British Shorthair Cat

2008-04-19T08:19:00.000-07:00

British Shorthair Cat - photograph copyright © Helmi Flick - the coat is a classic blue/grey.

This cat breed is in the top 5 most popular cat breeds, at the date of this post, according to the current results of the visitors poll to the Pictures-of-cats.org website. This, I think, says a lot about the cat.

If a cat breed is popular the breed obviously has qualities that people like and in this instance, in my opinion, this is mainly because this cat has a pleasant, cobby (chunky and cuddly) appearance and a character that matches the appearance, namely laid back, pleasant and even tempered. These are attractive qualities particularly in the modern busy world.

Because of their quiet and accepting personality they are able to "tolerate" full time indoor living, which is widespread, I understand, in the USA (much less so in the UK). Desirability really is about being a pleasant and well balanced cat. Ultimately this is the kind of cat people like. Sure, people like fantastic looking cats but when push comes to shove, they prefer the best characters and importantly good health.

The British Shorthair Cat is also larger than average, giving the cat a presence that suites a lot of people. Males weigh in the order of 12-18 lbs. On average their weight is about 10.6 lbs (female+male averaged). This cat then has a substantial frame, which is covered by a thick dense coat that "cracks" when the body is flexed. The short coat, which is easy to groom and well balanced temperament make them, normally, easier to prepare for the show ring by their cat breeder companions. This might make them more likely to win prizes despite intense competition. Although I have never lived with a Brit SH I'll bet the coat feels nice to stroke too.

British Shorthair Cats - photograph copyright © Helmi Flick

Another attractive feature of this cat is the origin and history of the breed. This is essentially a natural cat breed. A natural breed is one that has a history of evolution on its own without the intervention of mankind until the breed was chosen as a cat to be a purebred cat. All cats before about the middle to end of the 1800s where the same in respect of cat breed status. They were in effect (by today's standards) mixed breed cats. Once the British Shorthair Cat was selected to be a purebred cat breeding took place and a pedigree built up in accordance with the relevant cat association. Before this happened this cat was a British short haired domestic mixed breed cat living in the UK.

The British Shorthair Cat is apparently not known for her speed and gracefulness of movement. But I bet she can still move very quickly when required. They also prefer to be near rather than on you. But I am sure that this is a generalization. When we talk about cat breeds we musn't forget that within each cat breed there is wide diversity of character as is the case with people.

This breed was first known as the British Blue based on the lovely blue/grey coat that you see on Earl Grey heading this post. This is the original color. Nowadays the cat associations allow a very wide range of colors and patterns that vary between the associations.

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