On Silly Tails,plus stats

As I have mentioned before, Caspian has a kink in his tail. Now he's grown up a bit, you can't always see it, and he tends to whizz around so fast anyway he's just a blur! It's still there though!

Susan pouncing in 3... 2... 1

Kinks can be caused by many things. They can be genetic, they can be due to awkward positioning in utero, or they can be the result of an accident, such as a tail being shut in a door. We can rule out accident in Caspian's case, but either of the other two could be the cause.

Come here, sparkly ball...

Take positioning. There was precious little room in poor Mama with eight babies jostling for space, so it could be that our little prince was a bit squished at a vital stage of development. Or it could equally be genetic. The Siamese are prone to tail kinks (and indeed this was seen as a desirable trait for many years) and so any breed that has used the Siamese in its development are slightly more prone to them. But any breed of cat, and moggies too, can have a kink. It's common, it's just one of those things.

Here are some pictures of tail kinks. Note how many of these are Siamese or related cats! Some of those tails really are silly, far sillier than our little guy's!

There's a legend attached to kinks. The story goes that once upon a time, a Siam princess had gone to bathe in a stream, but didn't know where to put her rings. She was frightened they would be lost. Just then, she noticed her cat had crooked his tail to hold on the rings. Ever since then, so goes the legend, some Siamese cats have been born with a kink at the end of their tail, to hold the rings of princesses.

Just lookin' for my princess...

Most kinks aren't problematic. You should never try to pull or straighten a kink, of course, any more than you would bend a straight tail That's the shape of its tail, if you bend it you may break/ damage it. Messybeast has this to say about kinks:

KINKED/KNOTTED TAIL (WITHOUT SHORTENING)

Type: cosmetic
Breeds: Siamese/Oriental, Burmese and derivative breeds

Originally common in Siamese cats, but now considered a fault. Caused by deformities of tail vertebrae, usually closer to tip than to base. May be single or multiple kinks. Rarely cause discomfort and are a cosmetic issue only, but may ocasionally reduce mobility of tail in vicinity of the kink.

I can't see that it bothers him any, other than earning him extra kisses because he is SO DAMN CUTE. Of course any cat with a kinked tail, or crossed eyes, or extra digits on the paws, or anything like that shouldn't be used for breeding, just in case it is a genetic thing. There's no sense in deliberately passing on such traits. But our little guy won't be breeding, of course, so it's not something we need to be concerned about.


Weights, it's all change this week!

Digory

Birth: 84g

1 week:186g

2 weeks:264g
3 weeks: 333g
4 weeks: 419g
5 weeks: 560g

 

Caspian

Birth:72g

1 week:151g

2 weeks: 227g
3 weeks: 286g
4 weeks: 353g
5 weeks: 525g- you can see Caspian has been eating to some purpose!!!

 

Jadis

Birth:89g

1 week:185g

2 weeks:272g
3 weeks: 337g
4 weeks: 400g
5 weeks 550g

 

Lucy

Birth:83g

1 week:171g

2 weeks: 263g
3 weeks: 327g
4 weeks: 420g
5 weeks: 531g

 

Aravis

Birth: 84g

1 week:177g

2 weeks:248g
3 weeks: 322g
4 weeks: 404g
5 weeks: 504g Not fussed on food as yet

 

Susan

Birth: 90g

1 week:184g

2 weeks: 279g
3 weeks: 366g
4 weeks: 444g
5 weeks 533g Another one who isn't bothered by food. Indigo is still nursing the kittens as often as they like and shows no sign of wanting to stop!

 

Jewel

Birth: 80g

1 week: 163g

2 weeks: 237g
3 weeks: 293g
4 weeks: 340g
5 weeks: 486g






Weight order heaviest to lightest:
Birth: Susan, Jadis, Digory and Aravis, Lucy, (Polly), Jewel, Caspian
1 week: Digory, Jadis, Susan, Aravis, Lucy, Jewel, Caspian
2 weeks: Susan, Jadis, Digory, Lucy, Aravis, Jewel, Caspian
3 weeks: Susan, Jadis, Digory, Lucy, Aravis, Jewel, Caspian
4 weeks: Susan, Lucy, Digory, Aravis, Jadis, Caspian, Jewel
5 weeks: Digory, Jadis, Susan, Lucy, Caspian, Aravis and Jewel

 

Comparison by litter:

 

Birth
REM litter 83g-103g. Average 92g

Von Trapp litter 81g-102g. Average 91g

Narnian litter 72-90g. Average 83g
 

1 week
REM litter 182g-217g Average 195g

Von Trapp litter 150g- 205g. Average 175g
Narnian litter:151-186g. Average 174g

2 weeks
REM litter 257g-294g, Average 272g
Von Trapp litter 220g- 280g, Average 240g

Narnian litter 227g-279g. Average 256g

3 weeks

REM litter  338g-390g. Average 359g.
Von Trapp litter 250g- 341g. Average 286g.
Narnian litter 286g-366g. Average 323g

4 weeks

REM litter 437g-524g. Average 466g
Von Trapp litter 325g-448g. Average 365g
Narnian litter: 340-444g. Average 397g


5 weeks

REM litter 539g-604g. Average 581g
Von Trapp litter 394g-570g. Average 457g.
Narnian litter 486g- 560g. Average 527g