CFA Breed Standards


Abyssinian
American Bobtail
American Curl
American Shorthair
American Wirehair
Balinese
Birman
Bombay
British Shorthair
Burmese
Chartreux
Colorpoint Shorthair
Cornish Rex
Devon Rex
Egyptian Mau
European Burmese
Exotic
Havana Brown
Japanese Bobtail
Javanese
Korat
LaPerm
Maine Coon
Manx
Norwegian Forest Cat
Ocicat
Oriental
Persian
RagaMuffin
Ragdoll
Russian Blue
Scottish Fold
Selkirk Rex
Siamese
Siberian
Singapura
Somali
Sphynx
Tonkinese
Turkish Angora
Turkish Van


Related Links

  • What is a Breed Standard?
  • What is Condition?
  • An Important Note on Feline Structure
  • Feline Structure: Recognizing Normal and Abnormal
  • Identifying the Parts of a Cat


    CFA Breed Profiles

    Abyssinian
    American Bobtail
    American Curl
    American Shorthair
    American Wirehair
    Balinese
    Birman
    Bombay
    British Shorthair
    Burmese
    Chartreux
    Colorpoint Shorthair
    Cornish Rex
    Devon Rex
    Egyptian Mau
    European Burmese
    Exotic
    Havana Brown
    Japanese Bobtail
    Javanese
    Korat
    LaPerm
    Maine Coon
    Manx
    Norwegian Forest Cat
    Ocicat
    Oriental
    Persian
    RagaMuffin
    Ragdoll
    Russian Blue
    Scottish Fold
    Selkirk Rex
    Siamese
    Siberian
    Singapura
    Somali
    Sphynx
    Tonkinese
    Turkish Angora
    Turkish Van

  •  

    Breed Standard: American Bobtail


    Black line denotes updated section.
    Updated: 4/30/2006
    Printer friendly version

    POINT SCORE

    HEAD (40)
     9 … Shape
     8 … Brow
     5 … Eyes 
     5 … Nose
     8 … Muzzle/Chin 
     5 … Ears
    
    BODY (40)
    15 … Shape
     5 … Neck
     5 … Legs & Feet 
    15 … Tail 
    
    COAT and COLOR (20)
    10 … Texture/Density
     5  … Color
     5  … Pattern
    
    GENERAL: the American Bobtail is a medium to large, naturally occurring, bobtailed cat. It is a noticeably athletic animal, well muscled, with the look and feel of power. It possesses a unique natural hunting gaze that combines with the breed's body type and natural bobtail to give the American Bobtail a distinctive wild appearance. The breeds expression is one of intelligence and alertness. Females are generally proportionately smaller than males with type a more important aspect of the breed than size or tail characteristics.

    HEAD: Shape - broad modified wedge without noticeable flat planes or doming, in proportion to the body. Cheekbones are apparent. In profile slightly concave curve between nose and brow with good length between brow & ears. Widening of the head and stud jowls apparent in adult males. Brow - distinctive, evidenced by a slightly rounded forehead to eye ridge; brow border is fleshy creating and enhancing the top line of the eye. Eyes - Large. Almost almond in shape. Deep set. Outside corner angled slightly upward towards the ears. Medium-wide apart. Distinctive brow above the eye creates a top line to the eye and produces the breed's natural hunting gaze. Nose - wide, being equally as wide from the inside corner of the eye through the length of the nose into a large nose leather. Muzzle/Chin - Observable whisker break above a welldefined broad medium length muzzle. Fleshy whisker pads. Chin strong and wide in line with the nose. Ears - Medium. Wide at base with slightly rounded tips, as much on the top of the head as on the side. Ear tipping and furnishings highly desirable. Lighter colored thumbprints on the back of the ears desirable on all tabbies including lynx points.

    BODY: moderately long and substantial with a rectangular stance. Chest full and broad. Slightly higher in hips with prominent shoulder blades. Hips substantial almost as wide as chest. Deep flank. Muscular and athletic in appearance. Allowance should be made for slow maturation. Legs and Feet - in proportion to the body, of good length and substantial boning. Paws large and round. Toe tufts desirable in longhaired varieties. Five toes in front, four in back. Tail - is short, being half-length or less than that of the average cat. The tail is flexible and expressive and may be straight, slightly curved or slightly kinked or have bumps along the length of the tail. Tail set in line with the top line of the hip. Tail to be broad at base, strong and substantial to the touch, never fragile. Straighter tails should exhibit a fat pad at the end of the tail and are preferred over kinked tails. Length - Must be long enough to be clearly visible above the back when alert, not to extend past a stretched hind hock in length. Neck - medium in length may appear short due to musculature.

    COAT: Shorthair Division: length-medium, semi-dense; texturenon- matting, resilient with slight loft; density-double coat, hard topcoat with a soft, downy undercoat; miscellaneous-seasonal variations of coat should be recognized. Coat may be softer in texture in dilute colors, lynx points and silvers. Undercoat may be mouse gray in tabbies. Longhair Division: length-medium-longhair, slightly shaggy. Tapering to slightly longer hair on ruff, britches, belly and tail; ruff-slight, mutton chops desirable; texture-non-matting, resilient; density-double coat. Undercoat present, not extremely dense; miscellaneous-seasonal variations of coat should be recognized. Coat may be softer in texture in dilute colors, lynx points and silvers. Undercoat may be mouse gray in tabbies.

    DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES: allowances should be made for slower development in achieving adult body type as this breed gradually matures over a period of three years.

    PENALIZE: tail too long or too short affecting the balance and appearance of the cat. Tail kinked or knotted out of shape. Tail rigid, fragile or set low. Straight tail not exhibiting a fat pad. Round eyes. Weak chin. Extremely short muzzle or nose break. Cottony coat.

    DISQUALIFY: total lack of tail or full-length tail. Delicate bone structure. Incorrect number of toes.

    COLORS and PATTERNS: any genetically possible color or combination of colors is allowed. Preference shall be given to colors and patterns that enhance the natural wild appearance of the breed. High rufusing is desirable in all tabbies, including silvers, with no penalty for lack thereof. Body patterns highly desirable in lynx points and smokes.

    BUTTONS and LOCKETS: allowable on any color and/or pattern. Cats with buttons and/or lockets shall be judged as their basic color with no penalty for such locket and/or button.

    EYE COLOR: all eye colors acceptable, eye color can be copper, gold, yellow or green; blue in bi-color/van, colorpoint, lynxpoint or odd-eyed white cats.

    The following information is for reference purposes only and not an official part of the CFA Show Standard.

    American Bobtail Color Class Numbers

    LONGHAIR DIVISION
    All Championship Colors................................. 5400 5401
    (All accepted colors as defined in the Show Standards.)
    
    SHORTHAIR DIVISION
    All Championship Colors................................. 9400 9401
    (All accepted colors as defined in the Show Standards.)
    

    American Bobtail allowable outcross breeds: none.


    HOME (Photo: Maine Coon)NEWS (Photo:Tabby/White Persian)CARING FOR CATS (Photo:Japanese Bobtail)TOP CATS (Photo:Blue Persian)BREEDS & COLORS (Photo: American Shorthair)CAT SHOWS Photo: BalineseFANC-E-MEWS EZINE (Photo: Ragdoll)INSIDE CFA (Photo: Scottish Fold)EXHIBITORS CORNER (Photo:Oriental)MENTORING (Photo:Burmese)SHOP HERE (Photo:Himalayan-Persian)
    

    Contact CFA | Privacy Policy | Credits | Search | FAQ

    Copyright ©1995-2008 The Cat Fanciers' Association, Inc., with the exception of the photographic images which are Copyright © by the individual photographers.