Interested in the American Bobtail?

The Cat Fancier's Association has a Provisional Class where cat breeds are placed until they show that they are able to stay true to their standards. The American Bobtail is one of only three breeds in this CFA category. This breed is on the light side compared to many others, weighing in at around seven to fifteen pounds.

Not surprisingly, the Bobtail gets its name because of its extremely short tail. The exact origin of the development of the breed, however, is uncertain.

While there is no consensus on precisely how this breed was developed, cat fanciers suspect that the American Bobcat, Manx, and Japanese Bobtail breeds are all ancestors of the American Bobtail.

The Manx can be completely tailless and still be able to compete in the show ring. The Bobtail, however, must have a tail, if a short one. The tail should be short enough to stop before it reaches the cat's hocks.

Many domestic cats have a sleek, slender appearance, with lines similar to a cheetah. While sleekness is definitely a built-in cat quality, many wild cats have a much stockier, large pawed look, more like a cougar or a lion.

The Bobtail is more like the majority of its wild cousins, with the standard calling for a stocky, muscular cat with big paws. This cat's head is wedge shaped, but broader than normal.

These qualities, along with a rather ruffled looking coat as described below, give it its slightly wild look.

The Bobtail breed can be a shorthair or a longhair, but even shorthair cats do not have smooth coats. The shorthair coat is still long enough to give the cat a bit of a shaggy look.

The shorthair gene is dominant, so you'll run into shorthair Bobtails much more often than the longhair variety.

The Bobtail can come in any color. The most commonly seen, however, are fawn and white, blue tabby, red tabby, and brown tabby.

American Bobtails are both very friendly, and somewhat nosy. Because of this, they are prone to getting into quite a bit of mischief if they are unsupervised and become bored. If you are away from home for long periods of time, you should be sure that there are plenty of toys available so that your cat can amuse herself and still keep out of trouble.

Note: Unsupervised cats can injure themselves with the "wrong" kind of cat toys. Make sure that any unsupervised play is done with toys that are safe to do so.

This breed is fairly sociable, so you may also want to add a second cat to the household so your kitty has a playmate. Yes, two cats are better than one!

The Bobtail's outgoing temperament makes this breed an ideal choice for families. If you socialize your kitten from a young age, she should actually look forward to having friends and family visit. Make sure your breeder has good socialization practices for their cats.

Various health issues were common when the Bobtail breed was first developed. As always, devoted breeders worked to weed out most of these problems. Today, the American Bobtail is a strong, sturdy cat.

The shorthaired version of these cats should be groomed at least once a week. Although the longhair coat does not tangle easily, you may need to groom your longhair Bobtail a bit more frequently. If you accustom your kitten to the grooming process when she is young, she will actually grow to enjoy the attention.

If you want to own a cat who is sweet and sociable, but still has an undomesticated streak, then the American Bobtail may just be the perfect breed for you.

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