Thank you so so much for your reply. I've been so worried about the little guy, and most of what you hear about the long term outcome for UTO cats is not promising. So glad to hear everything worked out well for your kitties!
I'm pretty sure the bob tail is genetic. He came from a "mutt" litter that we found advertised on CL. The litter was half bob, half normal tail, and most of his litter mates were solid white. My parents have a 16yr old solid white rescue bob that's deaf (always has been), and I've heard that deafness is pretty common in solid white animals. If you add in the additional mutations causing the bob tail, does that make them even more prone to health problems? Its probably just me grasping at straws, but I've wondered if there may be a greater chance of genetic-influenced problems for him because he came from a mostly solid white litter of bobs.

Its really interesting (and a little scary) to hear just how negatively they can be affected by stress. My vet mentioned that too, but I can't think of a single thing that might be troubling him, nothing has changed around our house.
We haven't gotten him a water fountain yet, but I will be picking one up today. I've been meaning to do it, but life's been a little crazy/busy and I just hadn't gotten to it yet. I have heard that they make a tremendous difference in how much water they consume. I can certainly see it helping with Grainger, one of his favorite pastimes is sitting in a freshly drained bathtub and staring at the drain. Its like hes trying to see into the future or something.
