The Bombay Cat Breed: Profile and History

Blessed with an exotic-sounding name, a feral appearance, and an adventurous attitude, the Bombay seems so panther-like and stealthy that it could easily be mistaken for a wild-hybrid or ancient breed of cat. Suprisingly, however, the Bombay cat is neither ancient nor a wildcat. Its humble origins are actually in Kentucky, where the breed was founded during the 1950s. Nevertheless, the Bombay has a personality and look that makes it a star in cat shows and homes throughout the world.

If you were to look at the Bombay and imagine a miniature panther, you wouldn't be the first. Bombay cats were actually bred for the specific purpose of resembling a small version of a black leopard or black jaguar. Most species of cat can carry a melanistic mutation which renders some individuals solid-black, rather than spotted or striped like their more "normal" kin. This trait, when it appears in jaguars and leopards, labels the animal a "panther", and they have been believed by many cultures to be posessed of powerful magic.

It is the allure of black panthers that led one breeder, the late Nikki Horner, to set out to produce an all-black cat with similar features to a wild panther. Although black cats are very common and carry the same color mutation as panthers, Nikki Horner wanted a cat who was not only jet-black, but also had an air of stealth and magic that surpassed existing breeds. After only a few generations of selective breeding, the Bombay cat breed was created.

To create the Bombay breed, Nikki Horner-- a native and resident of Louisville, Kentucky-- began cross-breeding her Champion Burmese cat, a sable-colored female, with her favorite American Shorthair, who was solid black in color and had copper-yellow eyes. It took a few generations, but with careful selection, inbreeding, and outcrossing, Horner created a cat that consistently showed all the traits of a "parlor-panther" that she was aiming for. The breed was "completed" by 1960, although it is continously developed to maintain healthy gene pools.

The breed was named by its original breeder, after Bombay (now Mumbai) a city in India. Although there are no panthers in Mumbai --is a booming and busy metropolis-- Horner wanted to give the breed a name that matched its exotic nature. India, a home to many of the world's remaining black jaguars, was an inspiration to her breeding projects, so these parlor-panters were named in honor of one of the nation's most beautiful cities.

The Bombay certainly maintaiend the exact aura that Horner had so strongly desired to see. It has a lean but muscular body, fur that is jet-black to the root, and soulful eyes that range in collor from copper to gold. The coats of these black beauties are short and glossy, and create a strong ripple-like effect against the Bombay's powerful body. These robust cats are eager, outgoing, and highly interactive.

Amazingly for such a new breed, a Bombay cat acheived Championship status by the Cat Fancier's Association in 1976, just eighteen years after Nikki Horner began her project to create this amazing breed. The Bombay breed is still in development through outcrossing with American Shorthairs and Burmese cats. Thanks to the valiant efforts of a passionate Kentucky cat breeder, the fabulous Bombay remains solidly in the heart of cat fanciers and cat owners.