An urban legend says that Bobtail cats began by cross mating a domestic tabby cat and a wild bobcat. Their unusual tail is really an accidental genetic mutation in the cat world. It may be related to the Manx gene, which is also dominant. The first Bobtail cat's parents were a short-tailed brown tabby cat male named Yodie and a seal point Siamese female in the late 1960s. This cat was born in Arizona near an American Indian reservation. Yodie's family breed was not known. It was thought to have been a bobcat and domestic cat hybrid because of its stubby tail. 