A slim, lively cat from Japan, with a short pom-pom tail and often a lucky three-coloured coat.
The Japanese Bobtail is the old street and farm cat of Japan. Its tail is short and kinked, with long hair that fans out around it like a pom-pom. No two tails are alike. It is slim, muscular and long-legged. At home it is clever, busy and devoted to its people, and it talks in soft chirps and trills.
Loving and loyal to its family, though it likes to do things its own way.
Happy to sit on a lap for a bit, but usually soon wants to be off again.
Loves games, fetch and feather wands.
Always on the move and full of mischief; it wants to play and climb every day.
Talks a lot, but softly: chirps and trills rather than loud miaows.
Quickly learns tricks and harness walking when it is a game. Unlearning a habit is harder.
Confident and curious, and not easily put off by visitors.
Gets on well with children of all ages.
Usually gets on well with dogs.
Fine with other cats after a slow start; they may need time to get used to a cat without a long tail.
Wants company. When it gets bored, it finds its own things to do.
Fine indoors, as long as it gets plenty of play, climbing and company.
The Japanese Bobtail is related to the Manx, with the same tail gene.
No. They are two different genes. The Manx gene can cause spine problems; the Japanese Bobtail gene does not. In Britain it was once even called the 'Japanese Manx'.
Its tail was once cut short on an emperor's orders, after a fire.
An old folk tale. The short tail comes from a gene, not from cutting.
A kitten only gets a short tail if both parents have one.
No, one parent with the gene is enough. Breeders do always mate two bobtails, because the gene belongs to the breed.
Cats with a short, kinked tail lived in southern China and Southeast Asia long ago. The tail probably came to Japan with cats from the mainland. There the bobtail became the ordinary street and farm cat. Only in 1968 did the first ones go to America.
In Japan all cats must be set free, to catch the mice that eat the silkworms.
Gotokuji Temple in Tokyo is built. Its paintings and carvings show cats with short curled tails.
Around this time the German doctor Engelbert Kaempfer describes Japan's cats: patched in yellow, black and white, with a short kinked tail.
Elizabeth Freret brings the first Japanese Bobtails to the United States.
Freret shows three cats and a breed standard to the American registry CFA. The breed may now be registered.
CFA gives the Japanese Bobtail provisional status.
CFA fully recognises the shorthair Japanese Bobtail, with championship status at shows.
The European federation FIFe recognises the shorthair Japanese Bobtail.
CFA fully recognises the longhair Japanese Bobtail as well.
Scientists find the gene behind the short kinked tail. It is the same one found in short-tailed cats in southern China.
Medium-sized, long and slender, but well muscled. It is elegant without being dainty, and stands high on its legs.
The original Japanese Bobtail: a short to medium, flat, silky coat without undercoat.
Recognition: FIFe (since 1989), CFA (since 1976), TICA and WCF.
The same cat with a semi-long, silky coat that grows longer towards the rump, with a ruff and breeches. Two shorthair parents that carry the gene can have longhair kittens: about 1 in 4.
Recognition: CFA (since 1993), TICA and WCF. FIFe and the GCCF do not recognise it.
Cat registries write colours as an EMS code. The letter is the colour (n black, a blue, d red, f tortie), s means silver or smoke, y golden, and the numbers tell you about white (01–09), shading (11, 12), the tabby pattern (22–25) or colourpoint (33).
Tortie and white (Mi-ke)(f 09)
Black and white(n 03)
Red and white(d 03)
Black van(n 01)FIFe and CFA allow silver tabby; WCF's lists contradict each other.
FIFe and CFA allow these colours. WCF does not.
FIFe excludes points, sepia, mink, ticked tabby, golden, shaded and shell; WCF excludes the points too. Only CFA allows every colour, colourpoint included.
The hair on the tail fans out into a pom-pom that hides the kinked bones, and no two tails are alike.
Mi-ke means 'three fur' in Japanese: in Japan the three-coloured coat counts as the luckiest colour.
FIFe says the Japanese Bobtail loves water, and its coat sheds water a little.
As early as about 1701 a German doctor wrote of Japan's cats with yellow, black and white patches and a tail that looked broken.
One blue and one gold eye is fairly common in this breed.
Usually about 12 to 15 years. There is no large study of how long Japanese Bobtails live.
The short tail has fewer bones, with a different shape, and some are fused. It comes from a different gene than the Manx tail, and it does not bring the spine problems a Manx can have. In a study the cats did not get ill from it. The tail is sensitive, though.
How it is found: Not needed for the tail. The gene is known, but no DNA test is on sale yet.
It likes to beg and easily eats too much. Extra weight is hard on joints and heart; a lean, active cat lives longer.
How it is found: No test. Weigh it now and then and measure its food.
Combing the shorthair a few times a month is enough. The longhair a bit more often, but its coat does not mat.
Very active. Give it places to climb and a game with feathers or balls every day. Many Bobtails learn to fetch or walk on a harness.
It likes to beg. Measure its food so it stays lean.
It has no undercoat, but nothing shows it is better for people with an allergy. If you are allergic to cats, do not count on it.
Some bones in the tail are fused and the tail is sensitive. Handle it very gently, and never pull it.
Checked on 22 October 2026
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