The History of the Bombay
Not so long ago, in a land not so far away, lived a fine lady who loved beautiful cats. She dreamed of creating a new breed of cat that would resemble miniature panthers: muscular, yet graceful, sinuous and sensuous, with gleaming jet black coats and eyes like glowing coals or shining copper pennies. The lady was the late Nikki Horner, of Shawnee Cattery in Louisville, Kentucky. The breed she visualized as a mini-panther would eventually come to be known as the Bombay.
(Suzanne Zwecker of Road to Fame Cattery)
Nikki Horner with her National Winning
white Persian
Nikki had the idea of crossing a Burmese with a Black American Shorthair:
"The Shawnee Cattery was established in 1945 and I have worked with a number of breeds including both Burmese and black American Shorthairs. As I looked at these two breeds, I had a vision of what the combination could look like: a black Burmese with copper eyes. I envisioned a cat with the Burmese musculature and the black coat and gold to copper eyes of the American."
The result was The Bombay
(Early Bombay - Kejo Zanzabar of Gotagato)
The Bombay's splendid good looks and winning personality led to a small but persistent following that grew as the years passed. Now, less than thirty years after the Bombay was accepted in Championship in CFA, a beautiful Bombay became the Best Cat in CFA.
GC BW NW Caricature's Colin Powell
CFA Best Cat, 2003 - 2004
(c) 2008 by Bombay Enthusiasts of America.
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