The Mekong Bobtail (formerly known as the Thai Bobtail) is a breed of cat. Originally named for

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, the country of origin of its progenitors, the breed is now named after the

Mekong River The Mekong or Mekong River ( , ) is a transboundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's List of rivers by length, twelfth-longest river and List of longest rivers of Asia, the third-longest in Asia with an estimated l ...

. It is naturally distributed throughout parts of Asia and was developed as a breed in Russia, and it was recognised by the

World Cat Federation The World Cat Federation (WCF) is an international association of cat clubs. It was founded in 1988 in the city of Rio de Janeiro, and continues to have a strong presence in Latin America, Western Europe, and in countries of the former USSR. It ...

in 2004.

History

In the 19th century, Mekong Bobtails were among the royal cats given to Russian emperor

Nicholas II Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. He married ...

Chulalongkorn Chulalongkorn (20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910), posthumously honoured as King Chulalongkorn the Great, was the fifth king of Siam from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama V. Chulalongkorn's reign from 1868 until his death in 1910 was cha ...

, king of Siam. The majority of the 200 royal cats gifted by Chulalongkorn had kinked tails resembling those of the modern-day Mekong Bobtail. Other bobtail cats from Southeast Asia were also imported into Russia. The breed is considered to have been developed in Russia, and continued to be experimentally developed there, being bred with other bobtail cats, and possibly also with

Siamese cats The Siamese cat (; แมวสยาม, Maeo Sayam; แมววิเชียรมาศ, Maeo Wichien Maat) is one of the first distinctly recognised breeds of Asian cat. It derives from the Wichianmat landrace. The Siamese cat is one ...

. The breed started to become more widely known in the 1980s, and in December 1994 a breed standard was drawn up by O. S. Mironova, a Russian felinologist. The breed was recognised by the World Cat Federation in August 2004, and at that time its name was changed from "Thai Bobtail" to "Mekong Bobtail".

Characteristics

Mekong Bobtails have a glossy, short coat that can be any pointed colour without white markings, and large eyes which the WCF's breed standard terms an "intense blue". The characteristic bobbed, kinked tail contains at least three vertebrae, but must be shorter than a quarter of the body length. The breed has a slight although rectangular build, and the rump is higher than the shoulders. Mekong Bobtails are medium-sized cats, weighing from . The breed is friendly, affectionate, and active.

In legend

The ancestors of the Mekong Bobtail which were given to Nicholas II were considered royal cats in Siam. They were also thought to be guardians of temples.

References

External links

* {{cite web , url = http://www.wcf-online.de/WCF-EN/standard/siam/mekong-bobtail.html , title = Mekong Bobtail , work = Breed standard , publisher = World Cat Federation , access-date = 2019-10-23 , archive-date = 2019-09-14 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190914003149/http://www.wcf-online.de/WCF-EN/standard/siam/mekong-bobtail.html , url-status = dead Cat breeds originating in Russia Cat breeds originating in Thailand Cat breeds