Pet Insurance: with no pedigree for a street-rescued cat, is it necessary to disclose suspected but unconfirmed breed?

Question

If one has a cat they're pretty sure is a Manx - he has a short tail - but rescued him from the side of the road, is it necessary to when signing him up for pet insurance to tell them the breed he seems to be?

He was found on the side of the highway as a kitten, injured and starving, many years ago. He came running as soon as he saw a human pull over and hold her arms out to him; he seemed to have been abandoned, he seemed diseased and unhealthy then. He got good vet treatment at the time. He's now about 6, and is quite healthy overall, though has always loved food, presumably because of the trauma of not having it as a kitten, and is a bit overweight - he particularly loves bread (wtf weird cat??) and creme fresh. Food puzzles and portion control have been helping with his weight, but he's not there yet. Since he's probably a Manx, he'll probably live to about 20. He's quite intelligent and acts as the caretaker of the other two cats he lives with.

We'd like to sign them all up for pet insurance; but insurance quotes, if we say he's a pedigreed manx, seem to be much more expensive. Nobody has ever actually said "yes, that's officially a manx cat"; it's conceivable that he lost his tail while he was lost in the woods as a kitten. But even then, manxes are a healthier breed, unlike most other breeds, so you'd expect insurance to be cheaper.

Does it make sense, since we don't have pedigree papers, to sign him up for pet insurance as a generic breed? Or do we have to say "he's specifically a manx" even though we've never confirmed that? We're obviously hoping for the former, but want to make sure it's actually ok to do before just going ahead with it.

Answer 1

You can't be sure that this cat is a 100% Manx, even if he looks like it, because there are no papers and you don't know his parents. You can suggest that he has some Manx blood, but you don't know if he is really a pure blood. No reputable breeder would admit him into his breeding program because of this. So correct is to call him an unknown breed. But you could do a genetic test. If this test has the result that he is 100% Manx, you could check if you can get some papers for him, and then you can call him a Manx. But this test is not necessary, so it is completely legal and ok, not to pay the higher insurance, because you can't be sure which breed (or mix) he is.

EDIT: I did some research and found out that Manx are never crossed 'Manx x Manx', because if the gene for the missing tail is homozygot, the fetus are not viable. Often they are mixed with British Shorthair. In Germany and Switzerland the breeding of Manx is forbidden because of reasons for animal welfare. The Manx often have problems and pain when walking, they are susceptible for arthrosis and have often a misbuilded pelvis and a too short rectum (seems not to be so healthy). I can't tell you the rules, when a cat is called 100% Manx, but nevertheless, you have no papers, you don't know if the tail is missing because of an accident, if it was a fetal misbuilding, if it was a spontaneous gene mutation or if he is a Manx.