A bobtail refers to any animal where the normal length of the tail has been shortened due to a genetic mutation and is usually a short stump in most of these breeds. These are of natural origin and not as a result of docking, an outdated act now prevented from removing the tail by other means. There are a large number of bobtail dog breeds, but not as many cats. Here we look at them.
American bobtail
The American Bobtail is still a rare breed of cat that developed as a distinctive breed in the 1960s. It is unrelated to the other bobtail breeds, but shares the same genetic mutation, also shared with Manx cats that cannot have a tail at all. The difference is that in the American Bobtail, the gene is dominant where the Japanese version is recessive. This means that if either parent is a Bobtail, the offspring will be.
Legends say that these cats are the result of a cross between a domestic cat and a wild lynx creating the genetic mutation for a shortened tail, but this is more story than fact. The genetic mutation actually occurs naturally and can appear anywhere. However, the American Bobtail in the US draws its line from a short-tailed tabby named Yodie that was paired with a seal-tip Siamese.
These cats are of moderate size, with solid bone structure and a robust overall appearance. They come in long-haired and short-haired varieties and in any color or pattern, with the tabby being a favorite among those showing cats. They are moderately energetic and highly intelligent cats, as well as sociable and affectionate with their owners.
Japanese bobtail
The Japanese Bobtail is a breed native to Japan, as well as Southeast Asia, where it has been known for centuries. The breed comes in almost any color, but predominantly white calicoes, called ‘triple hairs’ are the most favored. These are the cats used in the maneki neko, the beckoning cat, a good luck charm featuring a bobtail with a raised paw, turned into a statue kept in homes and stores across the country.
These cats are medium in size, the males being larger than the females. Its coat is of medium length and very soft and silky to the touch with large, oval eyes. The breed can occur with strangely colored eyes, in predominantly white cats, in the same way as Turkish Van cats.
Like its American cousins, the Japanese Bobtail is an intelligent, active cat that is highly human-oriented and can easily win tricks. They are also very communicative and will interact with people with their voices, including a wide range of sounds.
Karelian Bobtail
The Karelian Bobtail is a rare breed of bobtail that originates from the Lake Ladoga area of the Russian Republic of Karelia, in the north-west of the country near Saint Petersburg. It is closely related to the Kurilian Bobtail, despite being from the other side of the continent. It comes in short-haired or semi-long-haired varieties and has a very dense coat due to the climate in which it lives. It is medium in size with a tail that can be 4-13 cm long and can be folded or curled with a tuft of hair at the end.
Kurilian bobtail
The Kurilian Bobtail hails from the Kuril and Sakhalin Islands off the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia. It comes in short-haired and long-haired varieties and has a ‘cobby’ body where the hind legs are longer than the front legs. It is a natural breed that has been known on the islands for over 200 years and has been selectively bred for the past two decades.
These cats are known to be excellent hunters and also enjoy playing in the water. They are very intelligent cats with a friendly nature. They come in all colors and patterns. Its rarity is mainly due to the small size of the litter, with an average of only two or three kittens per litter.
Mekong Bobtail
The Mekong Bobtail hails from Thailand and was known in ancient times as guards of the royal palaces of Siam and the treasure. They have a unique tail shape that has a kink and twist that begins at the root, something that cannot be seen but can be felt. This means that each tail is unique to the cat. They are muscular and graceful cats that have a general rectangular shape to their body with medium-length legs and a slightly rounded head. They have a short, shiny coat that has a minimal undercoat.
These cats are very devoted to their owners and tend to follow them around the house, like a dog. They are smart enough to learn to walk on a leash, play fetch, and play well with their owners.
Pixie-bob
The Pixie-bob is a domestic breed created by Carol Ann Brewer from Washington state who believed that cats were the natural cross of a domestic cat and a feral lynx, however no genetic evidence for this has yet been found. The breed started from two rescued male cats that Ms. Brewer found in the Cascade Mountains and they were very large in size with a shortened tail. One of these cats bred with a brown-spotted female cat and her offspring, Pixie, was the foundation of the breed.
Visually, these cats resemble the North American bobcat without any of the wildcat traits. They are large cats with black fur and fur on the underside of their legs, along with pointed ears, black lips, and white fur around the eyes like lynxes.
The breeders of these cats say that they are very intelligent and social cats that love to play with people and other animals. They are talkative, but tend not to ‘meow’ very often. They can learn to walk on a leash, play fetch, and even understand human speech.