Toybob Cats

Toybobs are a miniature cat breed with a bobtail. The breed originates in Russia. They are newish in the West. According to Giselle, a visitor who introduced this cat breed to me, they range in weight from 2-5 pounds:

Hi, I currently own two “Toybobs”, they’re a rare imported breed of miniature bob tailed cats from Russia. They range from 2-5 pounds full-grown. My 1 1/2 year old is slightly under 4 pounds and my one year old is a little over four pounds. I attached a picture of my one year old. (Giselle).

 
The breed has in fact been around since 1988. It has been bred for at least 10 years by Helen Krasnitchenko of Rostov-on-Don, Russia. Sarah Hartwell says that the breeder originally gave away her kittens rather than selling them. Eventually the Toybob became a recognised breed. So it would appear to be fairly well-established in Russia but almost unknown in Europe and America.

The breed standard says that this cat, when adult, is the size of a 5-6 month old normal domestic kitten weighing from 2-5 pounds. The body is compact with good musculature. The bobtail can be curved or straight and either in the form of a brush, a mini-spiral or pom-pom. This is not a dwarf cat meaning that the legs are of normal length and in proportion to the body.

In fact, the overall appearance is of a balanced cat. Although the photos and video show a pointed cat, any coat type is allowed and the coat length is semi-longhaired or short. The eye color should be consistent with coat type (e.g. blue eyes for a pointed cat). The breed standard in terms of open-endedness is much like a number of well-established breeds in the West such as the American Curl. This information is according to a preliminary breed standard, which is subject to possible change although it may have been refined already.

The reason for this cat’s small size is genetic inheritance (recessive gene, apparently). The originating breeder selected small founding cats carrying this gene and bred them. There are very few Toybobs in the West — “6 Toybob kittens TICA in 2011” (toybob-kittens.dk). These were the first Toybobs.