The Bobtail Cat Breed
The American Bobtail cat is in no way related to the Japanese Bobtail. The American Bobtail is a relatively new breed…having only been round about 50 years. It’s fairly impossible to discern how this breed came into existence, but the rumor goes that a domesticated tabby bred with a bobcat.
I’m sure we will never quite know how it all came about, but whatever took place bringing this breed into the limelight was definitely a good thing as these cats whether they be long haired, or short are very lovely cats. Bobtail cats have been likened to acting like dogs, or having dog like behavior… playing fetch, and greeting their masters at the door (amazingly enough neither my cat or dog greets me when I come home ). Active and very intelligent and oft times being called the Houdini of the cat world by escaping from their homes, closed rooms, and secured cages.
The Bobtail is laid back enough to deal with overly affectionate children often going limp when being handled, so this cat is a great addition to any family. American Bobtails are a fairly slow maturing breed, and if often takes up to three years for them to reach their full potential, but when they do they are a fantastic breed to own both in appearance and personality. The Bobtail is either long haired or short, (with the longer haired variety being rather shaggy in appearance), and in any color combination imaginable, but it seems the “wild” Tabby look is the most popular. The Bobtails stubby tail comes either one third to one half the length of a normal cats tail and is considered a type a cat mutation not unlike the lack of tail in the Manx affecting the tail so it doesn’t develop normally. All around great cat for the feline fancier.