Do Black Cats Get Big? 22 Wonderful Breeds Examined

Do black cats get big? There are 22 breeds of domestic cat that can have a solid black coat so black cats can be all sizes including small, medium and large as adults.

The Common Black Cats

In my experience, American and European Shorthair’s and Bombay Cats appear to be the most common black cats in America and Europe.

These breeds are medium-sized cats with a muscular physique and American Shorthair’s, in particular, weigh somewhere between 6 and 15 pounds.

The Bombay Cat is a very close relative of the Shorthair so you can expect to see a similar body type.

Female’s of these breeds are almost always smaller than the males.

As you can see, there’s quite a lot of variables involved with the size of a common black cat so to answer ‘do black cats get big?’ isn’t simple…

The Large Black Cats

The Maine Coon is the largest domestic cat breed and Maine Coon’s can have a solid black coat.

They can weigh up to 18 pounds and can grow up to 40 inches in length!

Maine Coon’s have a lot of fur which can actually make them look bigger than they are.

Just like most breeds of domestic cat, size can vary greatly within the breed and it’s not uncommon to see small and medium-sized Maine Coon’s.

Norwegian Forest Cats are a close relative of the Maine Coon and also have the potential to reach 18 pounds in weight. Just like the Maine Coon they can have a solid black coat.

Both the Maine Coon and Norwegian Forest Cat have long legs and bushy tails and the females of both breeds tend to be smaller.

Generally the Maine Coon is slightly bigger than the Norwegian Forest Cat.

The Ragamuffin Cat is a relatively new breed in terms of domestic cat history and can grow to be very large indeed!

Apparently males can become up to 20 pounds in weight and females 15 pounds.

Although this very fluffy breed can have a solid black coat, from the research that I have done, it doesn’t seem to be very common.

Siberian Cats can have a solid black coat and they can also grow to a very large size too!

Siberian cats can grow as large as 17 pounds in weight and up to 25 inches in length or more.

Small Black Cats

There appear to be 3 breeds of domestic cat in particular that can have a solid black coat and can be small when fully grown compared to other breeds of cat.

The Turkish Angora, The LaPerm, and the Japanese Bobtail all seem to weigh in the 5 to 12-pound range with the LaPerm being the smallest.

The Breeds Listed

As there are 22 breeds that can have a solid black coat I thought I’d highlight some of the breeds and if I haven’t spoken about a specific breed, the chances are that this breed is medium-sized.

If you’d like to do more research then here’s the list off all 22 breeds of black cat:

American Bobtail

American Curl

American Shorthair

American Wirehair

Bombay

British Shorthair

Cornish Rex

Devon Rex

Exotic Shorthair

Japanese Bobtail

LaPerm

Maine Coon

Manx

Norwegian Forest Cat

Oriental

Persian

Ragamuffin

Scottish Fold

Selkirk Rex

Siberian

Sphynx

Turkish Angora

My Thoughts

We have an American Shorthair called Coco and he is what I consider to be one of the “common black cats”.

He’s a big boy!

He has weighed 6.9kg at his biggest which is 15 pounds. He used to eat mainly dry food and when I noticed that he was so heavy I took him off dry food and exclusively give him wet food and meat sticks now.

He’s lost weight and is within a healthy weight range. He weighs around 6.3 kg now (13 pounds) and he looks a lot more athletic and healthier.

When people see Coco the often say “wow he’s big!”. Our vet also comments on his size and imagine how many cats he sees on a daily basis?

Do Black Cats Get Big? – Summary

Do black cats get big? Yes and no. Most black cats are medium-sized but as there are 22 breeds of domestic cat that can have a solid black coat then black cats can be small, medium, and large.

Big domestic cats with black fur include the Maine Coon, the Norwegian Forest, the Ragamuffin, and the Siberian Cat.

We have an American Shorthair and he’s a big boy, bigger than most!

The size of black cats varies massively…

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