American Bobtail History history

According to legend, bobtails are the result of a crossbreeding between a domestic tabby cat and a bobcat. Although this IS genetically possible, the unusual tail is actually the result of a random genetic mutation. The breed was recognised by the International Cat Association in 1989.

Anyone who has researched the American Bobtail already knows the story of "Yodie", the feral brown tabby kitten with a bobbed tail found on an Indian Reservation in Southern Arizona. That was back in the 1960's. And while bobtailed kittens had been around for generations, familiar to both early settlers and Native Americans, it was the adoption of Yodie and his subsequent breeding to a domestic Siamese that eventually lead to the drafting of the first breed standard for the American Bobtail.