British Shorthair
British Shorthair
The British Shorthair is a pedigreed breed of domestic cat that originated in the United Kingdom. It is known for its stocky body, thick coat, and broad face. The most familiar color variant is the “British Blue,” with a solid grey-blue coat, pineapple eyes, and a medium-sized tail. The breed has also been developed in a wide range of other colors and patterns, including tabby and colorpoint. It is one of the most ancient cat breeds known. In modern times, it remains the most popular pedigreed breed in its native country, as registered by the UK’s Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF). A quarter of all kittens registered with the GCCF each year are British Shorthairs, making the British the most popular pedigree cat in the UK.
The British Shorthair is a big cat, but not massive like the Maine Coon or Siberian cat. Some males can weigh as much as 17 pounds, while females usually top off at 12 pounds or less. They make wonderful family cats, as the breed has an easy-going personality and generally gets along with everyone, including kids and other animals living in the house.
The breed’s good-natured appearance and relatively calm temperament make it a frequent media star, notably as the inspiration for John Tenniel’s famous illustration of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. The Cat Fanciers’ Association profile reads: “When gracelessness is observed, the British Shorthair is duly embarrassed, quickly recovering with a ‘Cheshire cat smile’”.
Researchers are not sure how cats first reached the British Isles. In many other parts of Europe, cats became common at the same time as the spread of the Roman Empire. However, it appears that housecats reached the British Isles before the Romans did. These cats then interbred with the local European wildcat population. Over the centuries, their naturally isolated descendants developed into distinctively large, robust cats with a short but very thick coat, to better withstand conditions on their native islands. Based on artists’ representations, the modern British Shorthair is unchanged from this initial type.
Selective breeding of the best examples of the type began in the nineteenth century, with emphasis on developing the unusual blue-grey variant called the “British Blue” or “English type” (to distinguish it from the more fine-boned “Russian type”). Some sources directly credit UK artist and pioneering cat fancier Harrison Weir with the initial concept of standardizing the breed. Others suggest a group of breeders may have been involved. The new British Shorthair was featured at the first-ever cat show, organized by Weir and held at the Crystal Palace in London in 1871, and enjoyed great initial popularity. By the 1900s, with the advent of the newly imported Persian and other long-haired breeds, the British Shorthair had fallen out of favor, and breeding stock had become critically rare by World War I. At least partially to alleviate this, British Shorthair breeders mixed Persians into their bloodlines.
