know if anyone has a Manx or bobtail cat and if anyone has any experience with potential digestive issues. I have been trying for over a year to find something other than dry food that will prevent soft, runny stools. Currently I use Nexabiotic with the canned food which helps. I have two cats and one doesn't have any of the same issues. Both are healthy and active. I am at my wit's end. Does anyone have any experience with Manx or bobtail cats and their digestive issues? The vet wanted to use antibiotics, test for worms, and begin a special type of protein diet. The cat has solid stools on dry food and on lightly hydrated freeze dried raw (but it also makes him throw up a lot) but on wet, canned food it is not so good. He drinks water regularly but not obsessively. Any help is appreciated.

OK I'm stupid, but refresh my memory...
Was your cat born bobtailed, or was he docked as a litter? Or are you not sure?
Do cat breeders dock tails even? Are all Manx or bobtail cats born bobbed or are some docked at a day or two old?
Experienced cat people/breeders, please save me from this sinking ship of stupidity because I never really even thought about it.
I'm as stupid in dogs as cats but I'll just mention this.
In dogs (IME), some breeds that are docked poorly (too short) can have digestive issues, but it's not very common, but it does happen. Most pups are docked at 1-3 days old. From what I understand, a too-short bob can sometimes affect the muscles controlling the bowels. I guess it's rare, but it can happen.
IME it also depends on genetics, character and all kinds of things. Anxiously wired (either through hyperactivity or fearfulness) anything will have more digestive problems, but I'm probably overshooting the idea. I just know our dogs that are more hyperactive, more anxious, or fearful and unable to settle well, have more digestive problems. What is your cats personality/temperament/hard wiring like? Is he bold, outgoing, confident, or is he shy, hides away, and is anxious a lot?

 

[yeva2292]

OK I'm stupid, but refresh my memory...
Was your cat born bobtailed, or was he docked as a litter? Or are you not sure?
Do cat breeders dock tails even? Are all Manx or bobtail cats born bobbed or are some docked at a day or two old?

Manx and other bobtails are born with a natural bobbed tail. The gene that determines bob or no-bob is different in Manx vs pixiebob/american bobtail/kurilian bobtail, etc. The Manx gene is the mutant M gene - I believe you're not supposed to breed two bobbed Manxes together, but I could be wrong (this is different from the pixiebob/american bob gene, which doesn't cause spina bifida). The length of bob varies, even in the same litter: tiny->many inches long (sometimes a litter will have a mix of full length and bobbed kittens), straight->kinked. The recommendation I have heard when choosing a kitten is to make sure the tail is at least 1 inch long to avoid incontinence issues.

I have never heard of a breeder docking a cat's tail to sell it as a Manx or bobtail. The breeders I know would never even consider it. The only "docked" kitten I've seen was at a shelter - the kitten had gotten its tail trapped under something. Though, I wouldn't put it past an ill-reputable breeder (like a puppy mill breeder) to consider docking as an option.

Hopefully this alleviates some of your concerns!

 

[1 bruce 1]

Manx and other bobtails are born with a natural bobbed tail. The gene that determines bob or no-bob is different in Manx vs pixiebob/american bobtail/kurilian bobtail, etc. The Manx gene is the mutant M gene - I believe you're not supposed to breed two bobbed Manxes together, but I could be wrong (this is different from the pixiebob/american bob gene, which doesn't cause spina bifida). The length of bob varies, even in the same litter: tiny->many inches long (sometimes a litter will have a mix of full length and bobbed kittens), straight->kinked. The recommendation I have heard when choosing a kitten is to make sure the tail is at least 1 inch long to avoid incontinence issues.

I have never heard of a breeder docking a cat's tail to sell it as a Manx or bobtail. The breeders I know would never even consider it. The only "docked" kitten I've seen was at a shelter - the kitten had gotten its tail trapped under something. Though, I wouldn't put it past an ill-reputable breeder (like a puppy mill breeder) to consider docking as an option.

Hopefully this alleviates some of your concerns!

Thank you for this!!
I know some breeds of dogs that are supposed to be bobbed are born so and some aren't, and are docked.
Sorry for my stupid questions but I'm new to this cat thing, and cat breed thing and it's really pretty interesting!

 

[CommonCatOwner]

My cat was born with a short tail. It is only about 3.5" long. He has always had digestive issues and feeding him dry food has been the only way to prevent runny/soft stools. I've worked to transition him to wet food and tried various brands but it always ends up "which one makes his stools the least soft/runny". I've read a lot and asked a lot of questions. Some of the material I have read is about Manx cats having constant runny or soft stools and not necessarily the incontinence associated with some Manx cats and cats with Manx syndrome. I have been trying to approach my cats digestive issues from this angle. Looking at the different dry foods he has done great with I began comparing ingredients and nutritional information between them and with the different wet foods I have tried. Something interesting I noted while researching was the inclusion of fiber in some cats diets. The dry food all had higher fiber content in both soluble and insoluble forms while the wet food wouldn't even have 1%. The high fiber wet food having 2 or 2.5%. The argument is whether cats need fiber or whether they don't. Why do some people add pumpkin to a cats diet who has runny poop? Why are some cats fed a homemade diet of chicken and rice? From what I had been gathering it seems that do to an improperly developed digestive system food in some cats would not properly process and needed to be bound or slowed down. Essentially at this point the conclusion I have drawn is that a certain amount of fiber of a certain type (or something that can act as fiber such as bone and maybe fur) needs to exist within some cat's diets. From this point I am going to begin providing quality wet food in combination with a portion of quality dry food.

 

[yeva2292]

If fiber turns out to solve the problem, you could test adding a small amount of slippery elm or psyllium husk to her wet food.