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.

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.

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.

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.

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.