July 16, 2004

• I would, but I'm sure that it would only result in tail envy.
• 12 inches!? hotsy indeed. i'm sorry.
• O.K. I'm no idiot. I know "cat's tail" is code for "penis" and mine is 9 inches! 9! hear that! Nine big ones! Hold on, this ruler is in centimeters...
• 10 inches.
• i think asta's tail is especially short.
• seriously, i wish i still had a cat so i could do some tail measuring. i think a more illuminating figure is going to be the ratio of tail to body. and maybe the legs, too. the tall cats that i have known seem to have had longer tails... still and all, 7 inches sounds like a sort of stumpy little tail.
• saki cat hopes to get into the guiness book with his 12-incher
• One of my cats' tail is significantly shorter than the other's, since I trapped the end in the back door last year. Vet had to take an inch or so off to be able to cover the end. I'd 'de-gloved' the tip, according to the vet's nurse. Apart from the guilt and upset, the whole episode cost me over
• I'm confused, are we measuring the tails of pet cats, or our wangs? I've got Milkwood by about a foot. I mean, my cat... uh... tail... what? (It always saddens me when cats and dogs get their tails cut off at a young age, because breeders think it looks awesome... that may just be a dog thing... I'm not sure...)
• Two cats here, one with a 12 inch tail and one with a 13 inch tail. Neither appreciated having their tail measured. I got some scarey looks from both of them. I had better watch my back for awhile. The Bratcat likes to stalk and attack when upset. *looks over shoulder..wondering if she is sneaking up on me*
• I agree with Sacred, its sad and cruel in my opinion to cut an animals tail off. If nature intended the animal to have a stumpy tail, then the animal would have been born that way. Its mutilation I say.
• i wonder if male/female cat tails differ in length? both hotsy and asta are males. brat, what sex are yours?
• this is from the cats international web site, to be read aloud in a very sexy voice, especially the first sentence: When the tail is erect for its full length, it is used as a greeting to another cat or to a friendly human and is an invitation for contact rubbing. This can also be a request for food. The tail flicks of a seated cat often indicates irritation. Tail wagging can range from small irritated flicks which may express indecision--wavering between two possible courses of action--or in its most pronounced form, it can be the prelude to a fight between two male cats and undoubtedly accompanied by growling. A tail that is held down with an elevated rump belongs to an aggressive cat that is standing sideways near another cat. A fluffed-up, arched tail is seen when a cat stands with its back arched (the "Halloween cat") and it is torn between being aggressive or defensive. A fluffed tail that is positioned straight out or down, is seen when the decision moves toward aggression. (All of these tail positions can be observed when two kittens engage in play fighting.) The tail that is wrapped against the cat's body may mean that the cat is contented or for a nervous cat, it is a defensive posture.
• SideDish, Zero, with the 12 inch tail is male, Bratcat, with the 13 inch tail is female.
• So the question is how much tail my cat is getting?
• well, free, if you'd care to share...
• But I was always told size didn't matter!
• by whom were you told that, jcc? hee hee
• My cats are too arthritic for me to measure their tails. They're both old boys. The tail seems to stiffen first.
• Gizmo (boy) has a 16 inch tail, and Polly's is 13". jccalhoun, size does matter ;o)
• jeeeeez, minda, i think Gizmo wins! that's incredible! and polly's is long too. are they littermates? we must contact guiness! the records book, not the beer.
• gizmo would shatter the (unofficial) world's record!
• Nope, they're not related. Gizmo's a plain old shorthair grey/white kitty who, incidentally, is a very big boy - at 1 year, he's 13 pounds. All muscle, though. Polly's a 2 year old marmalade bullseye tabby, which is very rare in girl kitties. She's smaller than Giz, but not puny. Their tails are kind of incredible, huh? Gizmo's always had a long tail. It's pretty much as long as his body, and has ben his whole life. Polly we just adopted a couple of months ago, so we're not sure at which point her tail started to get unusually long. < /very proud cat mom > We'll have to see how saki's tail does... looks like he might beat Giz in the tail dept. In the meantime, we can have a Guinness toast to eventual Guinness world records!
• just out of curiosity, how long is gizmo nose-to-tail tip?
• Wow, that's one BIG cat, SideDish!! And how about the one with extra toes? Nice find! < OT > At the organization I volunteer for, Pooh cat is polydactyl kitty. She's also the single largest cat I've ever seen (in person), at 25 pounds < /OT > When I get home, I'll re-measure. Since my husband takes all the tools to work, I measured by cell phone. Gizmo's tail is 4 Siemens A56i's long. The A56i is 4 inches, so it makes sense. But, I'll do a more scientific measurement, just to be sure :o) On preview: I'll have to measure that, SideDish. It'll be pretty close to the tail measurement, though.
• At the organization I volunteer for, Pooh cat is polydactyl kitty. Me English be good, no?
• its not the size of the tail that matters.. its the motion in the... never mind ;-)
• I was always raised with the belief that it's not the size of the tail, it's what you can do with it...
• damn, i should preview. gmta hex...
• My cat is not gonna let me measure its tail.
• Nostril, try waiting till it's sleeping...
• like a friggin' horse! uh huh! uh huh! ahhh . . whoops. So busted. S&P, et. al. - I'm told by knowledgable people that some dog's tails are bobbed because when they're out hunting a long tail can catch on brush or whatnot and occasionally become infected. I'm also told that the procedure is relatively painless. Although in the case of boxers, the tail and ears are purely aesthetic which I agree is bulls*.
• (i'll bet it's painless just like circumcision is painless....)
• Like Nostril - no way is my kitty letting me take part in this experiment. Ada's an extremely nice kitty, who never scratches, but...I think this might be pushing her generous nature too far. ;) I don't think she'll win, anyway, as she's a very small cat all around. My sister's cat also lost part of his tail, like kitfisto's. Ollie had been a barn cat and apparently the end was frostbitten, and one day it just literally fell off. My sister was horrified, but the vet wasn't at all concerned, and now Ollie just has a blunt-ended tail. It's kinda cute, in a weird sort of way.
• Katerina_the_Delicate_Fleur weighs 18 lbs and has a 13 inch tail. Beezwax, the Manx, would like to point out that the most important part of a tail isn't in the visual spectrum. (I have no idea what he means by this.)
• Well, I re-measured, and I'm sorry to say I was off in my measurement of Gizmo's tail. It's only 15 inches. And Polly's is a nice 13 1/2". SideDish, Gizmo is 35" from tip to tip (Polly declined to be measured). Katerina_the_Delicate_Fleur weighs 18 lbs and has a 13 inch tail. Wow, that's one big delicate flower! :o)
• My kitty's tail is 8" long (best I can tell before she ran off). She's a small cat.
• My (now deceased) cat's tail was three inches shorter than it should be, after my sister slammed it in the door when Bruce the cat had a moment of indecision on a cold winter morning. We didn't see him for three days after that, and one of the first things he did on his return was scratch my sister.
• This link reminded me of two cats we used to have. They were identical tortie color--and people will comment on the color if you have just one--two is twofer-goodness. Identical cats, as long as they were sitting in the window, which they mostly did when greeting new people. Identical, except for Zonka was polydactil and had a 14 inch tail, and the other cat was a Manx. They'd jump down off the sill and leave the room before the door opened. The tailed cat would then casually saunter in and jump on cat lover' laps, turn her rump to them, and knead their knees. She'd wave her tail gracefully as she left the room. A second or so later, the other cat, Maxine, would come in and promenade a bit, finishing by giving leg rubs all around. (Double rubs to people who hated cats.) That was fun for a couple years, then things got really interesting. Maxine the Manx used to sleep in the wood shavings in the stallion's shed. Zimmer loved her, and used to let her stand on his back as he walked around his pen. They would lay nose to nose and sleep. One day I went out because Zimmer was racing up and down, and poor Maxie was laying in the shavings and couldn't stand. The horse must have accidently stepped on her getting up. Long and short of it--the vet had to amputate as the leg was shattered. I actually had a woman start screaming one time after that when they pulled their normal-missing parts cat act. Who says cats don't have a sense of humor? The reason I know how long Zonk's tail was is because my husband measured the two of them. Her's was 14 inches, and Maxine's was 2 inches. On occasion, we'd tell people that Zonk had an extra foot as well. Zonka came out of a litter with five siblings. There was Stumpy--a no tail, Bobby--two inches, and Shortz--4 inches. We gave away two without naming them--one with an seven inch tail, one with a ten inch tail, and Zonka--14 inches. Weird!
• Blue, that was awesome!!!
• I've got two cats. Cleo: 14 pounds, 9 inches of tail. Twinkie: 18 pounds, 3 inches of tail. Total: 32 pounds, 12 inches of tail. In terms of weight my cats comprise roughly three average-sized cats, but they only have one normal-sized tail between them.
• rhiannon, all I have to say is :o) I do love to hear all the stories about people's kitties (and iguanas, and hampsters, and fishes and...) You know, we should have a Curious George where we post our cats' (or dogs', or hampsters', or snakes', or whatevers') pictures. I have more than 3 rolls of film (not yet developed, of course) of the cats, and almost nothing but the cats. I also have my own (underutilized) website (read: space available for community use). Is this a good idea? Are mofites tired of animals? I could never tire of the subject, but I *do* realize other people's lives don't revolve around critters.
• Psyche, my girlcat, has a 9 inch tail. Lucien, my boycat has an 11 inch tail. They are both on the smaller side (11 lbs). Psyche has no insecurities, as she is notorious for flaunting her 9 inches (heh). Seriously, she twitches and flips her tail nonstop. She's been called snakey tail by a friend. One OT note, if I knew that I would someday live in NYC and would be wearing street camoflauge (black) all the time, I would have NEVER adopted a white cat. Oh well, I can't imagine giving him up now.
• my 3 year old catboys stack up at 11 and 12 inches, respectively. measured from base of the tail at the spine to the tip, and disregarding the length of the hair poking off the end, of course. toby (mr. fluffball with the 3-inch-long-hair) has the slightly shorter tail. petey has shorter hair but longer tail and legs. toby is a bigger cat (bigger frame) but petey's long legs make them appear to be about the same size. toby is 14 lbs and petey is 16, at last weighing. both boys are on the new purina indoor cat formula, to help keep them skinny (used the iams diet for about a year before that). petey was chubby and lazy when we found out he has a heart murmur, the diet food really helped his activity level and has made him less chubby. toby is pretty solid. they're completey different, as far as looks, personality, etc... hard to believe that they're littermates.
• My rent-a-cat is back for a visit. Let me tell you, she was NOT interested in having her tail measured. She's pretty small, and I think it's about 8 or 9 inches long. That's as close as I got to an accurate measurement before she hollered at me, ran off and clawed the couch in retaliation. Now she's glaring at me. *sigh* The things I do for you monkeys.
• shinything, your efforts are much appreciated. I think we've found out more about cats' temperaments regarding their tails than anything. Or, rather, their temperaments as a whole, when it comes to what they will and will not let their owners do.
• next up: how big are your pup's paws?
• big ol' basset sized paws on a terrier body. Perfect for tearing into the backyard. You never know where those rodents may be hiding out . . .
• We don't have pets, but my wife says I have hobbit feet (big 'n' hairy). They get me lots o' lovin'.
• some dog's tails are bobbed because when they're out hunting a long tail can catch on brush or whatnot and occasionally become infected That's just rubbish, pete_best - how often does one brush against a whatnot whilst hunting, hmm? Never. And furthermore, legs can also catch brush and get infected. Off with them! First time I've seen this thread, and I must admit to having a 13-incher at my house.
• One of my dogs -- the oversized emergency backup dog --came in last week with burrs in her tail that were like unpartable velcro. Her tail was twirled and stuck to her tail again, and the whole mass was in turn stuck to her body. I went at the mess with scissors, cutting fur where I could, but eventually a dog twitch made me hit pay dirt - I cut into the skin at the very end of the tail. Ouch. Sorry, Maggie. This was not so much discomfort for the dog as it was a chance to run around the house in glee that the tail manicure was over. As this was happening, the huge tail was wagging, forcefully, and spewing blood in every direction that it wagged. Result? Stream of blodd droplets across the fridge, across both parrot cages, across the sliding glass doors, across the TV screen, across my trousers, across every coat hanging on hooks by the door, across the door, and across a hundred other things that dried blood isn't quite so apparent on, but it is there, I know it, somewhere. And all across all the floors and all the rugs and all the carpets. Next day? Happy dog with bandaged tail got excited, wagged off bandage, banged tail into wall, repeated previous day's frivolity. House for sale. Cheap.
• Riiiiight. And what's with that mound of freshly dug earth in the backyard, hmmm? tail manicure = caudacure, I think.
• So spaniels get their hairy tails bobbed because they're prone to pick up stick-tights and burrs. But what's the rationale for bobbing a Doberman's or a Boxer's or a smooth-haired fox terrier's tail? And not bobbing the tails of most retrievers? It seems irrational. And of course cruel, if anyone gives a damn about that these days.
• Wouldn't it be easier and cheaper to trim the fur on the spaniels' tails? I would like to bob the Doberman owners.
• I would like to bob the Doberman owners. I don't think that came out the way you intended, fishy.
• I had my tail cut off when I was still a baby, apparently. It was freaking out the grandparents or something.
• Was it prehensile?
• Yes. And covered in luxurious striped fur. Like a lemur's.
• Seems like what's in otder is some kind of kicky leather tail guard.
• Like a lemur's? I should get a commission ...
• Twice in one day! I'm glad we hired you now.
• A caudal cozy! A spine-end snugli!
• The commercial branding...it stings my eyes!
• ...like so much fancy lemur urine.
• Seems like what's in otder is some kind of kicky leather tail guard. Ahead of me as usual. TailGuard! (tm)
• I see now how pete made his fortune: he waits for people to come up with interesting ideas and then he patents them. ©2006, Nuniella Bizatorrie. All rights reserved.
• Shh.
• As long as I get the back-end profits from the TailGuard®. (Get it? "Back End?" Huh? Get it?)
• All the makings of a Tailgate. Scandalicious.
• Well, we could send you a buch of schwag. Hah? Hah?! Ehhhnngh.
• Bum end!