Stars Curled Tail Guide
a visual guide to curled/kinked tails
Summary
Cat tails held upright generally do not curve towards the head / over the back of the cat. Pretty much any time you find yourself drawing a "C" shape in the tail, it will be a curled tail. The only part that a cat will naturally curl over (generally) is the tip of their tail.
Remember that the tail of a cat is connected to their spine - while they are flexible (especially the tip) a cat will not naturally curl it backwards into a sharp "C" shape. The majority of the tail's flexibility is side-to-side.
Changes to Existing Cats
All new Stars cats must follow these guidelines regarding whether their tail is classified as curled [R] or not curled.
Any existing cats who do not already have curled tail [R] on their edits list will not have it added. Their edits list will remain as-is, even if their tail placement would now be considered curled under these guidelines.
Updated Rules
[R] Curled tail will apply to all future cats which have:
Natural Tail Placement Examples
References
Below are some images of naturally occurring tail placement.
This cat still has a natural tail placement. Notice how the only thing that curves is the tip of the tail? The tail does not:
These Stars cats do not have a [R] curled tail edit:
Notice how the tail tip on these two cats does not curve over the back of the cat or point towards the head?
The tails here curve to the side, not back over themselves or towards the head of the cat.
Curled Tail Examples
Curled and Ringtail Cats
The next few slides will show you what curled and ringtail cats look like.
All references used are from MessyBeast
These stars cats do have a [R] curled tail edit:
Stars Line Comparisons
Notice how:
Notice how:
Notice how:
If you are struggling to fit a long tail into the canvas without curling it, you can move the cat closer to the side of the canvas, or bring the tail back towards the feet of the cat
Moving the Cat
Moving the Tail
These Stars cats are a great example of moving the cat within the canvas in order to fit a longer, non-curled tail.
These Stars cats do not have a curled tail edit, and also demonstrate a natural-looking tail placement that fits a longer tail onto the canvas.
Additional Notes
Kinked Tails
Kinked tails are classified as the same edit as curled tail [R]. (Together, the edit is called curled/kinked tail [R].) This means that a cat with a kinked tail is able to have a kitten with a curled tail, and vice-versa.
This classification is in place to allow for kittens who inherit a kinked tail and no fur edit to still receive their kinked tail edit (as all custom-lined tails are fur edits, and there is no default, pre-made kinked tail). Curled/kinked tails that do not have a fur edit will use the premade “short curl tail” lines.
Kinked tails are similar to curled tails, but may have a more jarring and sudden curve in the tail – more like an “L” curve than a “C”. Tails shaped in this way due to injury are still classified as kinked tail [R], not NR.
Tail Length
Due to the difficulty of measuring the length of a curled tail (because it’s, well, curled), cats with a curled/kinked tail edit cannot ever have a tail length edit listed as well. Whether the tail is clearly bob tail length or clearly longer than default, they will not get a tail length edit.
(Just like with curled/kinked tails being grouped together, this also allows for kittens who inherit a curled tail and no fur edit to use the “short curl tail” default lines without also needing a bob tail edit. There are no premade, “default length” curled tail lines; the default curled/kinked tail lines are the “short curl tail” lines.)