My friend and I went to the Isle of Man. We thought we might as well see some Manx cats while we were there. A lady that had raised them for years had died. I asked our waitress where we might be able to see some Manx cats. She told us to go to the Humane Society there. We found out that they closed in only one hour. We took a taxi to the Humane Society. He drove very fast. We made it to the Humane Society barely before closing time. We saw two Manx cats for only two minutes. One of the Manx cats was a gray-striped cat with a stub tail. The other Manx cat was a light cream-colored tuxedo cat with a stub tail. I patted both of the cats on their head. They were both amiable cats.
One of the ladies at the shelter told me about the Manx cats and their history. I will write what I remember from her conversation with me. The Manx cat originated on the Isle of Man. Taillessness rarely occurs in cat populations as an unexpected mutation. If they are bred with other cats, the conversion will usually disappear. If they are kept on the Isle of Man, they can survive.
Manx cats date back to before the 1700s. They weigh from 8 to 12 pounds. They have a gentle and even temperament. They have a thick and double coat of fur. Their heads are large and rounded, and their nose is medium length.
One account of how they lost their tails was when Noah was closing the doors of Ark. He had to close the doors suddenly as the water started to rise quickly.
In 1588 one of the ships of the Spanish armada had a tailless Tom cat on board. The ship sank, and the cat swam a shore and started breeding. This may be believable because Manx cats like water.
King Edward the 7th is said to have owned some Manx cats.
Manx cats are brilliant and friendly and are excellent hunters.
The Isle of Man has minted a coin with the image of the Manx cat on it. I bought one of their coins as a souvenir of my trip.
I truly enjoyed my trip to the Isle of Man and seeing the wonderful Manx cats.
I took a picture of one of the Manx cats.
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