My cat has chewed off the end of her own tail!

delain

Why would she do this? It's a good two inches shorter and has a 'stump' bit at the end.

She has a funny tail anyway it sort of curls round her back (like you might expect to see see on a husky dog) and she doesn't seem to be able to straighten it! Lately she seems to be either acting like she's terrified of it or trying to pull it to death

Can anyone tell me if there's anything that might have caused this?

Thanks in advance x

Fire_Fox

Have you taken her to the vets??

Cazza

My cat used to do something similar - she used to over groom and scratch herself until she had open wounds It seemed to happen more often in the summer.

We took her to the vet, who said that although behaviour like this wasn't common, he had seen it before. I think he described it as almost being an animal version of OCD. He prescribed tablets, which if we caught her early enough in the summer, as she started to act this way, did usually stop her doing it.

delain

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Have you taken her to the vets??

Her previous owners said that the vet was not worried about the curl in it and said it was just a 'quirk'

She is going to the vets next week as is becoming apparent she has a problem. She's been over grooming it for a while but it really is like she's now bitten 2 inches off the end in the last 2 days.

ecoelle

Has she maybe damaged the tail in some way? Our cat was trapped in a tumble dryer (before we adopted her) and she has a curled tail which she can't straighten, she grooms it quite a lot and also is scared of it and runs away from it at times!

kazwookie

Poor cat, please get your vet to check the tail, over grooming can be a sign of illness as well, or a skin problem, tell your vet what you have seen, and get the cat some help.

delain

ecoelle wrote: »

Has she maybe damaged the tail in some way? Our cat was trapped in a tumble dryer (before we adopted her) and she has a curled tail which she can't straighten, she grooms it quite a lot and also is scared of it and runs away from it at times!

That's an interesting thought, i did wonder what had made her tail like that to start with!

the_devil_made_me_do_it

Get the cat to the vets tomorrow!

picklepick

i dont quite understand... is there an open wound? there would be if she had the end of her tail missing!
if either way if that happened to my cat id be taking them to the vets straight away!

patchwork_cat

She has a tail kink which happens, it is genetic, she was probably born like that. However I would say that this is probably completely seperate to that and she has got it shut in a door or similar. We have 2 cats with tail kinks (born that way I know because I delivered them !)and as a child our family pet got his tail caught in a door and it dropped off. Get your cat to the vet first thing it may well be in a lot of pain.

Interesting little myth follows

While the Siamese 'Kinked Tail" has become a 'fault' it should be noted that in the early shows it was mandatory for a Siamese to have a kink in its tail to be considered a true Siamese. Over time this trait fell from favor and was bred out of the breed as much as possible. However it is so imbedded in the genetics that it still appears occasionally in some lines more than others. Since it does not affect the cat's health in any way, many breeders have become tolerant of this trait as long as the kink cannot be seen and can only be felt by running the fingers down the length of the tail. Whether desirable or not, the kinked tail is part of the history of the Siamese as indicated by the following legends:

• It is said that there was once a Siamese Princess who was frightened of losing her rings while she bathed in a stream. Looking around for somewhere convenient to place her jewelry, she noticed that her favorite cat had crooked his tail for her benefit. Ever since that time all Siamese cats have been born with a tiny kink at the end of their tails to hold the Princess' rings.
• A young cat took his wife into the jungle to search for a royal goblet that was missing from one of the Siamese temples. Upon finding the treasure, they decided that the female should remain in the jungle to guard it while the male went back to the city to inform the priest of their discovery. So the little cat took up her position among the leaves and tangled foliage, her tail twisted around the stem of the goblet to make quite sure that no one would try to take it away. Four nights later her husband returned to find he was the father of five sweet little kittens. But, in spite of her new responsibility, the loyal mother cat had not forgotten her earlier trust. Indeed, so conscientious had she been in her protection of the goblet that a permanent kink had developed in the end of her tail. What was more, all five kittens had a similar kink in their tails !

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Bykerlass

Get her to the vet as soon as possible would be my advice. I had a similar problem last year with my cat. He suddenly started to attack his own tail and appeared terrified of it. What began as quite funny to watch suddenly became really frightening. He constantly growled at it and tried to bite it at every opportunity, he could not even sleep because of it. We were not aware of him having been injured or anything and it was not flea releated. Following numerous trips to the vets and lots of different medication, they amputated the tail in the hope of stopping it. He soon started to try to attack the little stump which was left. He was so distressed all the time as were we having to watch him suffer so much. This went on for months and in the end the vet thought it was better to put him to sleep as he believed it was neurological in nature. All in all we spent in excess of £1000 pounds and in the end he was put to sleep. I am not saying your cat has the same condition as mine but I would advise you to seek the vets advice.