Welcome!
Welcome to the online information center and photo gallery of the Sailbourne Cattery. Maintained by Jamie Lawson, the Sailbourne Cattery breeds Japanese Bobtails of all colors and patterns, with a special interest in the solid color coats.Visit our gallery to see all the cats (and sometimes their human furniture). Read up on the personality and health of this unique and ancient breed of cats. And check in on the cats that are the core of the Sailbourne Cattery.
Throughout the website you will see the art inspired by the Japanese bobtail over the centuries, and we hope you will enjoy the history of the Japanese Bobtail described below.
A Short History of the Japanese Bobtail
Cats were originally brought to Japan around the sixth century. It's believed that they came from China or Korea, along with the Chinese language, culture, and Buddhist religion.
From early times, the Japanese prized and admired cats for their beauty and grace, and in the courts of the nobility cats were pampered pets, wearing rich collars (often with bells) and accompanying
their masters on leashes. (Even today, the Japanese Bobtail is relatively easy to leash train. Just be prepared to have your cat walk you, and not the other way around!)Elsewhere in Japan, cats were kept both as pets and working animals. Every Buddhist temple kept at least two cats, who kept mice and rats away from precious manuscripts.
One of these temple cats is the source of one of the best-known legends concerning the origin of the maneki-neko,
the good luck beckoning cat. According to the legend, a feudal lord was traveling and stopped to rest under a tree, near the entrance to a poor Buddhist temple. A cat at the temple gate beckoned to the lord, inviting him in. As he passed through the gate, a bolt of lightning struck the tree under which
he had been resting. In gratitude, the lord became a patron of the temple. Today, the Gotokuji Temple has a large collection of maneki neko statues, and owners of lost or sick pets put up special prayers there. No one knows exactly where or when the mutation that caused the breed's shortened tail took place, or why it became so prevalent. One legend states that a royal cat caught its tail on fire while napping near a hearth. In panic it ran through the streets, scattering sparks and setting the entire city alight. To prevent such a disaster from happening again, the Emperor decreed that all cats should have their tails cut short!
Another bit of folklore may provide a more scientific clue. In ancient Japan, cats with long tails were often believed to be shapeshifters, or demons in disguise. Thus, a cat with a bobtail would be considered "safe," and much more likely to be left alone to reproduce.
In 1602, the silk trade of Japan was in desperate trouble owing to a plague of mice. The Shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, decreed that all cats were to be set free, to hunt the mice killing the silkworms and destroying the silk.
Thus, the Bobtail became a street and barn cat, and many remain so to this day.
We hope you have enjoyed the history and myth of this ancient breed of cats. To see the cats of the Sailbourne Cattery, have a look at our picture gallery.
