Japanese cat History
The earliest written evidence of the domestic Japanese cat indicates that it arrived from China at least 1,000 years ago. A diplomatic delegation from China brought the first five cats as a gift to the Japanese Emperor Ichijo in his palace at Kyoto.
Besides, the fact that the Japanese Bobtail has existed for many centuries in Japan, is obvious from being featured in many ancient prints and paintings.
Until the seventeenth century, Japanese cats were treasured by the aristocracy. Under a 1601 edict forbidding the ownership of cats, Japanese Bobtails were put into service to guard granaries and silkworm cocoons. While reduced to the status of street cats, Japanese Bobtails were embraced by artisans, and then by the masses.
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."
In 1968 the late Elizabeth Freret imported the first three Japanese Bobtail cats to the United States from Japan. In 1971 they were given provisional status in The Cat Fanciers’ Association (CFA) and were accepted for championship competition in 1976.
n 2001 the first registered litter of Japanese Bobtail cats was born in the UK under the Solstans prefix.
Japanese Bobtail Personality
Once you adopt one, you will shortly ask for another, for the Japanese cat is an elegant and beautiful cat that will win your heart. Loyal and outgoing, they absolutely require companionship. They love humans and will greet them at the doorstep. In addition they get on with other cats and being fearless, they don't mind dogs. They adapt well to most situations and are particularly good with children. They are talkative without being noisy, and their soft voices have a large vocabulary of chirps and meows.
They are stable characters, good travelers and do not panic at shows.
While some may wonder if the Japanese cat might be uncoordinated because of its lack a tail, this isn't so. It is an athletic cat, excellent jumper, agile and powerful, especially in the rear legs. The Japanese cat is also very intelligent, energetic and strong willed. It remains playful even as adult and enjoys playing fetch.
Japanese Bobtail Breed Standards
According to the Fédération Internationale Féline, Japanese Bobtail cats should present the overall impression of a medium sized cat with clear lines and bone structure, well muscled but rather elongated and rather slender than massive built. The unique set of its eyes, combined with high cheekbones and a long parallel nose, lend a distinctive Japanese cast to the face, especially in profile, quite different from the other oriental breeds. Its short tail should resemble a bunny tail with the hair fanning out to create a pom-pom appearance, which effectively camouflages the underlying bone structure of the tail.
Although the Japanese bobtail head appears long and finely chiseled, it forms almost a perfect equilateral triangle with gentle curving lines, high cheekbones and a noticeable whisker break.
Their nose is long and well defined by two parallel lines from tip to brow with a gentle dip at or just below the eye level. Their muzzle is fairly broad and rounding into the whisker break, neither pointed nor blunt.
Their ears are large and expressive. They are placed upright and set wide apart, however in such an angle that do not flare outward. This way they give the impression of being tilted forward in repose.
The Japanese bobtail cats have large and oval eyes, nonetheless wide open and alert. When viewed in profile their eyes are set into the skull at a rather pronounced slant. The eyeball shows a shallow curvature and should not bulge out beyond the cheekbone or the forehead. All color varieties are permitted for the Japanese cat, including blue and odd eyes.
The Japanese cat has a long, slender and elegant torso, however not tubular. Its musculature is well developed and strong, but not coarse. Its body should not show any inclination towards flabbiness or cobbiness, instead it should maintain an overall balance.
The legs in proportion to the body should be long, slender and high, still not dainty or fragile. The front legs when standing should form two continuous straight lines with the shoulders. The hind legs are noticeably longer than the front legs, but deeply angulated to bend when the cat is standing relaxed, so that the torso remains nearly level rather than rising towards the rear. They end up to round paws.
The furthest extension of the tailbone from the body should be approximately 5-8 cm, even though the tailbone, if straightened out to its full length, might be 10-13 cm long. The tailbone is usually strong and rigid rather than jointed (except at the base), and may be either straight or composed of one or several curves and angles. The tail is usually carried upright when the cat is relaxed. The hair on tail is somewhat longer and thicker than the body hair, growing outward to create a pom-pom or bunny tail effect which appears to commence at the base of the spine and which camouflages the underlying bone structure of the tail.
The coat finally is short, soft and silky, but without a noticeable undercoat. It is relatively non-shedding. The recognized color varieties and patterns are listed bellow:
·White/Black/Blue/Chocolate/Lilac/Red/Cream/Cinnamon/Fawn·Black/Blue/Chocolate/Lilac/Cinnamon/Fawn tortie
·Black/Blue/Chocolate/Lilac/Red/Cream/Cinnamon/Fawn with white
·Black/Blue/Chocolate/Lilac/Red/Cream/Cinnamon/Fawn agouti
·Black/Blue/Chocolate/Lilac/Cinnamon/Fawn tortie agouti
·Black/Blue/Chocolate/Lilac/Red/Cream/Cinnamon/Fawn agouti with white
·Black/Blue/Chocolate/Lilac/Cinnamon/Fawn tortie agouti with white
