About the Breed
The British Shorthair is the pedigree version of the traditional British domestic cat, with a distinctively stocky body, thick coat, and broad face. The most familiar colour variant is the "British Blue", with a solid grey-blue coat, orange eyes, and a medium-sized tail.
It is one of the most ancient cat breeds known. It remains the most popular pedigreed breed in the UK and in fact a quarter of all kittens registered with the GCCF each year are British Shorthairs.
Personality
The British Short Hair personality is just like their appearance – strong, stable and, perhaps when mature, prone to laziness! Not a talkative breed, but they will sometimes engage in conversation with you, especially if it is getting near to time for them to be fed.
They are generally a gentle, willing to please, playful and affectionate companion.
They 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 Shorthair cat 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.
They enjoy a game of chase with a small toy, and some will fetch this back to you for to be thrown again. They are quite lazy at times and love nothing more than laying in front of the fire and luxuriating in the warmth.
The breed's 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"
Although cats are regarded as independent and spend a large amount of their time asleep or merely resting, they do, on the whole, appreciate company. The British Shorthair will quite happily live indoors, a much safer environment for it, but where there is no human company during the day, due to owners working etc., then it is kinder to have two cats as company for each other.
Health
The general health of the British Shorthair is good, with no apparent weakness to affect it.
They have a life span of approximately 15 years, some living to a much riper old age of 20 years. The care of these cats is just general common sense.
They need good quality food supplied at regular intervals and a bowl of fresh water to be available at all times.
Cats are extremely clean, fastidious animals and under normal circumstance the most attention that a British Shorthair cat requires is love - and plenty of it.
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.
PKD (Polycystic Kidney Disease), once a problem within the breed, is now under control thanks to the common use of available DNA tests. Our cats and kittens come from DNA tested Negative lines.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) can be a problem in the breed. There are no DNA tests yet available for HCM in British Shorthairs and it is not custom and practice for British breeders to ultrasound as it can be very unpleasant for the cat. However as with all responsible breeders we take measures to ensure that any affected animals are not used in ongoing breeding programmes.
