If you have ever had a visit to an Asian country you would have noticed in almost every shop window or doorway a ceramic cat with a raised paw. This is the Asian good luck and welcoming or beckoning cat. (Maneki Neko). In real life this is the Japanese Bobtail.

This breed is one of the oldest breeds in the world and reputedly over a 1000 years old. They are featured in many ancient prints and paintings and sculptures. These Bobtailed cats were highly favored in Japan, and are on the front of the Gotoku-ji Temple in Tokyo with the paw raised to symbolize good fortune. It is said that the Emperor Idi-Jo (986-1011) possibly brought the cats into Japan to protect manuscripts from mice. They have also had jobs protecting silk worms, rice and other crops.

The Japanese Bobtail is a medium sized cat with clean well-defined lines and strong hind legs, which are much longer than the front legs. The head is the shape of a triangle with rounded corners excluding the ears. Earset is high, wide and looking alert. The eyes are large oval with a slant with a Japanese look. We quite often get odd eyed whites that are really stunning. The coat is a single coat that lies flat and is smooth and silky of medium length. The tail is unique to every cat in the same way as our fingerprints. In other words, every tail in the world has a different conformation of left and right angles, curves or kinks which should not be more than 3 inches from the body in a show specimen. Their tails are mostly fused together but occasionally there maybe one joint. You often see the Bobtail wagging his tail usually when playing or talking. The body is long and muscular with a narrow deep chest unlike the Siamese or oriental who are quite tubular. Looking at the cat from the side it should give a square appearance.

The Japanese people call the tortie and white cat a MI-KE (pronounced mee-kay) which means 3 fur. This is the lucky cat and is definitely favored far more than any other colour. The most striking colours after the mi-ke’s are the bi-colours as in red/white black/white. They also come in solid colours and tabbies. Then we can get blues and creams but we have’t had any of these yet.

Allen Scruggs in the USA once said the Japanese Bobtail is absolutely the most wonderful breed of them all. I could’t see how one breed could come out on top but after owning some of this wonderful breed I now know what he means. They are intelligent, very affectionate, fun loving, loyal, and complete and utter timewasters wondering what they are going to get up to next. They fetch and carry play football and are the best fly catcher you would ever want, sometimes jumping a meter high pushing the fly to the floor only to be finished off seconds later. They have no malice and get on with everybody and everything. They do not tire easily and are a perfect companion for a child.

The Bobtail and the Manx although similar, are not in any way related. The Manx gene is dominant and the Bobtail gene is recessive. When mating the Bobtail you always go Bobtail to Bobtail and always produce Bobtails. When mating a Manx, you can mate Manx to Manx and produce all Isle of Man (longtails) and it is very, very rare to get all stumpies or rumpies in a litter. The Manx is a much heavier looking cat and has a double coat, which the Bobtail does’t have.

At the moment I am the only breeder of the JBT in New Zealand. I have imported my stock from the U.S.A. and Tasmania. We are hoping to import a long hair later in the year if all goes according to plan. Iris Baker