The Bombay has a compact body, is muscular and much heavier than it looks. A female weight is approx. 3 - 4½ kilo and a male a couple of more kilos.
The coat is short, fine, sleek and close lying deep black on the adult cats. It takes the kittens four months or more before they show the first signs of their coats maturing. This makes it difficult to fully assess show potential sometimes until they are older. The Bombay will often only achieve full maturity after it is a year to eighteen months old. For a male Bombay it can be almost 2 years.
The eye colour has a distinct colour of amber, preferably to orange. Bombay kittens are born with blue eyes (as other cats) and it takes 15-16 weeks before the wonderful golden orange colour is shown in its pride.
A bombay is always black!
Nature of a Bombay. This goes for the Burmese also
A Bombay is a personal, curious, happy, cuddly, bright breed with lots of character and intelligence.
It has got a lot of energy and love. It is a very social cat whom loves people and is happy to be part
of the family. If I say that the Bombay is playful, I do not mean uncareful. It is a very careful and "smooth" cat.
To play like vikings and pull pots and other stuff down, is not done by these cats on purpose. A Bombay
wants to be where it happens, if the cat wasn't there when it started to happen, it will not be long till
it has joined. And, it does not have to be anything very exciting, the cat is happy with a quiet meal in
the kitchen or some work in front of the computer. Paca, one of our first cats were happy to wear a leash. To walk next to your feet was not a problem,
neither was it a problem regarding which side of the lamppost she should walk. Paca had dignity, she would
never lie down and refuse to walk any further, like some other cats breeds.
The Bombay is the shadow in front of the owner. It walks in front of your feet when you walk around
in the house. They run through the door when you are opening it and then they are on the sink waiting
for a drink from the tap before you have had the time to turn on the light in the bathroom. If you would
like to have a shower or a bath, do not think you can do it on your own. The Bombay is happy to test how
many laps it can walk around the bath full of water before anything happens. Or it just sits behind the
showercurtains trying to catch the water bouncing under it.
If you work during the days, the Bombay should have a catfriend to play with. Most Bombays get along
best in the company of another shorthaired cat of similar temperament, but our bred cats has also
persian-friends and that works just fine. To see two cats closely together sleeping in contact and warmth
is a wonderful sight. The Bombay cat can get along with dogs very well. Bombays are very demanding of your
time and are happiest when they have your undivided attention!
All Bombays are individuals with a personality that is both strong and soppy. Some Bombays like to be
sitting next to mum/dad and are interested in what you are doing, others prefer to be sitting on the
shoulder to be on top of things. And there usually is no problem with balance.
A Bombay needs stimuli both mentally and physically. Games like "hide the key" is very popular as are
throwing games. Our cats often develop a new game and they expect us to learn quickly to join in.
To leave a clothes drawer or a desk drawer open is an invitation to sneek in and investigate, the cat
seems to think. If it is impossible to crawl inside the drawer, it may be possible to "fish" out the
stuff inside, to see if anything is exciting. Of course, this also goes for closets and walk-in-closets.
Very often we find our "lost" cat in the closet, cuddling in the most cosiest knitted sweater sleeping. If
the bed is looking messy, it is because the Bombay has crawled underneath the duvet to have a nap.
