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Bombay(cat)

July 29th, 2008 | by admin |

Description

With the Bombay’s sleek, glossy coat and bright eyes, this breed resembles a miniature black panther. It was developed from the Burmese and exhibits the muscular body type and affectionate, mellow temperament of the Burmese.

In the United States, the Bombay was created by crossing Burmese with black American Shorthairs in the 1950s, and in the UK it was developed by crossing Burmese with black domestic cats. Bombay cats are always black. It was recognized for championship status by CFA in 1978.

History and Genetics

The Bombay was developed by Nikki Horner, a breeder in Louisville, Kentucky. She set out to create a “miniature black panther” by crossing sable Burmese with a solid black American Shorthair. Her first attempts in the late 1950’s were disappointing. A few years later, working with different breeding stock, she began to get the results that she was looking for: a cat with good muscular development and a very short, close-lying black coat. Recognition and acceptance of the new breed by the registering associations took 18 years; the Bombay was accepted for championship in CFA in 1976.

Bombay breeders frequently outcross to Burmese to retain the body type and coat texture. Almost no one outcrosses to American Shorthair any more, because it is very easy to maintain the (dominant) black color in the Bombay lines and such outcrosses would usually result in undesirable body type. Some associations no longer permit outcrossing to American Shorthair.

As a consequence, the Bombay shares many physical characteristics with the Burmese. Nikki Horner considers the Bombay a “black Burmese”, but other breeders point out the physical differences. Bombays tend to be a little larger, with longer bodies and longer legs than the Burmese, and have a less pronounced nose break.

The gene for the black coat is dominant, but many Bombays still carry the sable color as a recessive. A sable-colored kitten may appear in a litter from a Bombay x Bombay breeding. If both of the parents are heterozygous for black, one in four kittens will be sable, on average. A Bombay x Burmese breeding will frequently produce some sable kittens along with the black ones.

Characteristics

The Bombay is a muscular yet agile cat with a black coat. The heads of Bombay cats are rounded and wide with a short tapered muzzle. The eyes, which are of golden or copper color, are rounded and set wide, and their ears are broad, slightly rounded and medium sized and, like the eyes, set wide. The Bombay has a coat that is short, satiny and tight to the body. Bombay cats do not require grooming, although grooming their thick coats can help control shedding.