Breeding Manx is like making a long journey in the mountains: sometimes the path is steep and difficult to navigate, other times the path is smooth and easy to follow but, whatever the conditions, the views along the way are always breathtaking.
If you don't want to read this text jump ahead to the pictures.
About the Manx breed
The Manx is one of the oldest breeds known in the Cat Fancy. The breed originated on the Isle of Man (that little Isle between Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland) and has a history that goes back several hundred years. Many well known people have (had) Manx. One of the most famous is King Edward VII (Bertie) of Great Britain who owned five or six.
Manx are sturdy, healthy cats. A so-called natural breed that lives up to its name. Many Manx still roam free on the Isle of Man as farmyard cat, mouser or beloved pet. The perfect show Manx should be a study in roundness: round head on a strong neck, round and compact body, sturdy legs. The hind legs should be longer than the front thus complementing the round tailless round rump.
The completely tailless Manx is called a Rumpy but there are four more types: the Rumpy Riser (with just one to three vertebras), the Stumpy or Stubby (with a short stubby tail), the Longy (with a short but incomplete tail) and the Tailed (with a complete tail). The Rumpy, Rumpy Riser and Stubby can be shown in Europe but all five types are highly appreciated as both breeding stock and, most important, as family pets.
Manx can be born in all colors BUT Chocolate/Lilac, Cinnamon/Fawn, Pointed, Tonkanese and Burmese colors. These colors are not natural to the European color spectrum of cats but are only found in the breeds of cats found in the Far East (such as Siamese, Burmese etc.). While these colors are proper in those breeds they are not in Manx and the only way they could occur in the Manx breed is by crossing Manx to those breeds. As the Oriental typed cats are far more sleek and elegant than the sturdy Manx this should never be attempted.
Two coatlength types are found in Manx: the Manx shorthair and the Manx Longhair. The shorthair variety should have a thick double coat that feels well padded. It should be not ultra short but also not ultra long. The longhair variety should have a thick double semilonghair coat that feels a little bit silky but should not be fluffy like the Persians coat. Some cat associations have named the longhair Manx Cymric but this is wrong. Both are varieties of the same breed and should be registered under the same breed name.
About me
My name is Kai Verlaan and I am a 29 year old male living in Amsterdam (the Netherlands). My father used to own a riding stable so I grew up with horses, dogs, cats, goats and all the small critters you can think of. My family lived right in the center of Amsterdam, just five hundred meters away from the famous Dam Square with its Royal Palace. This sound a lot more posh that it is but it was a great place to grow up. I still live in Amsterdam but now just outside the center. In 1986 I saw for the first time a Manx and it was love at first sight. I got my first two Manx in 1987 and the rest, as they say, is history. This homepage is a way for me to share with others the magic that is Manx. I hope a little of the magic rubs of.
About this homepage
Remember the Beatles song "with a little help from my friends"? How true that is. In everything we do we need a little help from our friends and that is why I want to give a big thank you to Andrea van Elmpt for making this homepage for me. Didn't she do a great job? Also many thanks to my nephew George Wagenmaker for designing the "Noah's Ark Cattery with paw" logo. And my last big ol' thanks should go to those great folk at Geocities for letting this homesteader stake his own little square of this new frontier land we call the Internet.
About the Oriental Shorthairs
The Oriental Shorthair is a recent passion of mine. With their sleek bodies and legs and their loud voices they are completely different from the Manx and make a great contrast. Created in the 70ties by crossing Siamese and solid colored cats, they can be bred in a spectacular array of colors. My two girls are both bred by Annemarie Huybrechts. You can find out more about them on my Oriental page.
About my other cats
Next to Manx and Orientals I own several other cats: a few altered householdpet cats, an Aby spay, two Siamese (a seal tortie point spay and a seal point neuter) and a Cornish Rex neuter. Find out more about them on my "other breeds page" and my HHP page. For doglovers (boy....did you take a wrong turn on the information super highway <VBG>) I have a dogpage with pictures of my "two stupid dogs".
Pages:
Manx pictures and pedigrees Oriental pictures and pedigrees Other breeds (still under construction) HHP (still under construction) Pooh Bear and friends Manxtale two stupid dogs Links (still under construction) Back to homepage
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