Cat
Breed Description:
The Bombay is a muscular yet agile cat with a black coat. The heads of British Bombay cats are rounded and wide with a medium short, blunt tapered muzzle. The eyes, which are usually brown or green in color , should be shaped like a Burmese cat (not round) 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 have very unique voices. They're not your traditional "meows". While some cats are very vocal, others tend to keep quiet. This is perfectly normal and just reflects the type of personality your Bombay has. The Bombay breed of cats are very affectionate cats that love human attention.
Temperament:
They have personalities like Burmese cats as they are virtually the same genetically; they are fun loving and very affectionate.The Bombay breed of cat is intelligent, actively seeks interaction; they love to play games. It has been seen that many Bombay's retrieve and do tricks. Bombays are heat-seekers, and often like to sleep under the bedcovers.
Health Problems:
The Bombay breed also shares an unfortunate trait with the Burmese. The "Burmese Craniofacial Defect" is a genetic disorder that affects the development of the skull in the fetus. Occasionally, kittens from lines that carry this defect will be born with severely deformed heads and must be euthanized at birth. The mode of inheritance of this anomaly is still poorly understood. The defect is of no concern to pet owners because it only affects newborns, but anyone who is considering breeding Bombays or Burmese and who is unwilling to deal with this defect must perform extensive pedigree research to find bloodlines that are free of the defect.
Living Conditions:
The Bombay breed of cat are adaptable to apartment living and are generally calm. The Bombay breed of cat will often accept dogs in the household more quickly than it will adapt to the other cats. They often want to be the dominant cat.
Grooming:
The Bomaby breed of cat has a tight, short coat that sheds very little and requires practically no maintenance. The Bombay is completely capable of grooming itself; occasional brushing is encouraged although not needed. There is very little seasonal variation in the coat.
Origin:
The American breed called Bombay was bred in 1958 in Louisville, Kentucky, when Nikki Horner of Shawnee Cattery deliberately bred an American Shorthair with a Burmese for the purpose of creating a domesticated cat that resembled a wild panther (also known as baby panther or parlor panther). These cats usually have orange eyes. Bombays are often confused with the British Bombay. Note that they are different cats though they both share the name of "Bombay." The offspring of this breeding did indeed resemble the black leopard of India. The name came from the Indian city of Bombay (now Mumbai). 