History:

The Kurilian Bobtail is a natural breed that traces its origins and ancestry to the Russian Kamchatka peninsula, the island of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.  The Kuril Islands being an  archipelago of approximately 56 volcanic islands, stretching 700 miles between the Russian peninsula of Kamchatka and the Japanese island Hokkaido, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean.  These bobtailed cats have been documented on the Russian Islands for over 200 years.  They were first brought to the Russian mainland in the middle of the 20^th century by scientists or members of the military.  They are very popular in Russia for their mousing abilities.  In the wild they are known to hunt in packs like wolves and are avid swimmers and fisherman.

General Description & Personality:

The Kurilian Bobtail is medium to large in size, brawny with substantial boning, a strong cat, well muscled possessing a wild appearance.  The haircoat length can be either short or medium long.  Males can weigh as much as 15 pounds with females generally smaller weighing between 8 and 11 pounds.  However, the appearance of the Kurilian Bobtail is not indicative of it’s disposition.  They are a gentle breed with a well balanced character and a trusting and outgoing personality.  Able to “go with the flow” they adapt well to children and other pets.  The Kurilian Bobtail is clever, inquisitive, highly intelligent, very people oriented and love to be caressed by their owners.  They can jump to great heights and take to the highest available spot to survey all that is in their domain.  They tend to be non-verbal except for a few musical trills that sound more like bird songs than cat calls.

The Tail:

The true phenomenon of the Kurilian Bobtail is the tail, they are naturally born with a short and kinked tail.  Unique to each cat, much like a human fingerprint, no tail is identical to another.  Described by breeders as pom-pom, whisk or brush, the tail consists of between 2 and 10 vertebrae.  The tail must be kinked or curled to be breed standard and it may be able to articulate often times in various directions all at the same time.  The tail of the longhair Kurilian looks like a whisk brush, with hair length as long or longer than the body hair, while the tail of the shorthair Kurilian looks more like a pom-pom and the hair length is the same length as the body hair.