American Bobtail longhair FERGIE – some notes on appearance and character

This boy is a longhaired American Bobtail. You can see more of him plus some of the important aspects of the breed standard on this page. Fergie is an extremely handsome cat. His coat compliments his steely blue eyes perfectly. Although any eye colour and coat colour are allowed.

American Bobtail FERGIE – photo copyright Helmi Flick

American bobtail Fergie. Photo: copyright Helmi Flick.

What I find interesting about Fergie is that he has a grey/silver lynx pointed face and a light brown spotted (almost mackerel) tabby coat. Coat types can be very complicated but if I am not mistaken Fergie is a lynx pointed (tabby pointed) American Bobtail. The lynx pointed Bobtail mask “must be clearly lined with dark stripes vertical on forehead with classic “M” on forehead, horizontal on cheeks and dark spots on whisker pads clearly outlined in dark color edges”. This is a reference to the CFA breed standard for this cat breed.

Longhaired American Bobtails are rarer than their shorthaired counterparts as the gene producing longhair is recessive. The coat is, in fact, semi-long. Longer hair on the cheeks is desirable. The coat is shaggy rather than dense; probably to accentuate the desirable wild look.

Update Jan 11, 2022

Note: there are some more pages on the American Bobtail at the base of this article just beyond the adverts. If you are interested in this breed, you might be interested.

I would like to add some more detail on January 12, 2022. The American Bobtail is of course distinguished by its short tail. The tail should be approximately 1.5-6 inches in length. It should not be kinked (but see below). You will see this breed in the shorthaired and semi-longhaired varieties, according to Gloria Stephens in her book Legacy of the Cat.

At the time of publishing her book – first published in the United States in 2001 – the breed standard for this cat was being worked on. At that time the cat associations were creating a new breed standard.

The American Bobtail is a medium-to-large cat. It is meant to be powerfully built. Comment: I suspect that the objective comes about because this breed is meant to have something of the wild American bobcat about it. There are similarities although the American bobcat is substantially bigger than this domestic cat.

The head of the American Bobtail is a broad modified wedge with flat planes.

There is a gentle concave curve between the nose and brow. The brow should be prominent. The cheekbones should be high and the muzzle should be square. The muzzle, however, should not be foreshortened.

The current CFA breed standard says that this cat should have a “distinctive wild appearance”. They say that this cat likes to play fetch. In other words, the breed has some dog-like characteristics. They like to initiate games. As to vocalisations, they are described as a quiet cat and they are known to chirp, trill and click when pleased.

They can be leash trained and love to go for walks with their human caregiver. They get along with dogs and they say that they “welcome newcomers”. What they’re saying here is that this is a confident cat which can normally cope with new situations.

The CFA states that the tail can be slightly kinked or have bumps along its length. The tale is expressive and flexible they say. They want this cat breed to have a “marked resemblance to the bobtailed wild cat”.

This is a moderately long and substantial cat. They are muscular and athletic in appearance and are a deceptively heavy cat. They can take 2-3 years to reach adult size. Females are smaller than males and they come in all colours and patterns. There is a preference given to colours and patterns that enhance the natural wild appearance. This is an indication that the tabby coat is the preferred type of coat.

The foundation cats for this breed were “feral domestic cats processing a natural bobtail”. Comment: I don’t know what they mean by “feral domestic cats”. That would seem to be an oxymoron. They cannot be outcrossed to any other cat breed.