“Bobtail” literally means “pompom tail”. Felinologists used this concept to refer to several breeds of cats with a short or short tail. One of these breeds is considered American bobtail. Its representatives as compensation for the lack of a full tail received from nature excellent health, high intelligence, flexible character and temperament sanguine.
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Bobtail cat breed history
Cats with short tails are of natural origin. Since ancient times, they met in different countries and attracted people's attention with their unusual appearance, not typical for most cats. Genetics believe that the cause of the short-tail was a gene mutation, fixed in subsequent generations.
Currently, there are several breeds of short-tailed cats, named after the geographical principle:
- Kurilian Bobtail;
- Japanese;
- American;
- Karelian;
- Thai;
- and Scythian-tai-dong.
The breed American Bobtail is considered one of the youngest. Its beginning was the story of a foundling kitten, which occurred less than a century ago and has a happy ending.
Spouses Sanders (North America), traveling, saw a kitten with a short tail. They decided that the animal was injured, felt sorry for him, brought home and began to raise. Time passed, the foundling matured and became interested in cats. As a result of courtship, kittens appeared, some of which had the same short tails as their father. This meant that the cause of the cob-tail was not a trauma, but a genetically fixed trait. This hypothesis was confirmed by the time during which work was carried out to improve the breed.
American Bobtail cat breed officially registered in 1989.
Description of American Bobtail breed
Representatives of the breed are beautiful, proportionately folded animals of medium and large sizes:
- American Bobtail cats have a weight of 4 to 7.5 kg;
- cats - 3 - 5 kg.
According to standards, the breed is characterized by:
- proportional to the size of the body with a wedge-shaped head with rounded contours;
- wide muzzle;
- large almond-shaped eyes located at a slight angle to the ear, with an iris painted in different shades independent of the color of the coat;
- wide, with a slight hump, nose;
- a rather massive chin, equal in width and depth to the same indicators of the nose;
- medium-sized ears with a rounded tip and a wide base;
- moderately long and muscular body with a wide chest, flat back and well-developed hips;
- massive rounded paws;
- short (2.5 to 8 cm) straight or curved tail.
The body of the American Bobtail is covered with thick, with undercoat, wool of different lengths:
- short-haired American bobtail has a dense thick and springy coat;
- long-haired bobtail is characterized by a fluffy or shaggy coat with elongated areas of hair on the chest, neck, croup and hind limbs.
Varieties of color
The breed standard allows for the presence of various colors, combining shades of gray, brown, blue, red and cream.
The most common (classic) is considered to be tabby or “wild”, representing a pattern of stripes and spots of a darker color than the main background.
In addition to tabby, several more colors are officially recognized:
- plain (solid);
- color point, characterized by more intense shades on the muzzle, ears, paws and tail.
Bobtail Cats Character
American bobtail - soft and balanced animals with a sociable character. Thanks to these qualities, they feel comfortable in large families or companies, where they like to be in the center of events, and get along well with other pets.
Characteristics of the breed are:
- Intolerance to loneliness, including closed doors.
- Devotion and loyalty to the owner. Bobtails can spend hours demonstrating their feelings to the owner, trying not only to be nearby, but on their hands, if this fails, they are persistent.
- Talkativeness. Owning a fairly wide range of sounds, animals loudly and emotionally express their emotions, have a tendency to long monologues.
They are good only to those who reciprocate. Offenders are remembered and avoided, but they never show aggression towards them.
Cats of this breed are moderately mobile and playful. They like to jump, making incredible somersaults in the air, wearing toys in their teeth.
Bobtails are unusually smart. They quickly understand and accept the rules and order that the owners teach them. They remember the teams and are happy to train.
Care and Health
One of the main advantages of the breed is the simplicity of keeping animals.
American bobtail, like all domestic cats, need:
- in proper nutrition;
- maintaining hygiene;
- meeting the need for movement and communication.
The best option for catering for American bobtles is the use of premium professional feeds that are balanced. They contain all the nutrients and mineral supplements necessary to maintain a cat’s health. The line of professional feeds allows you to choose a diet taking into account the age of the animal, its health and recommended one-time norms.
The diet of American Bobtail depends on the age of the animals:
- kittens are fed 4 times a day until six months;
- from 6 months to 1.5 years —3 times;
- adult animals - 2 times.
There are no particular subtleties regarding hygiene of bobtail.
They need:
- combing six, which is carried out 1 to 2 times a week;
- periodic (1 or 2 times a year) bathing;
- brushing your ears, eyes, and teeth.
Professional breeders do not recommend bobtail claws, but advise kittens to be clawed from the first months of life.
Being mobile animals, representatives of this breed love walking in the fresh air and quickly get used to the leash.
Bobtails rarely get sick, however, the spine, shortened due to the small number of vertebrae of the caudal region, is the reason for the breed's predisposition to bone and muscle diseases. In order to timely detect diseases 2 times a year, Bobtails are shown to the veterinarian.
Properly organized nutrition and hygiene will help to maintain the health of a mustachioed pet for many years.
American bobtail live 11 - 15 years.
How much is an American bobtail
In the States, and this is the only country where there are nurseries for breeding American Bobtail, you can buy a kitten for home maintenance on average for $ 500-600. The cost of exhibition specimens and animals for breeding starts at $ 1,000.
