Rodents cut tail off shy cat (6)
I believe the answer is:
coypus
'rodents' is the definition.
(I know this)
'cut tail off shy cat' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'shy' could be 'coy' (coy can mean shy or modest) and 'coy' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'pus' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for coypus that I've seen before include "These beasts" , "Animals" .)