The breed
The Kurilian Bobtail
A cat from a volcanic archipelago between Japan and Kamchatka, where it spent two centuries fishing and hunting to survive. Nothing about its build is decorative: all of it is the work of a hard climate.
Origin
The Kurilian Bobtail is a natural breed from the Kuril Islands, as well as Sakhalin and the Kamchatka peninsula. The shorthaired variety has been known there for more than two hundred years. Islanders valued it for its exceptional hunting and fishing ability.
Russian military personnel and scientists stationed in the Kurils brought these cats to the mainland in the middle of the twentieth century. Systematic breeding work only began in the late 1980s.
The first standard was adopted in 1991 by the Soviet Feline Federation, and on 21 October of that year by the WCF. FIFe recognised the breed in 2004, and TICA granted it championship status in 2012.
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The tail
This is the trait that defines the breed, and the one most often misunderstood. It is not simply short: it is kinked.
- Three to eight centimetres
Made up of two to ten vertebrae, kinked in various directions and with varying degrees of articulation.
- Stiff or flexible
It varies from cat to cat. Breeders speak of a whisk, a spiral or a snag; the thick fur hides the real shape and gives it the look of a pom-pom.
- Never the same twice
No two tails are alike. It is, quite literally, each cat’s signature — which is why a small drawn tail accompanies every cat on this site.
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Appearance
| Body | Semi-cobby, compact and muscular. Heavier than it looks once you pick it up. |
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| Back line | The hind legs are longer than the front legs, giving a back that rises slightly towards the rear. |
| Eyes | Walnut-shaped: rounder at the bottom, more oval on top, set at a slight angle between the ear base and the tip of the nose. |
| Coat | Thick and dense, often with a pattern recalling a wildcat. Shorthaired or longhaired. |
| Weight | A male can reach 8 kg; a female is around 4 kg. |
| Lifespan | Typically 15 to 20 years. |
Character
Calm, affectionate, exploratory, intelligent, a jumper and a climber. It never seeks conflict with other cats, which makes it easy to introduce into a household that already has one. It is curious by nature, and its intelligence makes it surprisingly trainable.
The other side of that is real: this is a hunter with a strong play drive. It needs height, occupation and company. This is not a cat that settles for a cushion.
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Health and grooming
The Kurilian Bobtail is a natural breed, and it shows: no hereditary disease specific to the breed is known. At Antagene, a laboratory specialising in veterinary genetic testing, the panel offered for this breed contains only two health tests: blood type and MDR1 drug sensitivity. The other ten cover coat colour, coat length and the short tail.
That drug sensitivity applies to all cat breeds rather than this one in particular, and the test is not compulsory. The screenings for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and polycystic kidney disease that are so often quoted belong to breeds where a specific mutation has been identified — the Maine Coon, the Ragdoll, the Persian — not to the Kurilian Bobtail.
Grooming is simple: brushing once a week is enough for both varieties, along with nail trimming and regular ear cleaning.