Bombay Cat Breed Profile

The Bombay is a purpose-built black cat: 3–5 kg in weight, 12–16 years of life, bred in 1950s Louisville.

The Bombay was developed in the 1950s in Louisville, Kentucky, by crossing Burmese cats with black American Shorthairs. The goal was explicit: a cat that is solid black from nose to tail. It remains the reference breed for anyone who wants a deliberately, reliably black cat rather than a black individual of a mixed coat.

Adults weigh 3–5 kg and live 12–16 years. Set against the general indoor-cat average of 12–18 years, the Bombay sits comfortably inside the normal band, and against the 2–5 year average for feral and stray cats, the indoor advantage matters far more than any breed trait.

At 3–5 kg, the Bombay overlaps almost exactly with the 4–5 kg reference cat used for feeding figures: about 200–300 kcal per day, which is roughly 60–80 g of dry food or 200–300 g of wet food. The breed asks for no special diet beyond measured portions.

Its coat is the same non-agouti solid black as any other black cat, so the standard routine applies unchanged: brushing two to three times a week, because dandruff and dust show fast on dark fur. Bombay kittens can show the same ghost stripes up to 12–16 weeks that any black kitten shows.

Compared with a typical indoor domestic cat, then, the Bombay is slightly lighter at the lower end of the weight range, similar in lifespan, identical in feeding maths and identical in grooming needs. The full routine is on the Black Cat Coat Care Routine page, and the resting health values are on the Black Cat Health Check Numbers page.

• Origin: 1950s, Louisville, Kentucky — Burmese crossed with black American Shorthairs.
• Adult weight: 3–5 kg.
• Lifespan: 12–16 years, within the 12–18 year indoor average.
• Daily food at reference weight: 200–300 kcal — 60–80 g dry or 200–300 g wet.
• Coat: solid black from the non-agouti gene; brush 2–3 times a week.

Further reading

• Black Cat Coat Care Routine
• Black Cat Health Check Numbers