American Bobtail Cat: Unique, Playful, and Loyal
The American Bobtail cat is a rather young feline breed. Its birth dates back to around the 1960s. Its appearance resembles that of a small lynx dressed in its winter fur. Its special feature is its tail, which is very short, positioned high up and resembles a pompom. This breed appeared spontaneously from a genetic mutation, but then had to resort to genetic selection to better define and fix its characteristics.
In short, its history is this. Mr and Mrs Sanders spent a holiday in Arizona, where one day during a walk they found a brown spotted tabby kitten that had a very strange tail: very short and positioned high up, resembling a pompom. They named the kitten Yodie and took it home with them when they returned from their holiday.
He was scheduled to be neutered, but before this event, he managed to approach the Siamese seal point kitten at home. A litter of black and tabby-striped kittens was born, some with long tails and others with their father's tail. One of the kittens that remained at the farm later crossed with a cream point kitten of the Siamese category but with white feet. The result was blue-eyed kittens with short tails, very Siamese-like and with white feet.
A family friend, who was a cat fancier, decided to make it a true breed by mating the kittens with short tails. During mating, a long-haired cat was introduced into the offspring, resulting in the semi-long-haired American Bobtail variety.
This breed is very uncommon in Europe.
Character of the American Bobtail cat
He is also a very intelligent cat, he can easily be taught games such as retrieving or looking for objects, he can even get used to going out on a leash. He is very patient, therefore suitable for families with children and also suitable for the elderly, as although he is a lively and agile cat, he is also quite lazy and loves comfort, long sleeps on the sofa and flat life in general.
Ideally, he should have a safe garden where he can spend some time running and climbing. In the house it is good to provide him with something where he can climb and perhaps do his nails. He is a skilful hunter, so expect that when he goes out he can bring home treats.
It does not like loneliness, so it is not a suitable cat for those who are away from home for many hours, but it needs to have someone to play with during the day. With strangers he is rather curious, a little shy perhaps, but he definitely approaches, curiosity overcomes shyness. It is famous for emitting trills and tongue clicks when it is happy.
Appearance of the American Bobtail cat
The head is large and rounded, proportionate to the body, the ears are of medium size, wide at the base and with the tips slightly rounded. The eyes are large and almond-shaped, the colours can be, copper, gold, yellow green and also blue. Its tail is very distinctive: short, covered with long, thick and shaggy hair. It ranges from 2 centimetres to 10 at the most.
The medium to medium-long fur is thick and dense, with a thick undercoat. The fur is generally longer and thicker around the head, on the lower abdomen, back and tail. It can exist in any colour and coat pattern, such as brown, black, chocolate, blue, lilac, red, cream, with white or without.
Health and care of the American Bobtail cat
As for the care of its coat, it does not lose much hair, except during the moulting period, so it is good to brush once a week. For the rest, the general care that is taken for all cat breeds applies.
