The Tailless Cats of Penang

My adopted street cats Kura (left) and Jet (right). Both of them would’ve looked a little unfinished to me four years ago. Photo by author.

It's not uncommon for travellers visiting Penang in Malaysia to eye the numerous street cats with stubby, kinked or otherwise deformed tails — or virtually no tails at all — and come to the conclusion that they've all met with a nasty accident at some point in their lives.

But if you think about it enough, these tailless cats are everywhere. There are just too many of them for this unpleasant theory to be true. Local people express surprise when questioned - the cats have always been like that.

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