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A brown tabby Cymric with a white chest and paws sits at the end of a long wooden kitchen table in the midday sun

Cymric

The longhaired Manx: round, sturdy and often tailless, with a silky coat, a ruff and breeches.

The Cymric is the longhaired Manx. Apart from the length of its coat it is exactly the same cat, with the same gene that makes the tail short or leaves it out. Manx and Cymric kittens can be born in one litter. You can read more about the shorthaired side on our Manx page. At home the Cymric is calm, playful and very attached to its people.

Origin
Canada, from Isle of Man Manx
Weight
4.5–5.5 kg male3.5–4.5 kg female
Size
Medium
Lifespan
12–14 years

Character

  • Gentle and devoted
  • Great jumper
  • Soft trills
  • Silky coat

  • Affectionate

    Very attached to its people, and often picks one favourite person.

  • Lap cat

    Often sits on a lap or right beside you, without being clingy.

  • Playful

    Gentle but playful, and keeps playing into old age.

  • Energetic

    Calm at home, but always ready to run, jump and play.

  • Talkative

    Not loud; mostly it makes soft trills.

  • Learns tricks

    Clever. It can learn to fetch, do tricks and walk on a harness.

  • With strangers

    Usually friendly with visitors, but watches calmly first.

  • With children

    A good family cat that gets on well with children.

  • With dogs

    Usually fine with dogs, especially if they meet slowly and young.

  • With other cats

    Generally gets on with other pets in the house.

  • Home alone

    Likes company and does not like long days alone.

  • Indoor cat

    Happy indoors, as long as it has room to play and jump.

Photos

Story or true?

  • The name Cymric shows that this cat comes from Wales.

    No. The name comes from Cymru, the Welsh word for Wales, but the cat descends from Manx cats from the Isle of Man.

  • Every Cymric is born without a tail.

    No. One litter can hold all kinds: kittens with no tail, a stump or a full tail.

  • A Cymric is half cat, half rabbit.

    Impossible: a cat and a rabbit cannot have young together. The tail is missing because of a change in a gene.

History

The Cymric descends from the tailless cats of the Isle of Man. Longhaired Manx were probably born there too, but for a long time they were left out of shows. From the 1960s breeders in Canada and the United States bred them on purpose.

  1. 1700s

    Tailless cats are probably already common on the Isle of Man. That is where the Cymric's ancestors come from.

  2. 1960s

    In Canada people start breeding longhaired Manx kittens on purpose. The Cymric becomes a line of its own.

  3. 1970

    Canada's CCA recognises the Cymric, the first registry to do so according to several sources.

  4. 1989

    At the American registry CFA, longhaired Manx are shown for the first time, under the name Cymric.

  5. 1994

    CFA makes the Longhair Manx official. Longhaired and shorthaired Manx may be bred together.

  6. 1999

    Canada issues a 50-cent coin with the Cymric on it.

  7. 2006

    The European federation FIFe recognises the Cymric as a breed of its own, sharing its standard with the Manx.

  8. 2013

    Scientists find the gene changes that give the Manx its short or missing tail. The Cymric has the same gene.

  9. 2015

    Australia's ACF recognises the Cymric as its own breed. Before that it was called the Longhaired Manx there.

Looks

Medium-sized, solid and round, with a short back that rises to a broad, round rump. It is heavier than it looks, and its coat makes it look even rounder.

Head
Fairly large and round, with a rounded forehead, prominent cheeks and a broad nose.
Ears
Medium to tall, broad at the base with a rounded tip and tufts of hair. From behind they look like the rocker of a cradle.
Eyes
Round, the outer corner a little higher than the inner. The colour goes with the coat colour.
Body
Muscular and compact, with a broad chest. The hind legs are longer than the front legs, so the rump sits higher than the shoulders.
Tail
It differs from cat to cat. A rumpy has no tail at all, a rumpy riser a tiny bump, a stumpy a stump of up to 3 cm and a longie a medium or nearly full tail.
Coat
Semi-long, dense and silky, with a soft undercoat. It grows longer from the shoulders back, with a ruff, breeches and tufts between the toes.
At shows
FIFe, WCF and Australia's ACF list the Cymric as its own breed, and FIFe judges all four tail lengths. CFA calls it the Longhair Manx and Britain's GCCF a semi-longhair variant of the Manx; in most registries only tailless cats are shown.

Varieties

  • Tailed Cymric (longie)

    A Cymric with a medium or nearly full tail. Breeders like to use these cats, because they lower the risk of spine problems in the kittens.

    Recognition: FIFe judges it at shows; in most other registries it is kept for breeding.

  • Isle of Man Longhair

    A Cymric-type cat with a full tail and without the tail gene, in British Shorthair colours.

    Recognition: Its own breed only in New Zealand (NZCF), since 2013.

Colours

The codes in brackets

Cat registries write colours as an EMS code. The letter is the colour (n black, a blue, d red, f tortie), s means silver or smoke, y golden, and the numbers tell you about white (01–09), shading (11, 12), the tabby pattern (22–25) or colourpoint (33).

  • Black(n)
  • Cream(e)
  • White, orange eyes(w 62)
  • Brown classic tabby(n 22)
  • Red classic tabby(d 22)
  • Tortie and white (calico)(f 09)
All colours and patterns (33)

Solid

  • Black (n)
  • Blue (a)
  • Red (d)
  • Cream (e)
  • White, blue eyes (w 61)
  • White, orange eyes (w 62)
  • White, odd eyes (w 63)

Tortoiseshell

  • Tortoiseshell (f)
  • Blue tortie (g)

Tabby

  • Brown classic tabby (n 22)
  • Brown mackerel tabby (n 23)
  • Brown spotted tabby (n 24)
  • Brown ticked tabby (n 25)
  • Red classic tabby (d 22)
  • Cream classic tabby (e 22)
  • Blue classic tabby (a 22)
  • Tortie classic tabby (torbie) (f 22)

FIFe allows every tabby pattern. Australia's ACF does not allow ticked tabby.

Smoke and silver

  • Black smoke (ns)
  • Blue smoke (as)
  • Silver classic tabby (ns 22)
  • Silver mackerel tabby (ns 23)

Golden

  • Golden classic tabby (ny 22)

With white

  • Black and white (n 03)
  • Black van (n 01)
  • Black harlequin (n 02)
  • Black with a little white (n 09)
  • Brown classic tabby and white (n 22 03)
  • Tortie and white (calico) (f 09)

Chocolate, lilac, cinnamon and fawn

  • Chocolate (b)
  • Lilac (c)
  • Cinnamon (o)
  • Fawn (p)

FIFe allows these colours. Australia's ACF does not.

Colourpoint

  • Seal point (n 33)

FIFe allows dark points like a Siamese. Australia's ACF does not, and neither does Britain's GCCF for the Manx.

Not a Cymric colour

  • Caramel (am)
  • Apricot (em)
  • Amber (nt)

Australia's ACF excludes caramel, apricot and amber for the Cymric. FIFe recognises caramel and apricot in no breed, and amber belongs to the Norwegian Forest Cat.

Did you know?

  • Cymru

    The Cymric is named after Cymru, the Welsh word for Wales, but it has nothing to do with Wales.

  • 4 tails

    A Cymric can have no tail, a bump, a stump or a nearly full tail, and all four can turn up in one litter.

  • Cradle ears

    Seen from behind, a Cymric's tufted ears look like the curved rocker of a cradle.

  • Orange Julius

    The first Cymric to win Best of Breed at CFA was a red tabby called Orange Julius.

  • Door opener

    A Cymric is clever and handy with its paws, and can learn to open cupboards and doors.

Health

How long12–14years

For the Manx, Britain's GCCF gives 12 to 14 years; the Cymric is the same cat in a longer coat. There is no large study of how long Cymric or Manx cats live.

Manx syndrome

The gene that takes away the tail can also make the spine too short. Then the nerves to the hind legs, bladder and bowel can be affected. It usually shows before the kitten is six months old. It is mostly seen in tailless cats; in one old study about 3 in 10 Manx had it. There are no separate figures for the Cymric.

How it is found: No test predicts it, though there is a DNA test for the tail gene. Breeders never mate two tailless cats and use tailed cats. Do not choose a kitten that walks stiffly or hops like a rabbit.

Constipation (megacolon)

The large bowel does not work properly, so the cat gets constipated again and again. It can be treated well when caught early, but may need lifelong care.

How it is found: No test. See the vet straight away about constipation; breeding away from the spine problem is the best protection.

Stiff tail stump

In a Cymric with a short tail, the little tail bones can become stiff and sore.

How it is found: No test. Ask the vet for advice if the stump is stiff or tender.

Ask the breeder for

  • How do you avoid spine problems? Do you never mate two tailless cats?
  • Are there tailed Cymric or Manx in the lines?
  • Does the kitten walk normally and is it litter trained before it leaves?
  • A written health guarantee

Care

  • Grooming

    Brush a few times a week, and daily when it moults in spring and autumn. The coat does not mat easily, but the undercoat builds up if you skip it.

  • Exercise

    Playful and a good jumper. Give it high places and a game every day.

  • Food

    It loves to eat and gains weight quickly. Give measured meals and keep it lean.

  • Allergies

    Not suited to people with a cat allergy. A long coat does not make a cat any kinder to allergies.

  • Choosing a kitten

    Watch how the kitten walks. A kitten that walks stiffly or hops like a rabbit may have spine problems.

Allowed where you live?

Checked on 23 October 2026

  • NetherlandsAllowed
  • BelgiumAllowed
  • LuxembourgAllowed

Recognised by registries

  • FIFeEurope, including the Netherlands and BelgiumIts own breed, sharing its standard with the Manx2006
  • WCFWorldwide, mostly GermanyAs its own breedRecognised
  • TICAWorldwide, mostly AmericaIn one breed group with the ManxRecognised

Breed clubs

  • Are you a Cymric club?

    Let's swap links. We list your club here, with logo, a short text and a link. You link to this page. No costs, no contract.

    Email us[email protected]

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