Videos Japanese Bobtail Breed Information
The Japanese Bobtail is a breed of cat with an
unusual 'bobbed' tail more closely resembling the tail of a
rabbit than that of an ordinary feline.
The short tail is a cat body type genetic
mutation caused by the expression of a recessive gene. Thus, so long as both
parents are bobtails, all kittens born to a litter will have
bobtails as well. Unlike the Manx
and other cat breeds, where genetic disorders are common to
tailless or stumpy-tails, no such problem exists with the Japanese
Bobtail.
The Japanese Bobtail is a small domestic cat native to Japan and Southeast
Asia, though it is now found throughout the world. The breed
has been known in Japan for centuries, and there are many stories,
as well as pieces of ancient art, featuring it.
Japanese bobtails may have almost any color, but
"Mi-ke" (??, mike?, literally "three fur",
and composed of red, black, and white coloring) or bi-colors are
especially favoured by the Japanese. Much like any other breed, the
colors may be arranged in any number of patterns, with van and
calico being common among
purebred cats, though other colorations are also accepted.
1. History
The earliest written evidence of cats in Japan indicates that
they arrived from China or Korea at least 1,000 years ago. In 1602, Japanese
authorities decreed that all cats should be set free to help deal
with rodents threatening the silk-worms. Buying or selling cats was
illegal, and from then on, bobtailed cats lived on farms and in the
streets. Japanese Bobtails thus became the "street cats"
of Japan.
The Japanese Bobtail is mentioned in Kaempfer's
Japan. First published in London in 1701/02, it is the first
book written by a Westerner about the flora, fauna, and landscape
of Japan. Engelbert Kaempfer,
a German doctor, wrote: "there is only one breed of cat that
is kept. It has large patches of yellow, black and white fur; its
short tail looks like it has been bent and broken. It has no mind
to hunt for rats and mice but just wants to be carried and stroked
by women."
The maneki-neko
("beckoning cat"), a Japanese Bobtail seated with one paw
raised, is considered a good-luck charm. A maneki-neko statue is
often found in the front of stores or homes. In 1968 the late
Elizabeth Freret imported the first three Japanese Bobtails to the
United States from Japan. Japanese
Bobtails were accepted for Championship status in CFA (Cat Fanciers
Association) in 1976.
2. Legend
There is a legend in Japan about why
the Japanese Bobtail lost its tail. It states that a cat was
warming itself too close to a fire, and set its tail on fire. It
then ran through the town, burning many buildings to the ground. As
punishment, the Emperor decreed that all cats should have their
tails cut off.
Bobtails could have also surged after the legend of the bakeneko, or nekomata, a cat that when its tail grew too
much, became a double-tail, and the cat would get powers like
talking, walking on its back legs, and shapeshifting. The nekomata could cause massive disturbances and
even resurrect dead people. Japanese people may have started
cutting their cat's tails to to avoid them becoming a
bakeneko.
3. Breed Standard
Head: The head should form an equilateral
triangle. (Not including ears)
Ears: Large, upright, set wide apart but at
right angles to the head and looking as if alert.
Muzzle: Fairly broad and round neither pointed
nor blunt.
Eyes: Large, oval rather than round. They
should not bulge out beyond the cheekbone or the forehead.
Body: Medium in size, males larger than
females. Long torso, lean and elegant, showing well developed
muscular strength. Also balance is very very important.
Neck: Not too long and not too short, in
proportion to the length of the body.
Legs: Long, slender, and high. The hind legs
longer than the forelegs.
Paws: Oval. Toes: five in front and four
behind.
Coat (Shorthair): Medium length, soft and
silk.
Coat (Longhair): Length medium-long to long,
texture soft and silky gradually lengthening toward the rump.
Tail: The tail must be clearly visible and is
made up of one or more curves.
The Japanese Bobtail is a recognised breed by all major
registering bodies: CFA, TICA, FIFe; Shorthair only
with the exception of GCCF (UK).
4. General
Japanese Bobtails usually have litters of three to four kittens
with newborns that are unusually large compared to other breeds.
They are active earlier, and walk earlier. Affectionate and
generally sweet-tempered, they enjoy supervising household chores
and baby-sitting.
They are active, intelligent, talkative cats with a well-defined
sense of family life. Their soft voices are capable of nearly a
whole scale of tones; some people say they sing. Since they adore
human companionship they almost always speak when spoken to, and
sometimes carry on "conversations" with their owners.
Because of their human-oriented personality they are easy to
teach tricks and enjoy learning things like walking on a harness
and lead, and playing fetch.
A similar breed of cat is in development in the United States as
breeders attempt to perfect the "American Bobtail Cat"
that would have a tail half the length of other breeds, though
there has not been definitive progress in getting a new breed
recognized yet.
5. Ocular heterochromia
While rare, Japanese Bobtails, especially predominantly white
specimens, are more likely than other breeds to express heterochromia, or differing iris colors. One eye will be blue
while the other is yellow (though in Japan, blue is referred to as
silver while yellow is referred to as gold). This trait is popular
and kittens displaying this "odd-eye" feature are usually more
expensive.
Copyright (c) 2008 Kitt Killion Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".
Taken or modified, in whole or part, from Wikipedia.org
