The American Bobtail is a naturally occurring breed of short tailed cats. The foundation stock of this breed comes from feral cats, possessing a natural short tail. The true development of this breed began in the late 1960's. A young couple on vacation discovered a brown tabby kitten with a short tail on an Indian reservation. They brought the little fellow home and named him "Yodi". When young Yodi became of age, he romanced the couple's female cat "Mishi", a non-pedigreed domestic color point. The resulting kittens inherited Yodi's unusual short tail.

The kittens soon caught the eye of family friend Mindy Schultz, who saw the possibility to establish a new breed of felines. The first written standard for the American Bobtail called for a long hair, color point cat with boots. With time, the standard has evolved to accept all patterns and all colors of Bobtails, as well as coats in short, medium and long lengths.

First accepted for New Breed Status in 1989, the American Bobtail is now recognized by many different feline organizations, including TICA, CFA, ICE, UFO and ACFA.

The American Bobtail has gained TICA championship status in 2002!