Cats

Bombay Cat

Updated: December 15, 2017
Bombay Cat

The Bombay cat is undoubtedly one of the most popular and beautiful cat breeds that exist. If you are thinking about adopting a cat of this breed do not hesitate to inform yourself properly about all its characteristics, the character they usually have as well as the basic care required. We'll also talk about diet and frequent health problems, which are things you should know about before you take them home.

Read on to find out all about the Bombay cat, a breed that begins their history through inspiration from the wild cats:

Origin
  • America
  • United States
Physical characteristics
Average weight
  • 7-11
  • 11-13
  • 13-17
  • 17-22
  • 22-30
Life expectancy
  • 8-10
  • 10-15
  • 15-18
  • 18-20
Climate
Type of hair

Contents

  1. Origin of the Bombay cat
  2. Phisical traits of the Bombay Cat
  3. Bombay cat character
  4. Bombay cat care
  5. Bombay cat health

Origin of the Bombay cat

The origin of the Bombay cat dates back to 1950, in Louisville, Kentuky (USA), thanks to breeder Nikki Horner. His main intention was to create a panther-like cat with black, short and shiny hair. To do so, he drew inspiration from his favorite panther, the black Indian leopard Bagheera, from "The Jungle Book", Disney's famous children's film.

From 1953 onwards, Horner began selective breeding of Bombay cats from an American short-haired and black haired cat with a Burmese cat with a cybelline coat. It is therefore a hybrid breed and in no case has wild ancestry. It took a while to properly set the breed standard, but finally in 1976 the Bombay cat was created: a shiny-haired black cat with copper-colored eyes.

Phisical traits of the Bombay Cat

The Bombay cat stands out for having a muscular and compact body, but at the same time is more agile than the Burmese cat, from which they descend. They are medium-sized and have a medium tail size. We can highlight their rounded face and a very short muzzle, as well as black paw pads, a characteristic of the breed that makes them unmistakable.

The coat color of Bombay cats is jet black (from head to toe), short, smooth and extremely bright. It may look satiny. Two copper-colored eyes stand out above the rest of their characteristics, which can sometimes be golden, but always very bright.

en ocasiones pueden ser dorados, siempre muy brillantes.

Bombay cat character

The Bombay cat is usually a very sociable and affectionate cat, enjoys the company of his relatives enormously and deeply hates loneliness. In some cases, if they spend too much time alone, the Bombay cat may experience separation anxiety, a psychological condition that can affect their well-being. They love mewing to communicate their mood or to ask us for something, always with a pleasant and sweet tone of voice.

Although they are usually rather lazy cats, as they spend long hours sleeping and resting, the Bombay cat is a great lover of games and fun, being especially suitable for families with children and other cats, as we have mentioned, they are especially sociable. They are well suited to any lifestyle the family has, as long as they provide regular care for the loving Bombay.

In addition, this is an especially intelligent cat, which can learn different tricks and exercises if you use positive reinforcement as a basis for their "education", such as playing pick-up and drop, jumping and physical activity based games and even go for a walk on the leash.

Bombay cat care

The Bombay cat does not require great care, because they have a short coat they do not tend to suffer from tangles and accumulation of dirt. Two brushes a week will be enough to help them remove dead hair and keep their coat shiny and silky.

Remember that cats clean themselves, so there is no need to bathe them. In addition, the bath makes them lose their natural protective layer of skin, avoid it whenever possible. However, in some cases, mainly if our bombay cat is excessively dirty or has something stuck on their coat, we can bathe them, but it is always advisable to use dry shampoos or wet towels and wipes. For a better shine in their coat, you can also use dry-cleaning conditioners.

It will also be important to pay attention to the cat's diet, which should always be of high quality; otherwise we will start to observe an impoverishment of their coat. We can look for commercial products such as animal feed, but we can also make our own homemade recipes. Aside from the food itself, we can also offer them daily small portions of homemade wet food, something that they will enjoy and help them keep perfectly hydrated.

Don't forget that we must regularly pay attention and clean their ears, check that their nails are filed in a natural way (if not so it is convenient to trim them ourselves) and the cleaning of their teeth.

Bombay cat health

The Bombay cat enjoys excellent health, as it is one of the breeds less prone to disease and therefore one of the cat breeds that lives longest. They can reach 20 years of age. Apart from this, some Bombay cats can suffer from skull malformation, a health problem inherited from their predecessors, the Burmese cats.

To prevent any health problems, it will be essential to follow their vaccination schedule and external and internal deworming, especially if we allow them to go outdoors. Finally, we recommend you to visit the specialist every 6 or 12 months, so that we can be sure they are in good health.

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How would you rate this breed?
4 comments
Rating:
Geri
Gracie loves to be outside and visit neighborhood kids. She knows her schedule and is extremely affectionate when SHE wants to be. Will go get her toy when she wants to play. Communicates very well.
Administrador AnimalWised
Thank you for sharing!!!
david
why do some female Bombay have ear tufts


Administrador AnimalWised
Hi David,

Bombay cats are a shorthair cat and many don't have them. Any aspect of a cat's physical appearance will stem from their genetic history. Any ear tufts are simply an inheritance from their predecessors. As a relatively young breed, they have only been recently established. It is also possible some Bombay cats with ear tufts aren't purebred.
Rating:
Elaine Lewis
My Bombay cat is 18 years in good health has just begun having seizures. What are some of the causes of seizures in cats? Thanks.
Administrador AnimalWised
Hi Elaine,

Seizures are caused by some form of damage to the cat's brain. The most common one is due to epilepsy, which is actually a group of neurological disorders. Others may include physical trauma or neurological infection. However, since your cat is quite elderly, then deterioration caused by old age is also very possible. The only thing we can recommend is taking them to the vet for a diagnosis as they will be able to run a scan and determine the possible cause. Good luck and we wish you and your cat well.
Judy Graven
Do Bombays typically have large bottom teeth. The top ones are big too
Administrador AnimalWised
Hi Judy,

We can't find any information which confirms that Bombay cats have particularly large teeth. We can say that sometimes an individual cat will have longer teeth, just as some humans may have larger or smaller teeth even within the same family. All domestic cats derive from their wild cat ancestry, this one may just have a little more left over bite than others. Safe chompin'!
Megan B
My Bombay girl, Cinci - unknown age (fully declawed stray who made herself at home in our garage ♥️), had very long top teeth, which were visible with her mouth fully closed. Her bottom teeth were not visible. She also had an identical white patch on her chest as your Bombay. Unfortunately, she went missing a year ago today. My Bombay boy, Ollie, isn’t quite a year yet but his teeth are not visible with his mouth closed, though they are quite large (in my opinion, anyways).
Photo uploaded by Heather:My boy
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Bombay Cat