Breed Information

• HistoryYou may not realize it, but you probably grew up with the British Shorthair. He is the clever feline of Puss in Boots and the grinning Cheshire Cat of Alice in Wonderland.
  The British Shorthair is native to England. With the rise of cat shows during the Victorian era, cat fanciers began to breed the cats to a particular standard and keep pedigrees for them. At the earliest cat shows, British Shorthairs were the only pedigreed cats exhibited. All others were simply described by coat type or color.
  Two world wars devastated the breed, and few British Shorthairs remained after World War II. With the help of other breeds, the Shorthairs, as they are called in Britain, were revitalized.
  The American Cat Association recognized the British Shorthair in 1967, but the Cat Fanciers Association did not accept it until 1980. Now, all cat associations recognize the breed.
  
  
  
• SizeMales weight 12 to 20 pounds, females 8 to 14 pounds.
  
  
• PersonalityThe British Shorthair is mellow and easygoing, making him an excellent family companion. He enjoys affection, but he’s not a “me, me, me” type of cat. Expect him to follow you around the house during the day, settling nearby wherever you stop.
  Full of British reserve, the Shorthair has a quiet voice and is an undemanding companion. He doesn’t require a lap, although he loves to sit next to you. Being a big cat, he isn’t fond of being carried around.
  This is a cat with a moderate activity level. He’s energetic during kittenhood, but usually starts to settle down by the time he is a year old. More mature British Shorthairs are usually couch potatoes, but adult males occasionally behave like goofballs. When they run through the house, they can sound like a herd of elephants.
  British Shorthairs are rarely destructive; their manners are those of a proper governess, not a soccer hooligan. They welcome guests confidently.
  
  
• HealthBoth pedigreed cats and mixed-breed cats have varying incidences of health problems that may be genetic in nature. Problems that have been seen in the Shorthair are gingivitis and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, both of which can affect any breed.
  
  


• CareThe British Shorthair’s short, smooth coat is simple to groom with weekly brushing or combing to remove dead hairs. A bath is rarely necessary.
  Brush the teeth to prevent periodontal disease. Daily dental hygiene is best, but weekly brushing is better than nothing. Trim the nails weekly. Wipe the corners of the eyes with a soft, damp cloth to remove any discharge. Use a separate area of the cloth for each eye so you don’t run the risk of spreading any infection.
  Check the ears weekly. If they look dirty, wipe them out with a cotton ball or soft damp cloth moistened with a 50-50 mixture of cider vinegar and warm water. Avoid using cotton swabs, which can damage the interior of the ear.
  Keep the litter box spotlessly clean. Cats are very particular about bathroom hygiene.
  It’s a good idea to keep a British Shorthair as an indoor-only cat to protect him from diseases spread by other cats, attacks by dogs or coyotes, and the other dangers that face cats who go outdoors, such as being hit by a car. British Shorthairs who go outdoors also run the risk of being stolen by someone who would like to have such a beautiful cat without paying for it.
  
  
• Coat Color And GroomingWith his short, thick coat, round head and cheeks, big round eyes, and rounded body, the British Shorthair resembles nothing so much as a cuddly teddy bear. His body is compact but powerful with a broad chest, strong legs with rounded paws and a thick tail with a rounded tip. The coat comes in just about any color or pattern you could wish for, including lilac, chocolate, black, white, pointed, tabby and many more. The best known color is blue (gray) and the cats are sometimes referred to as British Blues.
  The shorthair does not reach full physical maturity until he is 3 to 5 years old.
  
  
• Children And Other PetsThis mild-mannered cat is well suited to life with families with children and cat-friendly dogs. He loves the attention he receives from children who treat him politely and with respect and is forgiving of clumsy toddlers. Supervise young children and show them how to pet the cat nicely. Instead of holding or carrying the cat, have them sit on the floor and pet him. Other cats will not disturb his equilibrium. For best results, always introduce any pets, even other cats, slowly and in a controlled setting.
  
  

Read more at http://cattime.com/cat-breeds/british-shorthair-cats

Breed Group - British
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 is a patient, relaxed soulmate, forming strong bonds with human companions of all ages and being tolerant of other pets such as dogs and rabbits. Whilst not overly talkative, your British will take a great interest in the family routines and will make sure that he is always on hand to ensure things are done properly and on time! British kittens have an adorable teddy-bear quality which combines with a comical and affectionate personality. Slow to mature, the calm and easygoing British deserves his place as number one in the hearts of the British family.
History The Romans introduced large numbers of cats to the United Kingdom as working cats to help reduce the rodent population. These cats interbred with the native wild cats of Great Britain to produce the native domestic shorthaired cat. The accepted date of origin of the British Shorthair as we know it today is 1870.
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Appearance and Colours At first sight the British cat should be a gently rounded and well balanced cat. An essential feature is the expression which should be sweet and sincere and enhanced by large round eyes. With a full broad chest, short strong legs, rounded paws and a tail that is thick at the base and rounded at the tip, the British should look both compact and powerful. The British coat is a defining feature of the breed with more fur per square inch than any other breed. Only the British has the short, plush coat that is often described as crisp or cracking, referring to the way the coat breaks over the contours of the cat. Males should be significantly larger than the females and mature males tend to develop prominent jowls. Be patient - this breed takes up to five years to attain full physical maturity. The British can be found in all of the major colour and pattern groups. The British Blue is the ‘flagship’ of the breed, with almost half the breed registrations being the ‘self’ colours. The colours and patterns can be classified as follows:
British Self - These varieties are all one colour e.g. white, black, blue, lilac, chocolate, red, cream, fawn and cinnamon - all with orange eyes although you will also see the British White with blue, orange or odd eyes.
British Colourpointed and Colourpointed & White - These varieties have the coat pattern and blue eye colour of the Siamese.
British Tipped - These varieties have coats which are coloured at the tips and the eyes are usually green; you will most commonly see Black (silver) Tipped and Golden (non-silver) Tipped. You could say these are the shorthaired version of the Chinchilla and Golden Persian.
British Tortoiseshell, Tortoiseshell & White and Bi-Colour - These varieties have mixed colours with or without any white and cover both the dilute and dominant colour spectrums.
British Tabby - These varieties have tabby patterns in various colours (including silver) and can be found in the four tabby patterns of classic, spotted, mackerel and ticked.
Personality The British personality is just like their appearance - strong, stable and, perhaps when mature, prone to laziness! Not a talkative breed, the British form strong bonds with their ‘people’ and are patient and tolerant companions. Although they are unlikely to roam far from home, the British should be supervised outside because their nature may be trusting, leaving your pet vulnerable to mishap. The British is suitable as an indoor only companion but this intelligent animal will need suitable stimulus and care must be taken to ensure that any tendency to weight gain is managed. The British is a four-square cat that prefers to have all four paws on the ground so may not wish to be carried about as an adult - but you will find that they are very happy to lounge on your laptop as you work! This is a wonderfully adaptable, confident cat that makes a superb family companion.
CareThe British is a fairly easy cat to manage. As they are slow to mature, the British kitten should be fed kitten foods for at least the first year of age whilst bone is being laid down. Unless you are showing your British, the coat will not need regular shampooing but will require grooming during the moulting seasons to remove loose hairs from the dense coat. As the cat ages and becomes less able to groom itself, it may be that the coat will need attention to prevent mats from forming. Unlike the domestic shorthair breeds, the British is a noticeably sexually dimorphic breed. Males weighing in at 9 to 17 lbs (4.1 to 7.7 kg) and females 7 to 12 lbs (3.2 to 5.4 kg).
Health The British cat has a slow metabolism; whilst a healthy mature British will have a well-padded muscular body, we must be careful not to let this padding turn from muscle to excess fat. The British Shorthair is considered to be a long-lived cat, with a life expectancy of 14 to 20 years. PKD (Polycystic Kidney Disease), once a problem within the breed, is now under control thanks to the common use of available DNA tests by responsible breeders. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) can be a problem in the breed. There are no DNA tests yet available for HCM in the British breed. However, responsible breeders will take measures to ensure that any affected animals are not used in ongoing breeding programmes.