About the American Bobtail
American Bobtails are loving and incredibly intelligent
cats possessing a distinctive wild appearance. They are
extremely interactive cats that bond with their human family
with great devotion. They can both entertain through their
antics at one moment and provide their owners a warm, soft
shoulder to cry on in times of distress. American Bobtails are
known for their love of games and can play fetch or hide and
seek for hours on end. They will often initiate games with their
owners, and they demonstrate their hunting instincts in the
home by catching in mid-air flying insects that make the fatal
mistake of entering their territory. They also love to stalk their
toys and carry them in their mouths, as if they were a freshly
caught rodent. Basically a quiet cat, the American Bobtail is
known to trill, chirp, and click when delighted. They are easily
leash trained and love to go for walks with their people. An easy
going breed, they get along well with most dogs and welcome
newcomers, whether they are two-legged or four-legged.
The American Bobtail was developed by natural selection
to survive feral environments. They are medium to large
cats with substantial rectangular bodies. The tail is short,
expressive, and flexible and may be straight, slightly curved,
slightly kinked, or have bumps along its length. No one length
is preferred, and no two tails are the same. The natural bobtail
is clearly visible above the back when the cat is alert, and it
should not extend beyond the hind hock. The combination of
this distinctive tail with other physical characteristics results
in a cat with a marked resemblance to the bobtailed wildcat.
The head is a broad modified wedge with an observable
whisker break above a well defined, broad, medium-length
muzzle. Whisker pads are fleshy, and the chin is strong. The
eye shape combined with the brow gives the breed its natural
hunting gaze and expression of intelligence and alertness.
The American Bobtail is a moderately long and substantial
cat with a rectangular stance; the chest is full and broad with
slightly higher hips and prominent shoulder blades. With legs
of substantial boning, they possess a muscular and athletic
appearance and are a deceptively heavy cat.
This is a slow maturing breed, taking two to three years to reach
its adult size. Females are generally proportionately smaller than
males. The American Bobtail comes in all colors and patterns,
with preference given to colors and patterns that enhance the
natural wild appearance of the breed. They come in two coat
lengths: a dense shorthair coat and a medium longhair coat.
The occasional bath and light brushing is all that is needed to
keep the American Bobtail coat in tiptop form.
The American Bobtail developed initially through natural
selection. The foundation stock for this breed were feral
domestic cats possessing a natural bobtail. Experienced
breeders, using found domestic bobtails from all over the
United States, worked together to produce the gorgeous
American Bobtails we have today. One of the more intriguing
phenomena of the breed is the striking resemblance of cats
with no known common heritage, from thousands of miles
apart, have born to one another. By selectively breeding the
like type cats, breeders have helped Mother Nature to develop
the American Bobtail into the big, hearty, wild-looking bobtail
cat seen today. No recognized breed of pedigreed cat has been
used in the development of the American Bobtail. American
Bobtails are a very strong and healthy breed, experiencing no
known genetic predisposition to health problems.
When choosing your American Bobtail kitten, you should
look for a reputable breeder, who will undoubtedly have a
series of questions for you designed to make sure that you and
the American Bobtail are compatible. Do not be surprised if
there is a wait of some sort. These wonderful family members
are worth it! Usually breeders make kittens available between
twelve and sixteen weeks of age, when they have had sufficient
time with their mother and littermates to be well socialized
and old enough to have been fully vaccinated. Keeping
your American Bobtail indoors, neutering or spaying, and
providing acceptable surfaces (e.g. scratching posts) for the
natural behavior of scratching are essential elements for
maintaining a healthy, long, and joyful life. For more information, please contact the Breed Council Secretary for this breed.