The Japanese Bobtail is a breed of domestic cat with an unusual bobtail more closely resembling the tail of a rabbit than that of other cats. The variety is native to Japan and Southeast Asia, though it is now found throughout the world. The breed has been known in Japan for centuries, and it frequently appears in traditional folklore and art.
Japanese bobtails have two coat types: long and short. The coat can be solid, bi-color, calico, or tabby, but this breed is most commonly white with colored spots, or what some call the van pattern. Both long and short coats are silky smooth, easy to groom, and low-shedding. However, although Japanese bobtails usually shed less than other breeds, they do have shedding seasons in the spring and fall and are not considered hypoallergenic.
The Japanese Bobtail is active and intelligent. It’s not unusual to find him splashing his paw in water, carrying toys around, or playing fetch. He is highly curious and loves to explore.
Japanese Bobtails are talkative, communicating with a wide range of chirps and meows. Their voices are described as almost songlike. These are outgoing cats who get along well with children and other pets, including dogs, and adjust to travel with ease. They love people and are often seen riding on a shoulder so they can supervise everything going on.
We know that because you care so much about your cat, you want to take great care of her. That is why we have summarized the health concerns we will be discussing with you over the life of your Japanese bobtail.
Dental Disease:
Dental disease is one of the most common chronic problems in pets who don’t have their teeth brushed regularly. Unfortunately, most cats don’t take very good care of their own teeth, and this probably includes your Japanese bobtail. Without extra help and care from you, your cat is likely to develop potentially serious dental problems. Dental disease starts with food residue, which hardens into tartar that builds up on the visible parts of the teeth, and eventually leads to infection of the gums and tooth roots. Protecting your cat against dental disease from the start by removing food residue regularly may help prevent or delay the need for advanced treatment of dental disease.
Heart Disease:
Cardiomyopathy is the medical term for heart muscle disease, either a primary inherited condition or secondary to other diseases that damage the heart. The most common form, called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or HCM, is a thickening of the heart muscle often caused by an overactive thyroid gland. Another example is dilated cardiomyopathy, or DCM, which can be caused by a dietary deficiency of the amino acid taurine. While DCM was a big problem in the past, all major cat food producers now add taurine to cat food, so DCM is rarely seen in cats with high-quality diets today.
FLUTD:
When your cat urinates outside the litter box, you may be annoyed or furious, especially if your best pair of shoes was the location chosen for the act. But don’t get mad too quickly—in the majority of cases, cats who urinate around the house are sending signals for help. Although true urinary incontinence, the inability to control the bladder muscles, is rare in cats and is usually due to improper nerve function from a spinal defect, most of the time, a cat that is urinating in “naughty” locations is having a problem and is trying to get you to notice. What was once considered to be one urinary syndrome has turned out to be several over years of research, but current terminology gathers these different diseases together under the label of Feline Lower Urinary Tract Diseases, or FLUTD.
Renal Failure:
Renal failure refers to the inability of the kidneys to properly perform their functions of cleansing waste from the blood and regulating hydration. Kidney disease is extremely common in older cats, but is usually due to exposure to toxins or genetic causes in young cats. Even very young kittens can have renal failure if they have inherited kidney defects, so we recommend screening for kidney problems early, before any anesthesia or surgery, and then regularly throughout life. Severe renal failure is a progressive, fatal disease, but special diets and medications can help cats with kidney disease live longer, fuller lives.
Source: https://www.cbvetclinic.com/client-resources/breed-info/japanese-bobtail-longhair/
https://www.cat-lovers-only.com/japanese-bobtail.html
Photo crédit: https://www.petfinder.com/cat-breeds/japanese-bobtail/
