British Shorthair Cat
photos
in this group of
Earl Grey copyright © Helmi Flick Note:
for visitors
who live abroad and who are unsure, Earl Grey is a popular English tea.
The blue coat is the classic Brit. SH look. See also Grey cat breeds (new window)
Introduction It
could be
said that the British Shorthair Cat is as natural a breed
as is possible today in that all registered breeds are now subject to
human intervention. The breed originates from the British
Domestic Shorthair or British Moggie, which has an extremely long
history. Throughout its early history this was "the working cat of
Great Britain"2.
The American
Shorthair is the USA equivalent and is founded upon the Brit.
SH. The founder of the cat fancy, Harrison Weir, bred British Blues3.
A number of cat breeds are mutated "British Shorthair cats"; although before the cat fancy started they were thought of as simply "cats", on farms and streets. An example is the Selkirk Rex, the mutated gene making the fur curly and crinkly. Through selective breeding from the late 1800s the Moggie was transformed into a recognized breed; the British Shorthair. This is very definitely my kind of cat. Helmi Flick loves 'em too (see Sky and Nox below). The outstanding features are a quiet voice and a plush dense coat to combat the typical English weather and a semi-cobby body type. This is probably the most pleasurable of all purebred cats to stroke because of the feel of the coat! This breed has been described as the "teddy bear of the cat fancy"2. See also the British Longhair Cat, a stupendous cat that trumps the Persian!
History/Origin At
the time (early 1900s)
that the British Shorthair cat started to gain some ground in the early
days of the cat fancy the Persian
was king. The rich and famous wanted
to have a glamorous Persian cat or perhaps a Siamese
cat. The middle
classes kept a Moggie, the British Shorthair to be. The Siamese was
very rare and popular at the time and journalists reporting on cat
shows would invariably end up enthusing about the
rare and
extraordinary Siamese cat.
The British Shorthair today looks very similar to the English cat of 110 years ago. There would seem to be a slight difference, an enhancement of the concept of roundness and cobbiness that is so admired in the Brit SH and the refinement of its coat. This can be seen by making a comparison in the photograph below of a champion Brit SH taken at the end of the 1800s and the cats photographed by Helmi Flick on this page. Bootsie, my British Shorthair, was lounging on the windowsill when suddenly, the phone began ringing. Almost immediately after and just as suddenly, Bootsie began making a strange sound. It sounded a bit like a telephone! Then, he batted the telephone out of my hand and yowled into it. My friend Steve, who was on the phone, laughed his head off when I got the phone back and apologized. Bootsie soon made it into a habit. People who didn't know I had a cat were stunned, and I was the one laughing my head off. Bootsie is SSOOOO cute!....Camilla (Keller, Texas USA)
It is a shame
that mankind decided to create a breed called the British
Shorthair and then through his activities (wars leading to outcross
breeding) over the following decades consciously diverged from the
standard that
was previously set.
 Blue British Shorthair - Sky. Sky lives with Ken and Helmi Flick. Photograph copyright © Helmi Flick Appearance/Character The
British
Shorthair is a placid, easy going and calm cat, which makes this
popular cat suited to people who rush around a lot. Their stable and
balanced
character makes them suitable for indoor
and apartment living.
Nonetheless, like all cats they are playful and alert when they want to
be.
They are a sturdy looking cat, muscular and strong it is said2. I am not entirely sure that this is accurate. The British Shorthair cats that I have seem are beautiful but of average size and strength. The head is "broad and round". The muzzle and nose is short but it should not be exaggerated as is the case for the Persian or Exotic Shorthair. I feel that there is a tendency to over do the shortness of the face in a desire to achieve the chubby cheeked "chipmunk-like appearance"2. This is a very popular cat breed, currently at September 2010, ranked 7th out of 66 cat breeds in a long running PoC poll of over 3400 visitor votes. This breed of cat takes about 5 years to grow to adulthood. This means that it performs well at cat shows into what might be considered old age. At 11 1/2 years of age a BS received her Grand Premiership at a 1994 show.
The British Shorthair Cat has a noticeably dense coat. The coat "cracks" when the body is flexed. This means you can see into the fur as it parts. You can see clearly that Earl Grey's body is sturdy and cobby (stocky). His face is rounded with sweet chubby checks and round copper colored eyes. The British Shorthair is a sturdy, solid looking cat. The coat can be in almost any color and pattern. "It is shown in all colours and all divisions of the traditional category"2. The Brit. SH is thought of as an intelligent breed of cat and has appeared in films, on TV and on cat food packaging (Whiskas and Sheba). Research (although to be honest it is not great research) indicates in fact that the British Shorthair is in the mid range of cat breed intelligence. The Sphynx cat is meant to be the most intelligent under informal testing. The British Shorthair Cat is relatively quiet, in line with the cat's personality, which seems to be a little like my cat (a Moggie/Norwegian Forest Cat hybrid) in that they prefer to be near and with you rather than on you. This may be due to overheating when on you as their dense coats provide a high level of insulation. The difference in the characteristics of female and male British Shorthairs, I think, mirrors human differences. The males are less serious than the females and less particular. The British Shorthair is a very popular show cat being as it is relatively easy to maintain in preparation for the show and the easy going character help cope with the stresses of competition. There is a semi longhair British Shorthair cat. There is breed is that is called the Britanica which is recognized by a cat association called the European Group Cat Association (EGCA). The EGCA have recognized the Britanica since 2002. A search of the Internet produced nothing on the cat breed called the Britanica cat, which is a current cat breed. It is interesting that the word is spelled with one "n" normally the word is spelled "Britannica". This breed is identical to the British Shorthair except for the length of fur and is known as the Lowlander in the USA, where the breed is experimental. Comparison with European Shorthair and British Shorthair  This page provides, I hope, a useful look at the differences between the British Shorthair cat, the American SH and the European Shorthair cat, a breed that was formally recognized as a separate breed late in the day. The article focuses on the European SH. The differences are subtle. Some more on the British Shorthair cat Some more pictures and the story behind one of the best cat photographs can be seen on this page plus some information on the genetics that go to make up this cat's appearance. 
Photograph
of
Toes a tabby
copyright © Helmi Flick
Health The
British
Shorthair Cat is generally healthy. They would seem to have a life span
slightly above the average for a purebred cat (averaging 15 years of
age). Apparently, they may
be more prone than normal to becoming overweight when there is a
combination of
being neutered or spayed and if they are encouraged to lead a sedentary
life style (i.e. living in an apartment or exclusive and
permanent indoor
living
).
This may be exacerbated
by modern cat diets a lot of
it being high in carbohydrates and the fact that they can be lazy
sometimes. A low
carbohydrate diet
should be
considered. There is no such
thing in my opinion as inactive
cat food.
It
is important to
keep a healthy
cat weight
obviously. Cat
weights are increasing with human
weights and is of concern to veterinarians.
Their tendency to become overweight is due, in part, to being naturally inactive at 4-6 years (and beyond) of age. The British Shorthair cat may also suffer from more than average teeth/gum problems, namely gingivitis. For the human companion there are methods for dealing with this. The breeder also has his part to play in breeding carefully and selectively to minimize the condition. These kinds of problems are not necessarily specific to this breed. There is also apparently potential heart conditions associated with the British Shorthair cat (HCM Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy). HCM is what I would consider a "problem disease" in that it pops up as an inherited disease in several purebred cats, namely Maine Coon, Ragdoll, Rex cats (this link goes to the Devon but see others on this site) and American Shorthairs (src: Tufts Oct 2-4, 2003). Although it should be said that speaker at Tufts said the HCM is suspected to be inherited in the breeds mentioned other than the Maine Coon in which it is known to be inherited. The CFA website does not mention HCM in relation to this breed as far as I can see. To this list can I believe be added the Bengal cat. I have made several posts about HCM
and the Bengal
cat. I have a page on cat
health issues on this site.Update: Dr Clark1 says that this breeds has a recognised medical problem: Hemophilia B. This is a hereditary deficiency in clotting factor IX. It is also known as Christmas Disease. Cats affected by this disease may "excessively after injury or surgery but the bleeding may be delayed". 40% of British Shorthair cats have type B blood, a rare trait3. Another disorder more often found in the British Shorthair cat is neonatal erthrolysis. This is the destruction of red blood cells in newborn kittens due to a difference in blood type between mother and her offspring. Although the coat is fairly low maintenance, like all coats it ideally requires regular grooming by us. 
Nox
who lives with
Helmi and Ken Flick - copyright © Helmi Flick
Helmi says this about her Brit. Shorthairs: "Nox and Sky are my British Shorthairs that live with us. Sky is a Blue British Shorthair and Nox is a Black Brit. Both are altered. Their full names are SGCA, RW Earendil Sky (she is a Regional Winner) and CH Earendil Nox. They are 10 years old." See a slide show the likes of which you've never seen before, with large format Helmi photographs According to this websites long standing popularity poll the British Shorthair is one of the most popular ranking around 6th out of about 70 cat breeds. submit
British Shorthair cat - Breeders - clubs {Selected on their Google search listing ranking in descending order - first 2 pages only and not part of a directory. Note this please: sometimes I might leave out the cat breeds name from the cattery title for search engine optimization reasons only}LazyBlues British
ShorthairsLocated in White Plains NY, USA. Benfields British
Shorthair catsLocated in Severna park, Maryland, USA. Empire of Glamour Cattery Small breeders specialized in British Shorthair Blue, Cream, Lilac, Lilac&Cream and Blue & Cream. Located in Chàteauguay (QC), Canada. Purfectpal Located in South Woodford, London, E18 1DR, run by Laura Cooper Small breeder specializing in Blue, Lilac, Cream, and Blue/Cream. Black and Tortie sometimes available. Located
UK - Lasham, East Hampshire. J6
M3
or A31/A339 Basingstoke to Alton
A very old and venerable cat club needs to be mentioned as well. This is a club calling itself "Short-haired Cat Society ".
This was formerly called the "Short Haired Cat Society and Manx Club".
They are the first pedigree cat club in the world for native
shorthaired cats. They were formed in 1901, the early days of the cat
fancy and are still going. They are a founder member of the Governing
Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF) the premier cat association in the UK.
The purpose of the club at its formation was to champion the British
Shorthair cat. They are now involved in more cat breeds.
 This is Teddy, my 8 month old BS and I loooooove him to bits. He's so lively and playful and loves rolling on his back ever since he was a tiny kitten and having his tummy tickled. I can't imagine life without my little Teddy...Anne (London, UK) British Shorthair cat - Sources:
Photograph of cat taken in the late 1800s. The copyright is taken as being expired due to effluxion of time. If this can be established to be incorrect it will be removed quickly. 
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